July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.

Miller, McCord earn top sectional seeds (02/15/08)

JCHS boys swimming

The Patriots have put themselves in great position.

The Jay County High School boys swim team picked up two No. 1 seeds Thursday as hosts of the sectional preliminaries, look primed to compete for state berths in at least two other events and will have a chance to be near the top of the team standings.

South Adams, led by Justin Klopp, is set to have a chance at a top-three team finish as well.

The sectional tournament continues Saturday at JCHS with diving preliminaries at 9 a.m. and the swimming and diving finals at 1 p.m.

Senior Tom McCord and junior Sam Miller of the Patriots posted the fastest preliminary times in the first two individual events of the evening.

Miller earned his No. 1 seed in record-breaking fashion, snapping his own mark in the 200-yard individual medley in 2-minutes, 3.19 seconds. He has dropped the record time by more than 2.5 seconds this year as the previous mark was set by Caleb Dann at 2:05.82 in 2002.

McCord preceded Miller with a solid victory in the 200 freestyle. He was by nearly two seconds over Muncie Central's Jimmy Carnes in 1:59.29.

The Patriots were just off the pace in two other events, one of which came with another broken record.

Sophomore Aaron Hudson turned in a career swim in the 100 breaststroke, taking the No. 2 seed 0.23 seconds behind Dan Proctor of Muncie Central in 1:03.03. He took down an 18-year-old school record, topping Jason Arnold's time of 1:03.41.

Miller, McCord, Chance Milligan and Neal Fennig were also just off the pace in the 400 freestyle relay.

They finished just one 10th of a second behind the team from Muncie Central in 3:29.81.

With chances at four sectional crowns, Jay County looks to be the leader among four teams vying for the runner-up slot.

Muncie Central, the No. 1 seed in 7-of-11 swimming events, is the favorite, and the Patriots are the only other team with multiple top seeds. JCHS has four No. 2 seeds, the most of any school in the 10-team field, and is seeding in the top four in all three relays.

Other contenders behind Central are South Adams, which has one No. 1 seed, Delta and Norwell.

In addition to their top seeds, McCord and Miller each added a runner-up finish in their second individual events.

Miller was second in the 100 butterfly behind Klopp (53.73) of South Adams with a time of 55.09. McCord finished the 500 freestyle in 5:17.27, more than six seconds off the pace set by Muncie Central's J.P. Dowdle.

Jay County's top pair also joined Milligan and Derik Lucas for the No. 3 seed in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:36.73.

The only other Patriot to qualify for a championship race Saturday in an individual event was Lance VanSkyock, who will join Hudson in the 100 breaststroke as he took the fifth seed in 1:08.07. Hudson, Milligan, Fennig and Cody Bullard teamed for a time of 1:51.15 and the No. 5 seed in the 200 medley relay.

Klopp turned in a second-place effort in the 50 freestyle at 22.46 for the Starfires, and anchored a pair of top three relays. He teamed with Alex Habegger, John Gresla and Justin Sommer to take second in the 200 freestyle relay at 1:36.65 and third in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:36.18.

Habegger and Caleb Wurster joined Klopp in qualifying for the championship heat in a pair of events. Habegger was third in the 100 breaststroke behind Hudson in 1:04.89 and fourth in the 100 butterfly at 58.31, and Wurster trailed McCord for third in the 500 freestyle at 5:27.94 and was the No. 5 seed in the 200 individual medley at 2:19.54.

Eric Feeney qualified for the finals of the 500 freestyle as well, finishing just over a second behind Wurster in fourth at 5:29.03.

Swimming in consolation finals Saturday for Jay County will be: Hudson (seventh - 100 butterfly); VanSkyock (ninth - 50 freestyle); Fennig (seventh - 100 backstroke, eighth - 200 individual medley); and Milligan (11th - 100 freestyle).

Reaching the consolation finals for the Starfires were: Feeney (seventh - 200 freestyle); Taylor Sprunger (eighth - 200 freestyle, ninth - 100 freestyle); Gresla (seventh - 500 freestyle, 10th - 200 freestyle); and Sommer (10th - 50 freestyle, 10th - 100 freestyle).[[In-content Ad]]
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