July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Patriot girls edge Spartans (01/19/2009)
JCHS swimming
Patriot girls edge Spartans (01/19/2009)
By By RAY COONEY-
The first Olympic Athletic Conference title in girls swimming for the Patriots exemplified the word "team."
Jay County High School won just a single event Saturday. But they're overall effort was enough to lift them to the OAC title by 10 points over Connersville.
The host Patriots, led by freshman Mary Hudson's victory, scored 412 points to edge the Spartans. Anderson Highland was third at 356, and Muncie Southside totaled 86.
"Wow, what a meet," said first-year JCHS girls coach Matt Slavik. "I knew it was going to be a close one. ... I was pretty stressed out the whole time.
"The girls again swam well. We only won one event ... but we placed three swimmers high in almost every other event. Again ... our depth came through to help us. In the head we had two relays finish third/fourth, and that was just enough ...
"The girls set this at the beginning of the year as one of the goals they wanted to accomplish. ... And they went out and did it. ... It's a great accomplishment. I'm really proud of the girls. I can't praise them enough."
Jay County's boys, with titles from Steven Kelly and Sam Miller, placed third with 311.5 points. Highland won at 437.5, with Connersville second (417) and Southside fourth (116).
"It's one of those bitter-sweet things," said JCHS boys coach Barry Weaver. "I think we probably swam 50 percent personal bests, and still ended up in third place. ... If you leave your best swims in the pool, that's all we can ask them to do."
The Patriot girls took the lead with a solid diving performance, and stayed ahead the rest of the way.
Hudson protected the slim lead with her championship swim in the 100-yard backstroke. She fought off Highland senior Kelsey Kanable by less than a half second to win in 1-minute, 7.05 seconds.
Jay County then took three of the top five positions in the breaststroke, led by Cori Vormohr's runner-up finish in 1:10.49. That left just one event, and the Patriots managed third and fourth in the 400 freestyle relay to preserve the win.
In addition to her victory, Hudson was also second in the 200 individual medley at 2:27.63. She also teamed with Vormohr, Michelle Landfair and Eme Miller for second in both the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay with times of 1:58.15 and 1:47.59 respectively.
"Mary Hudson has just done an unbelievable job all year long," said Slavik. "She won the fly the other night, she's won the IM several times, she wins the backstroke, she'll win the breaststroke. Just all the way across the board she's a fantastic swimmer."
Steven Kelly continued his success in OAC diving, winning the conference crown for the third consecutive year. He led by less than a point after the first 11 dives, but dominated the finals to win by nearly 13 with a score of 351.4.
"Steven dove real well," said Weaver. "It wasn't his best effort for 11 dives, but he was consistent when he needed to be. He hit some good solid dives."
Miller successfully defended his championship in the 200 individual medley, taking first place by more than two seconds in 2:02.75. He was also the runner-up in the 100 butterfly at 54.02.
Miller, Aaron Hudson, Neal Fennig and Derik Lucas teamed to take second in the 200 medley relay in 1:47.3.
"Sam swam a good race in the IM," said Weaver. "I liked the way he attacked it. He went after it instead of trying to let the race come to him."
In addition to her effort in the breaststroke, Vormohr was also the runner-up in the 100 butterfly. She reached the wall in 1:00.51, less than four tenths of a second behind Connersville's Ellie Weber.
Eme Miller also earned a runner-up finish with her time of 1:01.61 in the 100 freestyle.
Jay County's meet-changing diving effort came with Megan Taylor leading the way with a runner-up finish at 307.1 points. April Acker took third, and Tricia Skiver was fifth.
"The divers again, finishing two, three, five, that puts us ahead after the diving break, and we didn't look back from there. We stayed ahead ... for the rest of the meet," said Slavik. "This whole season the two biggest things we've had going for us is we've had a solid diving crew ... and our depth. We may not win the race, but we're outscoring our opponents."
Other than Miller and Kelly, the only Patriot boy to finish in the top two of an individual event was Aaron Hudson. He took second in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:03.91.[[In-content Ad]]
Jay County High School won just a single event Saturday. But they're overall effort was enough to lift them to the OAC title by 10 points over Connersville.
The host Patriots, led by freshman Mary Hudson's victory, scored 412 points to edge the Spartans. Anderson Highland was third at 356, and Muncie Southside totaled 86.
"Wow, what a meet," said first-year JCHS girls coach Matt Slavik. "I knew it was going to be a close one. ... I was pretty stressed out the whole time.
"The girls again swam well. We only won one event ... but we placed three swimmers high in almost every other event. Again ... our depth came through to help us. In the head we had two relays finish third/fourth, and that was just enough ...
"The girls set this at the beginning of the year as one of the goals they wanted to accomplish. ... And they went out and did it. ... It's a great accomplishment. I'm really proud of the girls. I can't praise them enough."
Jay County's boys, with titles from Steven Kelly and Sam Miller, placed third with 311.5 points. Highland won at 437.5, with Connersville second (417) and Southside fourth (116).
"It's one of those bitter-sweet things," said JCHS boys coach Barry Weaver. "I think we probably swam 50 percent personal bests, and still ended up in third place. ... If you leave your best swims in the pool, that's all we can ask them to do."
The Patriot girls took the lead with a solid diving performance, and stayed ahead the rest of the way.
Hudson protected the slim lead with her championship swim in the 100-yard backstroke. She fought off Highland senior Kelsey Kanable by less than a half second to win in 1-minute, 7.05 seconds.
Jay County then took three of the top five positions in the breaststroke, led by Cori Vormohr's runner-up finish in 1:10.49. That left just one event, and the Patriots managed third and fourth in the 400 freestyle relay to preserve the win.
In addition to her victory, Hudson was also second in the 200 individual medley at 2:27.63. She also teamed with Vormohr, Michelle Landfair and Eme Miller for second in both the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay with times of 1:58.15 and 1:47.59 respectively.
"Mary Hudson has just done an unbelievable job all year long," said Slavik. "She won the fly the other night, she's won the IM several times, she wins the backstroke, she'll win the breaststroke. Just all the way across the board she's a fantastic swimmer."
Steven Kelly continued his success in OAC diving, winning the conference crown for the third consecutive year. He led by less than a point after the first 11 dives, but dominated the finals to win by nearly 13 with a score of 351.4.
"Steven dove real well," said Weaver. "It wasn't his best effort for 11 dives, but he was consistent when he needed to be. He hit some good solid dives."
Miller successfully defended his championship in the 200 individual medley, taking first place by more than two seconds in 2:02.75. He was also the runner-up in the 100 butterfly at 54.02.
Miller, Aaron Hudson, Neal Fennig and Derik Lucas teamed to take second in the 200 medley relay in 1:47.3.
"Sam swam a good race in the IM," said Weaver. "I liked the way he attacked it. He went after it instead of trying to let the race come to him."
In addition to her effort in the breaststroke, Vormohr was also the runner-up in the 100 butterfly. She reached the wall in 1:00.51, less than four tenths of a second behind Connersville's Ellie Weber.
Eme Miller also earned a runner-up finish with her time of 1:01.61 in the 100 freestyle.
Jay County's meet-changing diving effort came with Megan Taylor leading the way with a runner-up finish at 307.1 points. April Acker took third, and Tricia Skiver was fifth.
"The divers again, finishing two, three, five, that puts us ahead after the diving break, and we didn't look back from there. We stayed ahead ... for the rest of the meet," said Slavik. "This whole season the two biggest things we've had going for us is we've had a solid diving crew ... and our depth. We may not win the race, but we're outscoring our opponents."
Other than Miller and Kelly, the only Patriot boy to finish in the top two of an individual event was Aaron Hudson. He took second in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:03.91.[[In-content Ad]]
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