Patriots defeat Blackford (01/26/05)

PORTLAND — Back-to-backs are never easy. But, the Jay County swim teams made it work Tuesday.

The Patriots, having competed in the lengthy Olympic Athletic Conference tournament Monday, came back with a pair of victories over the Blackford Bruins. The girls team improved to 4-7 with a 116-68 victory, and the boys picked up their second win by a 102-75 final.

“We had a really good night tonight,” said Jay County girls coach Bev Arnold after her team surpassed last season’s win total with the victory. “Kind of unintentionally I ... mixed some people up in some events. ... It ended up creating some really nice races I thought, and pulled some people to some really nice times.”

Lindsey Vesperry turned in one of those excellent times in her first attempt at swimming the 200-yard individual medley. She and teammate Amber Kelly were one-two all the way, with Vesperry posting the team’s best time of the season (2-minutes, 40.03 seconds) to take first.

Vesperry was also the only Patriot girl to be in on four victories on the evening as she added a win in the 100-yard freestyle in 1:01.85.

She joined Kelly, Julie Sours and Brittany Laux to finish first in the 200-yard medley relay in 2:16.31 and teamed with Kelly, Sours and Andrea Collins for first in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:58.57.

Ashley Imel, Ashley Horn, Laux and Collins completed a relay sweep by taking the 400-yard freestyle relay in 4:46.00.

The meet was also the final one at home for the seniors — Imel, Sours and Laux.

Imel finished her career at the JCHS pool by taking a couple of close races for a pair of individual victories. She won the 100-yard butterfly in 1:20.35, barely edging Blackford’s Melanie Rarey at the wall, and rallied late in the 500-yard freestyle to win in 6:41.97.

Sours had to fight for her final win at home as well, holding off teammate Andrea Collins in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 29.57 seconds. It marked the first time this year Sours had broken the 30-second barrier.

“They lead in a quiet manner,” said Arnold of her three seniors, all of whom will be four-year letter winners. “They’re all kind, considerate people. They would do anything for a teammate.”

Horn added the other Jay County victory, fighting off Ashlee Fear of the Bruins in the 200-yard freestyle to win by 18 hundredths of a second in 2:33.73.

Seniors Matt Peterson and Derick Lee led the Jay County boys as they each were in on four victories.

Peterson, who has been the Patriots’ sprinter this year, continued in the 50-yard freestyle while jumping to a long-distance event as well. He took the 50-yard freestyle in 25.14, with teammate Joseph Vormohr rallying in the second 25 yards to finish second.

He also cruised to a win by nearly 30 seconds in the 500-yard freestyle in 6:09.87.

Lee, who won Jay County’s lone OAC title a night earlier, took the 200-yard individual medley in 2:27.22 and the 100-yard freestyle in 54.17.

Peterson, Lee, Vormohr and Scott Walker teamed to take the 200-yard medley relay in 1:56.72. Lee, Vormohr, Josh Hawn and Matt Eldridge took the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:42.14, and Peterson, Hawn, Walker and Tom McCord were first in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 4:00.81.

“We won a lot of events, which is a good thing, especially after backing up against the conference meet last night,” said Patriot boys coach Barry Weaver. “(Winning all three relays is) an indication that some of the young guys are starting to get stronger and do their part to score for the team.”

One of those is Tom McCord, who won the 200-yard freestyle in his first try and just missed victory in the backstroke. The freshman took the 200 in 2:13.06, finishing just ahead of teammate Josh Hawn.

He surged at the end of the backstroke, just running out of room as he finished in 1:06.78 behind Blackford’s Sean Fischer (1:06.41).

Another freshman, Matt Eldridge, took the 100-yard butterfly in 1:04.36. Vormohr added the other Jay County win in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:12.95.

“Tom McCord continues to improve and impress me,” said Weaver. “... his start needs a little work yet, but his turns and his desire to finish strong are really strong. That’s what we like.”[[In-content Ad]]