Patriots dominated (01/28/2009)

The snow didn't faze the Patriot swimmers.

With flakes continuing to fall outside throughout Tuesday's meet, the Jay County High School swim teams buried the visiting Blackford Bruins in their final home meet of the regular season. The girls team won every event on the way to a 241-52 victory, and Sam Miller earned his third school record to lead the boys team to a 209-59 win.

Miller's effort in his only individual event of the night highlighted the meet for the Patriots. The senior broke the previous record in the 100-yard breaststroke by nearly a second with his time of 1-minute, 2.18 seconds.

"I was pretty excited," said Miller, who broke the record held by his junior teammate Aaron Hudson. "I can't wait ... (because) I want to see Aaron swim a 59.

"It's just fun. It's like an intra-team rivalry.

"I might be able to beat his record, but I know the next meet he's going to come back and destroy it."

"That was kind of a motivation thing, we hope," agreed JCHS boys coach Barry Weaver. "Sam wanted to try it one more time, and Aaron said, 'I'll take that challenge.'"

Miller also owns the school marks in both the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly.

Girls team leaders Cori Vormohr, a senior, and Mary Hudson, a freshman, each won a pair of individual events.

Hudson led a sweep of the breaststroke in 1:15.04 and was also first in the 200 freestyle at 2:20.69. Vormohr took first place in the 50 and 100 freestyle with times of 25.93 and 58.66 respectively.

They also teamed with Michelle Landfair and Eme Miller to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:48.25.

"Again Mary Hudson stands out," said Patriot girls coach Matt Slavik. "She went out and swam the 200 free hard, swam a solid breaststroke and then hit her personal best split in the 200 free relay."

Senior Derik Lucas was the lone double winner for the boys team as he paced a sweep in the 50 freestyle in 26.44. He also won the longest race of the evening, finishing the 500 freestyle in 6:14.66.

"He's pretty pumped. He's quite a guy," said Weaver. "From not swimming as a freshman to winning two events his last (home) meet is pretty cool."

Lucas, Miller, Hudson and Neal Fennig teamed to take the 200 medley relay in 1:55.77, and Miller, Fennig, senior Chance Milligan and Wiley Young won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:41.66.

Eme Miller took the top spot in the 100 backstroke in 1:13.6 for the JCHS girls team, and she was also second in the 50 freestyle behind Vormohr. Michelle Landfair finished first in the 500 freestyle at 6:38.7.

Michaela Long powered a sweep in the 100 freestyle in 1:18.77, and Jocelyn Mann led another sweep in the 200 individual medley with a winning time of 2:46.58.

Megan Taylor won the diving competition with 193.05 points.

Long, Mann, Landfair and senior Christa Castillo took first in the 400 freestyle relay in 4:34.3, and the all-freshman team of Marissa Murrell, Laura Bowen, Katie Simmons and Michelle Bruggeman won the 200 medley relay in 2:16.71.

"In general, everybody was swimming events they weren't comfortable with tonight," said Slavik. "We needed to shake things up going into sectional."

Senior Lauren Murrell added runner-up efforts in the 200 freestyle and 100 breaststroke, and senior Briann Saxman turned in a career-best time to finish off the Patriots' breaststroke sweep.

"This senior group is great," said Slavik, whose team is now 10-4 and has won both the Connersville Invitational and the Olympic Athletic Conference Tournament this year. "I've been fortunate to come in with a such a close-knit group of girls. ... We're the epitome of a team, and it starts with our seniors. We are definitely going to miss them."

Milligan posted a time of 2:29.9 to win the 200 individual medley for the boys team, and he was also third in the 100 breaststroke. Young, a freshman, took the top spot in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:13.04 in addition to his third-place effort in the 100 freestyle.

Hudson earned a victory with a time of 1:04.14 in the 100 backstroke, and Steven Kelly posted 222.05 points to win diving. Senior Lance VanSkyock, who was second in the 200 freestyle and third in the 500 freestyle, joined senior Nathan Cain, Richard Osterholt and Jared Valentine to win the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 4:01.47.

The victory was the ninth of the season for the boys team, which has a chance to break the school record of 12 it tied last season.

"That whole bunch has been a lot of fun," said Weaver of his seniors. "They've got a chance to win 13. A large part of that success is those senior guys. They're a special bunch."

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