Patriots' Miller falls just short of regional title (02/11/04)

The regional diving championship was within Sarah Miller’s grasp. Then, with the Jay County senior’s final dive, it slipped away.

Miller led through the first 10 rounds Tuesday only to finish second at the Kokomo diving regional with 381.90 points. Zionsville’s Emily Greisemer took the championship with 397.85 points, and Brittany McNulty of Lewis Cass was third at 381.55 points.

The top eight divers from the regional advance to the IHSAA state meet at the Indiana University Natatorium at IUPUI in Indianapolis Saturday at 9 a.m.

Miller held a slim lead the entire way Tuesday, holding a one-point advantage after the first round and taking a seven point lead into after the semifinals.

But, the title slipped away on her final dive — a forward 2 1/2 somersault in the tuck position. She scored twos and threes on the dive as she slipped to second place.

The best dive of the night for the three-time sectional champion was a back pike, for which she earned 7.5s and eights.

Jay boys finish .500

With back-to-back wins on back-to-back nights to win the regular season the Jay County boys swim team pulled back to .500. They finished the year Tuesday with a 107-65 victory over the Fort Wayne Northrop Bruins.

The win gave the Patriots (5-5) their sixth consecutive season with a record of .500 or better.

Jay County won 9 of 12 events Tuesday — including all three relays — with junior Matt Peterson grabbing a pair of individual wins.

Peterson edged classmate Derick Lee to win the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.98 seconds. Lee was second by just four hundredths of a second in 25.02.

Peterson added a win in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:05.09. He also teamed with Dave Johnston, Joseph Vormohr and Lee to win the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3-minutes, 57.03 seconds.

Lee dominated the 100-yard butterfly, winning by more than 20 seconds in 1:01.54. Johnston was first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:14.99.

Daniel Fisher continued to own the breaststroke for Jay County finishing his win in 1:10.61, Adam Miller was victorious in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:29.04 and Todd McCowan scored 172.90 to place first in diving.

Josh Hawn, Miller, Fisher and Johnston team for a first-place time of 1:45.16 in the 200-yard freestyle relay. McCowan, Vormohr, Scott Walker and Nick Ehrhart teamed to win the 200-yard medley relay in 1:54.70.

Jay County now has some time off before hosting the sectional preliminaries Thursday, Feb. 19 at 5:30 p.m.

Jay 4th at Norwell

Jay County’s middle school swim team placed fourth at the nine-team Norwell Invitational Tuesday with 143 points.

The host Knights tied for first place with Indian Springs with 320 points. South Adams was third with 231.

The Patriots had three victories on the night, with Cori Vormohr taking part in all three. She set a new team record as she won the 100-yard breaststroke, and was also first in the 50-yard butterfly.

Michelle Landfair, Kelci Reed, Briann Saxman and Vormohr teamed for a season-best time of 2:01.67 and a victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

Eagles win two

The West Jay sixth grade boys basketball teams scored a pair of wins Tuesday. The A team defeated Westside 48-16, and the B team scored a 14-10 victory.

The A team dominated the entire way, leading 13-6 after the first quarter. The Eagles outscored Westside 13-3 in the second quarter and 11-2 in the third in the dominating win.

Josh Beaty set the pace for West Jay with 19 points. Tayler Farmer also reached double figures with 10 points.

Derek Murphy paced the B team with eight points.[[In-content Ad]]