Patriots place fifth at sectional (02/19/07)

FORT WAYNE - With the fourth-ranked team around, state berths were going to be hard for anyone else to come by. And Jay County and South Adams were both shut out.

But the Patriots turned in an outstanding day none-the-less. After a season marked by close losses, including defeats to Marion, South Adams, Bellmont and Bluffton, they surpassed all of those teams for a fifth-place finish at the 11-team Homestead sectional. They scored 104 points at the meet at Summitt Middle School, 30 behind fourth-place Norwell and 13 ahead of sixth-place Bluffton.

South Adams was ninth with 81.

The host Spartans, ranked No. 4 in the state, won easily with 462 points as they claimed three of the top six spots in every event and swept the top three in six of nine. Huntington North was a distant second with 166, and Oak Hill was three points behind.

After finishing first in the preliminaries of the 50-yard freestyle Thursday, Justin Klopp of the Starfires entered Saturday's action with the best chance at a state berth. But, he dropped to third in the event and was unable to reach the state qualifying time standard.

Klopp, a sophomore, finished the 50 freestyle in 22.32 seconds, behind Adam Lill and Anderson Whipp of Homestead. He was one of just three athletes to break the Spartans' hold on the top three positions in the individual events.

He also placed fifth in the 100 freestyle with a time of 49.34.

State qualifying times in Klopp's events were 21.94 in the 50 freestyle and 48.39 in the 100 freestyle.

The top effort from the Patriots came in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Sophomores Sam Miller and Chance Milligan teamed with junior Tom McCord and senior Andres Ayesta to place third behind Homestead and Huntington North in a season-best 1-minute, 35.15 seconds.

McCord was the only Jay County swimmer to compete in a championship race in an individual event Saturday. He turned in a fourth-place effort behind a trio from Homestead with a time of 1:55.65 in the 200 freestyle.

Freshman Alex Habegger gave South Adams a second swimmer in a championship race. He took fifth place at 1:04.03 in the 100 breaststroke.

In addition to leading the top relay effort of the day for the Patriots, Miller and McCord joined Scott Walker and Chance Milligan for fourth place in the 400 freestyle relay at 3:31.95.

Only one of South Adams' three relay teams placed among the top six, with Klopp, Habeggger, John Gresla and Justin Sommer finishing fifth with a time of 1:47.10 in the 200 medley relay.

McCord took seventh in the 100 freestyle, Miller was seventh in the 100 butterfly and eighth in the 50 freestyle and Walker placed 12th in the 500 freestyle. Others placing among the top 12 for the Patriots were Steven Kelly (eighth - diving), Aaron Hudson (10th - 100 breaststroke, 10th - 100 butterfly) and Donny McCowan (11th - diving)

Jay County finished seventh in the 200 medley relay.

Habegger added an eighth-place effort in the 100 butterfly for the Starfires. Also in the top 12 for South Adams were Gresla (eighth - 500 freestyle), Sommer (11th - 500 freestyle), and Kyle Affolder (ninth - 100 breaststroke, 12th - 200 individual medley).

The Starfires finished ninth in the 400 freestyle relay and 11th in the 200 freestyle relay.[[In-content Ad]]