Patriots suffer 1st loss to Adams Central (11/25/03)

MONROE — Jay County’s girls swim team had perhaps its best overall meet of the young season Monday. But, it wasn’t enough to keep the Adams Central Jets from accomplishing a couple of firsts.

Adams Central scored its first ever victory over the Patriots, 96-90, and handed them their first defeat of the season.

Still, Jay County coach Bev Arnold said she was happy with the effort throughout the lineup.

“Times were good tonight,” she said. “We had good swims all the way through. That’s what it’s all about.

“This was a good meet because each person had good competition. Each girl had a swimmer who was comparable to their times that they could compete with.”

The tightness of the individual competition showed up on the scoreboard, with neither team holding a lead of more than eight points. Adams Central was up 88-84 heading into the final and deciding event, the 400-meter freestyle relay.

The Patriots’ only chance to win was to take first place in that final race, but Adams Central took the early lead. Steph York was just ahead on the first leg of the race, with Vanessa Wilkins of Jay County close behind.

Wilkins stayed close enough for sophomore Lindsey Vesperry to take the lead on her second leg of the race, but the Patriots couldn’t hang on. They finished second in the race by just over six seconds in a time of 5-minutes, 11.18 seconds.

“We had to win the final relay, and we had to get third,” said Arnold. “The girls knew it, and they did the best they could.”

That was the story of the night for Jay County (2-1) as it eked out points wherever it could with the Jets taking first place in eight out of the 12 events.

Senior Rachel McKee was responsible for two of the team’s four victories.

McKee battled Cassie Lehman in the 50-meter freestyle, holding the slimmest of leads at the turn. She increased her small lead in the second 25 meters, taking the victory by more than a second in 31.27.

Her time, when converted from meters to yards, was a personal best.

While never pulling away in the 100-meter freestyle, McKee controlled the entire race. She won by more than three seconds over Cami VanderHart in 1:16.08.

Senior Sarah Miller added another victory as she extended her dual meet undefeated streak in diving with a score of 219.20. She has not lost a dual meet diving competition since her freshman season.

The other victory came from Ashley Imel in the 100-meter butterfly. It was a tight race throughout, with Imel never holding much more than an arm’s-length lead over Natalie Mitchel.

Imel held on for the victory by less than one second with a time of 1:23.79.

Lindsay Landis scored a pair of individual wins for Adams Central in the 200-meter individual medley and the 100-meter breaststroke. Mitchel was first in the 200-meter freestyle, VanderHart took the win in the 100-meter backstroke and Naomi Frey won the 500-meter freestyle.

Arnold noted the importance of her team’s four consecutive wins, which lifted the Patriots from a 26-20 deficit to a 59-51 lead through seven events.

“Ashley Imel winning the 500 was big,” she said. “She had true grit there going after that.”

Arnold said she was also impressed by her team’s ability to go hard from top to bottom. The Patriots kept the meet close by picking up fourth and fifth place points, helping to make up for losses in all three relays.

Jay County had three of the top five finishers in seven of the nine individual events.

“We got in there for some fifth place points I wasn’t sure we could get,” said Arnold. “After tonight our new and less experienced people have to know how important they are to this team. Those kids are real integral.”

The Patriots will try to get back on the winning track Tuesday, Dec. 2 when they host Bluffton at 6 p.m. The Jay County boys team will open their season against Bluffton at the meet as well.[[In-content Ad]]