Record highlights Jay win (12/23/2008)

During the 500-yard freestyle, senior Cori Vormohr and junior Michelle Landfair made their way to the far end of the pool. They were soon joined by freshman teammates Mary Hudson and Eme Miller.

The meet was barely halfway over, but all four had already completed three events. It was time to focus on the fourth.

After about a half-hour of stretching and pep talks the Jay County High School quartet accomplished its goal, shattering the school record in the 400 freestyle relay.

The new record highlighted a double win for the Patriots over the visiting Delta Eagles - 196-114 in the girls competition and 186-118 in the boys.

"It was a great swim," said JCHS girls coach Matt Slavik of the record. "We knew we had a good shot at it all year long. Everything came together tonight. Everybody swam their personal best during the relay and ended up knocking out the record. ...

"We beat it by 2.7 seconds roughly. That's pretty outstanding."

Hudson got the record-setting relay off to a quick start, and Michelle Landfair finished off the second leg just under the two-minute mark at 1-minute, 59.21 seconds. Miller lapped the rest of the field just 50 yards into her third leg of the race, and Vormohr brought home the victory in a time of 3:55.27.

The previous record of 3:57.95 set by Janelle Johnson, Lisa Weaver, Taylor Fullenkamp and Abby Arnold stood for just under a decade. It marks the fifth school record for Vormohr - she holds the 200 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 500 freestyle and 100 breaststroke marks - and the first for Landfair, Hudson and Miller.

Confidence was as big a key as anything in the record-breaking effort for the group, which also won the 200 medley relay in 1:58.79.

"We were set up for it," said Landfair. "We had the record before we got in the pool."

Vormohr added a pair of individual wins with times of 25.37 in the 50 freestyle and 1:04.35 in the 100 butterfly. Hudson took the 200 individual medley in 2:29.21, and Miller was first in the 200 freestyle at 2.17.07.

Sam Miller and Aaron Hudson, older brothers of Eme and Mary respectively, each won a pair of events to lead the JCHS boys team.

Miller led a one-two Patriot finish in the 500 freestyle as he won in 5:14.34 with Nathan Cain in second place. He was also first in the 200 individual medley at 2:06.04.

Hudson dominated both of his events, taking the 100 butterfly in 58.8 and the 100 breaststroke at 1:05.71.

Miller and Hudson joined Neal Fennig and Derik Lucas to win the 200 medley relay in 1:49.55. Hudson, Lucas, Lance VanSkyock and Chance Milligan took the 200 relay in 1:39.87, and Miller, Fennig, Milligan and Wiley Young won the 400 freestyle relay at 3:41.17.

"We had some nice performances tonight," said Weaver. "It's always a positive thing to go into a break with a win. We like competing against Delta. It's been a history of good competition."

In addition to the record breakers, the Jay County girls also got another big effort from its diving trio.

Megan Taylor picked up another victory, edging teammate April Acker 196.8-158.2. Tricia Skiver added a third-place finish with 158.2 points.

Acker or Taylor have finished first for the Patriots (6-2) in every meet this year.

"Our divers all the way through every meet are scoring big points for us," said Slavik, crediting former JCHS diver Caleb Bye, a two-time state medalist who has returned as a coach this season. "All three of them are diving great. ...

"Megan has just worked her tail off this year, putting in the extra time to improve with her craft. ...

"Every meet we've got all three of them scoring points."

Slavik also pointed toward his team's depth as a reason for the record. With so much versatility in his lineup, the coach was able to pull Vormohr, Landfair, Hudson and Miller out of events in the second half meet to give them more rest before the 400 freestyle relay.

"Tonight was set up just for that reason," Slavik said. "We have depth to fill in the areas those girls (normally) swim later in the meet. ... They were able to score points and switch up events. Our depth is huge when it comes to that.

"We had a lot of good swims. Our relays were all solid throughout. Kelci Reed and Christa Castillo set goals for where they should be this season. They hit their goals tonight, Kelci in the 100 backstroke and Christa in the 100 freestyle."

Slavik also complimented freshmen Katie Simmons and Marissa Murrell, who finished third and fourth in the 200 individual medley.

Fennig continued his run of strong performances in the 100 backstroke, turning a one-second lead halfway through the race into a nearly four-second win in 1:03.54. Steven Kelly picked up the diving win by 11 points at 206.2.

Like Slavik, Weaver saw several bright spots other than his event winners.

"Caleb Hummel did a real nice job in the 200 and 500," he said. "He swam a couple seconds faster in both of them.

"Thomas Bowen is doing well and Charles Burress in the backstroke is really to come into his own. He keeps dropping time every meet."[[In-content Ad]]