Vormohr headed to state (02/07/08)

Friday night's trip to Indianapolis has been a long time coming.

Cori Vormohr has been winning races and breaking records for years, dreaming of a trip to the state finals long before she reached high school. Now, after two seasons of battling in the daunting sectional hosted by state-ranked Homestead, the Jay County High School junior has made her dream a reality.

Back at her home pool Saturday, Vormohr won both the 100-yard butterfly and 100 breaststroke sectional titles to earn a double trip to the state meet.

She will swim in the preliminary round of the IHSAA Girls Swimming State Finals Friday beginning at 6 p.m. The finals will continue on Saturday.

"This is a goal that's always been set," said Vormohr before practice Wednesday afternoon. "It's probably the thing I've looked forward to most.

"It feels really good."

After dominating both of her events at the sectional meet, Vormohr faces a much taller test.

She is the No. 28 seed, out of 32, in the breaststroke with her time of 1:09.30. Her sectional swim of 59.99 in the butterfly has her seeded 29th out of 32.

Only the top 16 swimmers advance to Saturday's finals and consolation finals. The No. 16 seed times in Vormohr's two events are 1:07.48 and 58.35 respectively.

"She has a couple of goals that are time oriented as opposed to placing," said JCHS coach Bev Arnold, who will be taking an athlete to the state meet for the first time since 2003. "If the times get her in the top 16 then that's going to be icing on the cake."

Vormohr's time goals are simple, but not easy. She's looking to break both of her school records.

The 1:09.3 in the breaststroke from the sectional meet is the school mark in that event. She set the butterfly record at 59.98 - the first time in school history a female broke the 1-minute mark in a 100-meter event other than the freestyle - at the Olympic Athletic Conference championships before falling one hundredth of a second short of that record in the sectional.

"I want to go in with a positive attitude and have fun, just enjoy it," said Vormohr. "It's nerve-wracking, but I've been swimming against these girls all my life. It's a big swim meet, but you've just got to go in there with a positive attitude and do the things you do at every other meet and swim your race."

While this will be her first trip to the high school state finals, Vormohr is no stranger to the natatorium in Indianapolis. She has competed there repeatedly during her years of swimming, the last time coming in March at the senior state meet for the Jay County Winter Swim Team.

"It's just cool because that's where the Olympic trials are at," she said. "You always hear about the Natatorium around the world. It's a famous pool."

Both Vormohr and Arnold credit off-season work as a big reason for reaching new heights this season.

In addition to team practice, Vormohr has been lifting and conditioning throughout the year to try to avoid the peaks and valleys common in high school sports. Arnold also said she thinks her star swimmer is more on top of her mental game than ever.

"She's done some things a little differently this year," said Arnold. "She's done a lot for dry land training on her own, and she started that in the summer. ... It's a combination of everything."

The last JCHS athlete to compete in the state finals in girls swimming and diving was Sarah Miller, who finished sixth in the state in diving in the 2004 season.

The 200 freestyle relay team of Abby Arnold, Janelle Johnson, Rachel McKee and Megan Franks reached the state meet in 2002, and Arnold was the last individual swimmer to make it as she competed in the 50 and 100 freestyle in 2001.

"It's great. In fact, at the diving regional, that's what I said to some of the other coaches, 'It's good to be back,'" said Arnold of the effort from Vormohr, who also holds school records in the 200 freestyle, 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle. "It'll be great to have somebody in again."

"I want her to have a good meet so she comes out of the water after those swims saying, 'I did the best I could.' No regrets is what I want her to have. I want it to be a real positive experience for her."[[In-content Ad]]