Jay wins two for seniors

The Patriots treated their elder teammates to a pair of wins Tuesday on senior night.
Jay County High School’s boys and girls swim teams both beat the Muncie Burris Owls and Blackford Bruins in a double-dual meet.
The girls squad moved to 14-1 by topping Burris 77-25 and Blackford 83-18. The boys team improved to 10-4 with a 64-37 victory against the Owls and an 85-13 win over the Bruins.
“Any time we can get a couple wins, we’re going to enjoy that,” said JCHS boys coach Barry Weaver, who was honored before the meet for his 40 years of coaching the swim team at Jay County. “Overall, I think the results are pretty good.”
James Keen, Ian Bentz and Cody White — all seniors — had their part in six of the Patriots’ nine wins on the boys side. Keen took first in both the 50-yard freestyle (23.4 seconds) and the 100 backstroke (56.27). White won the 200 individual medley (2 minutes, 14.27 seconds) and Bentz took home the win in the 100 freestyle (58.03).
They joined Sok Vormohr to win the 200 medley relay in 1:49.87, and then Keen and White teamed up with Travis Barton and Christopher McDowell to win the 400 freestyle relay in 3:44.85.
Ian Reynolds, Connor Daniels, Barton and Vormohr also won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:42.48 to give Jay County a clean sweep of the three relay races.
“For this time of year you really have to start putting those in place,” Weaver said of the relays. “Not only for the outcome of meets, but looking down the road (to sectional).
“We have to figure out which guys are going to be there.”
Christian Phillips scored a career-best 195.15 in diving to earn the victory, and Vormohr picked up the other win for the JCHS boys in the 100 butterfly (1:01).
“I’m really excited for Christian Phillips,” Weaver said, adding that he was happy to see the junior inching closer to the 200-point threshold. “He’s trying to get there and he’s upped his (degree of difficulty).”
JCHS girls coach Matt Slavik, whose team won all 12 events Tuesday night, also praised his divers and the improvements they’ve made throughout the season.
“They’re coming together pretty solid,” he said of Heather Stinson and Samantha Link. They placed first and second with scores of 193.55 and a 165.5, respectively. “We’ve had some ups and downs with our diving this season.
“The dives that these girls threw today was better than they’ve done all year as far as their (degree of difficulty). It was a good night on the board, that’s for sure.”
Senior Katy Smeltzer was one of three Patriot girls with two individual victories. She won the 100 freestyle (58.76) and the 100 backstroke (11:52). She also joined junior Ashley Mark and fellow seniors Laurann Schoenlein and Taylor Campbell to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:56.22.
“Our seniors this year have been getting the job done in the pool and showing leadership,” Slavik said of Smeltzer, Schoenlein and Campbell. “They’re leading not only by their words but the way they’re practicing every single day. It’s been a very refreshing year as far as that goes.”
Also earning two individual victories for the Jay County girls were sisters Sophie and Alex Bader. Sophie took first in the 200 individual medley (2:15.28) and the 100 breaststroke (1:13.18), and Alex won both the 50 freestyle (26.85) and the 100 butterfly (1:00.95).
Alex Bader joined Elizabeth McDowell, Jamie Valentine and Cassie Reno to get the victory in the 200 medley relay (2:05.23). Sophie teamed up with Abby Saxman, Anne Vormohr and Reno to win the 400 freestyle relay in 4:12.53.
Ashley Mark (500 freestyle – 6:06.33) and Vormohr (200 freestyle – 2:06.23) added the other two victories.
Mark’s win, however, wasn’t as clear-cut as the others for Jay County. The junior fell behind Bailey Windell of Muncie Burris by nearly two seconds with 100 yards to go. She overcame the deficit to take the lead by a tenth of a second heading into the final 50 yards, and won by 2.01 seconds.
“She kept her head about her, swam her race and split out the way she’s been doing in practice,” Slavik said. “She showed a lot of determination knowing that she had to hold her race in order to finish strong.”
Burris junior Emi Minnich, who swam her freshman and sophomore seasons for Jay County, finished third in 6:50.72, and added a fourth-place finish in the 200 IM.