Keen sixth at state

INDIANAPOLIS — Before swimming in the championship heat of the 100-yard backstroke on Saturday, James Keen said he didn’t want to finish eighth.
As the Jay County High School senior touched the wall at Indiana University Natatorium in the final race of his career, he first took a breath and then looked up at the scoreboard for his time.
It read “51.42.”
More importantly, he looked at the number next to his name representing the place in which he finished.
Sixth.
The seventh-seeded Keen pumped his fist, showed a little smile, then shook the hand of longtime JCHS coach Barry Weaver.
His career ended right where he wanted it to — on the podium at the state finals.
“I’m so happy,” said Keen, who becomes the first Jay County boy to medal since Caleb Bye was fifth in diving in 2003 and the first JCHS swimmer since Jason Arnold earned two in 1990. “If I would have added a minute onto that time I still would have been happy.
“The only thing that matters is that I medaled, and that is what I have been working for. Ever since I got into high school I wanted to medal at state. Knowing I ended my senior year doing that, it’s just great.”
It was a little bit easier for him than it was on Friday night during the preliminaries.
He got off to a good start, stayed under the water for most of the first 25 yards and was clear of the lane markers — he grazed them on a few occasions during the prelims. He had a solid first turn Saturday, and was in sixth after the first 50 yards.
During the second half of the race, Keen kept his position, kicking hard and spinning his arms trying to ensure he would meet his goal and not finish eighth.
“Today was a good culmination of a great career for him,” said Weaver, who coached for the final time in his 40-year career Saturday. “He did an outstanding job of picking himself and getting in there.”
It was a close race across the board.
Wilson Beckman of Munster won the championship with a time of 49.21, a mere 0.04 ahead of top seed Joe Young of Hamilton Southeastern.
Zionsville’s Tyler Harmon was third in 50.67, with Jeffersonville’s Evan Shive and Nathaniel Bledsoe of Carmel behind him in 50.74 and 50.79 respectively.
Keen, who swam in the lane next to Harmon, was 0.07 seconds faster than Alex King of Evansville Reitz and 18 hundredths of a second ahead of Michigan City’s Timothy Schoof.
“I’m just glad I could keep a good solid pace going that whole race,” Keen said. “I wanted fifth, but sixth is good.”
Keen becomes the fourth medalist in Patriot history under Weaver, who said having the senior stand on the podium during his final season as a coach is a good feeling.
“It’s real sweet being toward the end of a career,” Weaver said. “Over the course of 40 years we’ve only had four people on the guys team that have scored at the state meet.
“To have one of them in your last year is pretty sweet.”
Keen went more in depth as to why it was special for him to earn a medal in Weaver’s final season.
“I definitely wanted to do it because I know he stuck around for me,” he said. “I know if it wasn’t for me, he would have been gone a long time ago. I’m just glad that he decided to stick it out. He wanted to see me medal and he did.
“I have to give all the credit to him. He’s a great coach, he’s a great man and he’s an even better role model. I’m really happy that I got to share these last four years with him and his last moment (coaching) with him.”