Starfires uphend Patriots

BERNE — For the 10 previous races, the Starfires and Patriots were too close for comfort.

The host Stars led by just nine points heading into the final event of the evening.

With every stroke of the 400-yard freestyle relay, the home team did something it wasn’t able to do for the previous two hours.

Create separation.

Ashley LeFever, Isabel Von Gunten, Olivia Von Gunten and Ashton Klopp combined to win the 400 freestyle relay by more than 17 seconds, putting an exclamation point on the South Adams High School girls swim team’s 100-85 victory over the Jay County Patriots.

“It was exciting,” said SAHS coach Andy Lehman, whose boys team also defeated Jay County, 101-73. “We knew It was going to be close tonight. I think it speaks to our goal though. All season long we’ve just been working meet by meet. We knew this was going to be a challenging meet for us and we definitely tackled that challenge.”

Ashton Klopp, a South Adams senior who had never beaten Jay County, was all smiles and laughs after her team completed the victory.

“It feels pretty awesome,” she said. Klopp helped the 400 freestyle relay team win in 3 minutes, 54.82 seconds and also teamed with her twin sister Brette, Audrey Burson and Caroline Klopper to win the 200 medley relay in 1:57.61. She had a pair of individual wins too, in the 200 freestyle (2:07.41) and 500 freestyle (5:37.97).

“I really can’t stop smiling right now,” Ashton Klopp added. “I mean, we knew it was going to be a tough meet. Some of our girls didn’t swim their best, but that’s OK because we made it up. It’s just really exciting.”

South Adams, which moves to 7-0 on the year, also got individual wins from LeFever in the 50 freestyle (26.25 seconds) and Burson in the 100 breaststroke (1:16.23). Burson held off Patriot duo Jamie Valentine and Vivienne Kunkler, both of whom were less than a second behind. The Starfire 200 freestyle relay team of Brette Klopp, Olivia Von Gunten, LeFever and Kloepper also won in 1:48.6.

“It was a close meet,” said JCHS coach Matt Slavik, whose team is the two-time defending Allen County Athletic Conference and sectional champion. “I feel it was a lot closer than what the scoreboard shows. We had a lot of good swims today. Some didn’t quite go the way I expected and other races went better than expected.

“Coming in here and keeping it close for the whole meet shows me a lot of stuff about our team.”

Juniors Alex Bader and Elizabeth McDowell each earned a pair of victories for the Patriots, who fall to 4-2 on the year. Bader won the 200 individual medley by more than 10 seconds in 2:16.65, then finished first in the 100 butterfly in an even minute. McDowell edged Kloepper for first in the 100 freestyle, and out-touched Brette Klopp in the 100 backstroke for a come-from-behind victory.

“The 100 backstroke was huge,” said Slavik, whose team’s only other win was Samantha Link’s first-place finish in diving with 175.1 points. “I expected to give them the win in that race, and then (McDowell) came down and made a race of it. Then our other girls Kaitlyn Hicks (fifth) and Jenna Dunfee (third) both dropping time and scoring points.

“Same as 100 breaststroke the other day was big, 100 back was big tonight.”

It appeared to be a turning point in the meet for the JCHS girls, but Burson’s victory in the 100 breaststroke and the Starfires winning the 400 freestyle relay kept the Patriots in check.

“Now we have a lot of momentum on our side,” said Ashton Klopp, whose team finished second in the sectional to Jay County by seven points last season. “Going into this meet we knew it was going to be super, super tough. Now the girls understand we can actually do this. We can really be a powerhouse. I think that is going to carry us when we go into conference and sectional.”

Zach Colpaert won both freestyle sprints for the SAHS boys (3-2). He was first in the 50 freestyle in 23.42 seconds, and had a time of 52.85 seconds in the 100 freestyle. Ethan Duff claimed a victory in the 200 individual medley in 2:31.31, Paul Neuenschwander won the 100 breaststroke in 1:14.46, Zach Teeple placed first in the 100 backstroke in 1:01.39 and Kam Yoder surged in the final 15 yards to triumph over Jay County’s Tayler Smeltzer in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:08.53.

“It was an awesome time for him tonight,” Lehman said of Yoder, who was less than a second faster than Smeltzer.

Teeple, Neuenschwander, Yoder and Colpaert teamed for a victory in the 200 medley relay in 1:53.99 before Teeple, Yoder and Colpaert joined Trey Lehman to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:39.85. Brayden Collingsworth, Lehman, Neuenschwander and Duff were first in the 400 freestyle relay in 4:10.17. Freshman Tyler Yoder held off two Patriots to win diving with a score of 159.1 points.

Christopher McDowell earned the only individual wins for the JCHS boys, who fall to 0-5 on the season. He had a time of 2:02.12 to win the 200 freestyle, and followed it with a 500 freestyle victory in 5:23.65.

“When you get that close, there are certain things that could have went the other way,” Slavik said. “I think we’re swimming good and I think we’re swimming better than what they thought we’d give them.

“I’m happy for that. I am proud of both the boys and girls tonight.”