Middle school boys capture swim title

The boys have had an up-and-down season.

They finished the year with a 3-3-1 record.

But when it came time for the conference championships, they stepped up in a big way.

The Jay County middle school boys swim team won only one event, but its depth helped it capture the Allen County Athletic Conference championships on Saturday at JCHS.

Jay County scored 352 points to edge runner-up Bluffton, which set eight new conference records and totaled 335. Adams Central was third with 329 and South Adams placed fourth with 226.

Bluffton’s girls won with 447.5 points, ahead of South Adams (299.5), Adams Central (295) and Jay County (244).

Ben Nichols, Nico Minnich, Sammy Crump and Juan Pablo Wiggins of Jay County combined to set a new conference record in winning the 200-yard freestyle relay in 2 minutes, 1.11 seconds.

Wiggins also added a pair of second-place finishes in the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle races. Crump was third in the 100 freestyle and fifth in 50 freestyle, Minnich placed fourth in the 50 freestyle and sixth in 100 freestyle, and Nichols was second in the 100 breaststroke and fifth in 50 butterfly.

Elayna Paro and Rieley Brewster earned the only victories for the Jay County girls. Paro won the 100 individual medley in 1:10.46, then followed it up with a 100 breaststroke victory with a time of 1:20.8. Brewster was first in the 400 freestyle in 5:02.74.

South Adams’ Blaine Harruff won diving for the Starfire boys with a score of 94.25. It was the only Starfire victory.

Finishing in the top eight for the Jay County girls were Kelly Strausburg (third – 100 breaststroke), Avalyne Carter (sixth – 100 freestyle, eighth – 50 freestyle), Abilene Hough (seventh – 50 freestyle, eighth – 400 freestyle), Alexyn Longsworth (eighth – 200 freestyle), Abby Johnson (eighth – 50 butterfly) and Brewster (second – 50 freestyle).

Also placing in the top eight for the Jay County boys were Griffin Mann (fourth – 100 IM, fourth – 100 breaststroke), Konner Sommers (fourth – 100 backstroke, sixth – 50 butterfly), Alex Moser (sixth – 400 freestyle, seventh – 200 freestyle), Josh Monroe (sixth – 100 breaststroke, seventh – 100 IM) and Mitchell Brown (eighth – 50 butterfly).

Starfire girls finishing in the top eight were Mallory Hirschy (second – 100 freestyle, fifth – 200 freestyle), Alexa Summersett (second – 50 butterfly, third – 100 IM), Maggie Nussbaum (second – 100 breaststroke, seventh – 100 IM), Lexi Lahr (fifth – 50 freestyle), Makayla Hammerick (fifth – 100 backstroke), Addisyn Hunley (sixth – 100 backstroke), Claire Burson (sixth – 200 freestyle, seventh – 400 freestyle), Saho Yonesawa (seventh – 100 backstroke, eighth – 100 IM), Michelle Sandoval (seventh – 50 butterfly) and Clancy Hawbaker (eighth – 100 freestyle)

Top eight finishes for the South Adams boys included Isaac Gorrell (third – 50 freestyle, fifth – 400 freestyle), Alec Neuenschwander (fourth – 200 freestyle, 50 butterfly), Aidan Von Gunten (sixth – 100 backstroke), Kaleb Stevens (seventh – 50 freestyle) and Blaine Duff (seventh – 50 butterfly).