Patriot girls runner-up

Not having a diver put the Patriots 40 points behind Saturday morning.

They were able to trim the deficit in half.

Jay County High School’s girls swim team was the runner-up in the Jay County Invitational it hosted Friday and Saturday.

Oak Hill won the meet with 433 points, 19 ahead of Jay County. New Bremen was a distant third with 340 points. Fort Recovery placed sixth out of 14 teams with 189 points.

Bluffton won the boys’ meet with 487 points, as Oak Hill (458.7) and Jay County (351) were second and third respectively. Fort Recovery totaled 99 points for eighth out of 11 squads.

Ashlyn Dow finish first in two events for JCHS, doing so in the 200-yard individual medley (2 minutes, 22.29 seconds) and the 100 freestyle (56.57 seconds). Eliza Bader won the 100 butterfly in 1:01.29, and Vivienne Kunkler beat the field in the 100 breaststroke with her time of 1:10.01.

The Patriots also won the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays.

Also finishing in the top three for the JCHS girls were Erica Hathaway (second – 200 freestyle, third – 500 freestyle) and Bader (second – 50 freestyle). The 400 freestyle relay was also third.

Cassy Martin of Fort Recovery had the Tribe’s only wins. She was victorious in the 50 freestyle (25.5 seconds) and 100 backstroke (1:03.84). 

Top three finishes for FRHS were Ava Bubp (third – 200 IM and 100 freestyle) and the 400 freestyle relay.

Skyler Myers of Jay County was second and third, respectively, in the 50 and 100 freestyle. Chase McFarland placed third in the 100 backstroke and 100 freestyle, as Tayler Smeltzer finished third in the 100 butterfly. Jay County’s 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays were both third as well.