Looking for leaders

Nearly every team has to replace seniors from the previous season.

The Patriot girls are no different.

But in addition to the void left by their presence, the Jay County High School girls swim team has to fill a bigger hole.

It needs leaders.

“We’ve been very fortunate in the last 10 years to have established leadership all the time and (this group) is used to following,” said JCHS swim coach Matt Slavik, whose girls squad opens the season Saturday morning in the Norwell Invitational. “Our biggest thing is to just to transition. ‘Hey, you know what, it’s your time. Regardless of where you’re at on the placement level, we need leadership to get us moving in that direction,’ and I think they’ll step up just fine.”

Perhaps the biggest hole left by the 2021 seniors comes from Eliza Bader, the program’s fourth member in the last five years to join the Ball State Cardinal swim team.

So Slavik will be relying on the fourth and final Bader sister — Mara, a junior — and the team’s three seniors step up and fill the hole.

“Mara Bader is taking more of a leadership role,” he said. “Elayna Paro is taking a leadership role. Emily Dues, Paulina Esquivel are seniors and are doing a good job of trying to adjust into team leaders.”

In past years, the Patriots have had a handful of girls each year who were able to carry the team by winning a significant amount of races each meet. Slavik said the dynamic of this year’s team will differ in the fact it will need a more well-rounded effort each meet.

“We’re sitting good as a team and we’ve got really good people, but the biggest thing is getting the girls to understand that everybody is a contributor on a swim team,” he said. “When you’re looking at other people to do the work it doesn’t solidify us as a team.

“We’ve got a lot of girls that can step up. We’ve got some great freshmen coming in.”

Slavik said Bader, who placed 32nd in the state in the 200-yard individual medley in 2 minutes, 24.14 seconds, after winning the event at sectional in 2:19.6, will stick with swimming breaststroke but also transition a little bit to butterfly.

He also noted Bader — she was also sectional runner-up in the 100 breaststroke to departed senior Ashlyn Dow — will have to be flexible based on what the team needs during any specific meet.

He added Paro will reprise her role as a distance swimmer after finishing sixth in the 500 freestyle and eighth in the 200 freestyle at sectional but also handle some breaststroke duties as well.

“They both work hard so I think they’ll transition just fine,” he said. “It’s an adjustment when basically every role we have on this team is kind of up in the air right now.”

Junior Natalie Wehrly returns as a diver after qualifying for the regional last season, and freshman Maddy Snow will join her in that role as well. Slavik noted freshman Morgan DeHoff as one of the team’s top four sprinters so far during the preseason, but she has the versatility to handle the other strokes as well.

Slavik mentioned junior Abby Johnson as well as sophomores Zion Bieswanger and Hannah Laux as girls he expects to have a bigger impact than they did as freshmen. Aubrey Millspaugh, another freshman, will fill a distance role almost immediately.

Jay County has dominated both the Allen County Athletic Conference and sectional championships in recent years. The Patriots have won six consecutive sectional crowns and been ACAC champs each of the last four years.

Much of that, however, has been a result of claiming a host of first-place event finishes. To keep the streaks going, Slavik said, the team will have to focus on getting as many girls in the top eight as possible.

“Conference, we just have to stick with what we’ve done the last couple years,” he said. “We’re fortunate with numbers, it gives us a little more flexibility than other teams in our conference.

“Sectional, we’ve just got to find pivotal roles. I don’t foresee many podium swims this year … We’ll have to do what Norwell has tried to do to us the last couple years at sectional, just flood the top eight, top 16 events.”

The Patriots have eight foreign exchange students, two of whom have prior swimming experience. However, Slavik said he sees them being able to contribute to the team.

“They’re swimming pretty good,” he said. “I think they’ll end up having to play a role. I think the concept of them coming here in the (United States) and participating in sports over here is completely different than what they’re used to. Most of them haven’t worked this hard. Most of them are nervous about swimming in competition. They don’t want to be embarrassed.

“I think with any kid, as coaches, as parents, as spectators, you see a lot more potential in them than what they see in themselves so I think they’re starting to realize it a little bit.”

After Saturday’s season opener, the girls swim again Nov. 20 in the Westfield Invitational before they’re joined by the boys for a home meet Nov. 30 against Bluffton.

Notable home meets are the Celina Sprints (Dec. 4), the Jay County Invitational (Jan. 7 and 8) as well as the conference championships (Jan. 21).

“I’m just glad to be back to a somewhat normal season,” Slavik said, noting because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic the IHSAA regulated no fans at meets last season. “I’m excited to have parents back in the stands. I’m excited for us to have people cheering for these kids. They work hard and they deserve the recognition.”