Jay County youth powers seventh-place sectional finish

One year ago, Jay County had no one finish within the top three in any event in the sectional meet and ended in 10th place overall.

Behind a youth movement featuring multiple impactful freshmen, JCHS had one swimmer place in the top three in two events, a diver in the top five and two relay teams in the top five.

In the finals of the IHSAA sectional swim meet at Jay County High School on Saturday, the Patriots placed seventh with 164 points.

“I’m so proud of these guys,” said Jay County coach Matt Slavick. “They've been working hard all year long. I was hoping we'd finish a little higher, but overall, we've made 80-85% improvements from the day we started, and they're going faster than some of them thought they could. We're at a disadvantage with the size of our team, but at the end of the day, the guys we have here are putting in the work. They've improved, and they're a super coachable group of kids. That's all I can ever ask for as a coach."

Bluffton dominated the field, scoring a team total of 413 points to win the sectional for the second straight year. Norwell was 97 points behind in second place with Delta in third.

The first-place finisher in each event earned a berth in the state finals at Indiana University Natatorium at 6 p.m. Friday, while the top four divers moved on to Tuesday’s regional meet at Fishers. 

Jay County's best results came from freshman Cooper Glentzer, who placed second in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5 minutes, 6.69 seconds, and third in the 100 butterfly with a time of 54.84 seconds.

Glentzer was 16 seconds behind Delta’s Zachary Baty, who won the 500 freestyle in 4:58.58 marking the senior’s fourth straight sectional title in the event. 

“Next year is going to be really fun,” said Glentzer. “I honestly think I could have done better today, but I’m confident I can continue to finish towards the top in the 500 freestyle. Overall, I’m satisfied with my performance, and I know I’ll only continue to get better over the next three years.”

Sophomore diver Bryden Carter had the highest individual placement out of all other Patriots, finishing fifth in diving with a score of 246 points. Carter was just 0.35 points behind Bluffton’s Blake Reinhard, who took the final regional spot with a total of 246.35 points. (Damon Light from Adams Central won the event with a score of 386.75 points). 

JCHS also had the relay team of Peyton Yowell, Carson Westgerdes, Lincoln Clamme and Glentzer placed fifth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:36.79 and the in the 400 freestyle in 3:39.65. 

"I’ve got to give it up to everyone who swam today,” said Slavick. “Cooper obviously had an outstanding day. Carson and the other freshmen had their first experience at this tournament and held strong — they all posted their best times. Lincoln Glamm dropped time from Thursday and hit the goals he was aiming for. Peyton Yao, in both his 50 and 100, was faster than he thought he’d be at this point. Across the board, all our relays performed well, especially the two freestyle relays. We dropped time, and everyone posted their best times. This is what we’ve been training for over the last three months — the opportunity to compete this weekend and a shot to move on. With where we ended up today, the future looks bright for this program."

The freshman Westgerdes also competed in the championship race in the 200 freestyle, finishing seventh with a time of 2:00.42.

Yowell was the only other Jay County swimmer to compete in a championship race, grabbing eighth in the 100 freestyle in 54.87 seconds.

Three other Patriots competed in consolation races, and other placements came from:

•Yowell: 10th in the 50 freestyle

•Westgerdes: 12th in the 100 freestyle

•Clamme: 14th in the 100 breaststroke 

•Matthew Fisher: 12th in the 100 backstroke

•Fisher, Kamdyn Carter, David Keen, Max Klopfenstein: ninth in 200 medley relay