Patriot girls nearly sweep ACAC meet

The Patriot girls have performed at a high level all season.

With both Allen County Athletic Conference opponents in the pool with them, they proved they are undoubtedly the best.

The Jay County Junior High School girls swim team broke four records while nearly sweeping the ACAC Championship that it hosted on Friday. Despite rewriting a few records and securing five first-place finishes, the boys team didn’t match but stayed as the runner-up.

The girls won 11 of the 12 events – Buffton’s Kianna Linderwell edged Jordyn Champ in the 1-meter diving by four points – to run away with the title with a score of 485. Bluffton was the runner-up with 358 points, while South Adams trailed behind with 292.

Bluffton claimed the boys title with 461 points. Jay County’s 284 still gave it a comfortable advantage on South Adams (115) and Adams Central (111).

Kali Wendel put together a strong performance, breaking the meet record in both the 200-yard freestyle and the 400 freestyle to take first in each event. She swam a 2 minute, 14.40 in the 200 freestyle and finished the 400 freestyle in 4:45.41.

Elly Byrum and Maria Laux each broke an ACAC meet record as well. Elly Byrum’s 58.77 second swim in the 100 freestyle took the top spot, while etching her name in the record books, while Laux’s 1:09.31 in the 100 backstroke did the same. Each girl had another individual victory on the day, with Elly Byrum taking the 100 individual medley and Laux handling the 50 freestyle.

The Patriot girls won all three relay races, while Isabelle Byrum and Anna Fisher added victories in the 50 butterfly and 100 breaststroke, respectively.

On the boys side, Grady Warvel’s time in the 100 individual medley not only broke the meet record, but the school record as well. He put out a 1:01.88 to take the top spot. He also won the 400 freestyle.

Grant Glentzer secured the final ACAC record of the day, swimming a 1:02.90 in the 100 backstroke. Glentzer also won the 200 freestyle.

The only other victories for the boys came from Ben Fisher in the 100 breaststroke and the 200 medley relay team.