DARKE COUNTY – A senior bowler and a junior swimmer who have become two of the area’s best competitors in their sports are this week’s Daily Advocate athletes of the week.
This week’s Daily Advocate athletes of the week are Greenville boys bowler Cullen Blinn and Tri-Village girls swimmer Edie Morris.
Blinn leads all Darke County bowlers with an average game of 202.7 this season. He has improved his average by 15 pins per game since his junior season.
Along with being the best in Darke County, Blinn’s average puts him among the top 10 bowlers in the Greater Western Ohio Conference’s American Division.
The Greenville senior has a season-best game of 256 and a two-game series high of 425 this season.
“Cullen Blinn, he’s the best bowler that I’ve had since I’ve been coaching,” Greenville bowling coach Travis Nicholas said. “Real easy to talk to. Very easy to coach. He listens. He asks for my opinion. Has a real good attitude. Enjoys it. Has a big passion – his whole family does – a lot of passion for the game. It’s fun watching him.”
Morris won the girls 200 yard individual medley and the 500 yard freestyle during the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II sectional swim meet last week at Trotwood-Madison to advance to the district meet in both events.
“Edie Morris is the all-around swimmer,” coach John Bishop said. “Just look at her championship races, 200 IM, a race that takes talent in all four strokes. But also the 500 free, which is a race that takes smart race strategy, stamina and guts. Sometimes I don’t know if Edie really knows how talented she is. She is so close to doing some really big swims, the kind of swims which she will remember for a lifetime.”
Morris leads all Darke County girls in the 100 yard breaststroke with a season-best time of 1:14.88. She’s second in the girls 200 yard freestyle with a time of 2:06.06, second in the girls 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:38.61, second in the girls 100 yard butterfly with a time of 1:07.13, third in the girls 50 yard freestyle with a time of 27.09, third in the girls 100 yard freestyle with a time of 58.09, third in the girls 100 yard backstroke with a time of 1:09.78 and third in the girls 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:20.05.
“Edie has had a great junior year in the pool,” coach Lee Morris said. “She’s overcome a lot of adversity throughout her high school swim career with a torn meniscus and a torn ACL in both knees. She has worked hard in and out of the pool to get into great shape this year. This honor is very deserving of her commitment to maximize her talents.”
The Tri-Village junior has been among the top competitors at all her meets this season and set a Cross County Conference championship meet record of 2:06.06 in the 200 yard freestyle.
“She set the bar winning both races at sectionals, and we are hoping that inspires her to be on the podium at districts and possibly some bigger things after that,” Bishop said. “I think she has some real motivation not only swimming for herself but swimming for her brother who had a severe injury last week.”
