Jay Co. tops FR

FORT RECOVERY — Because of the disparity in team size, the team result was never in doubt. It was the individual races that made the meet interesting.
Tight races in the girls 4x800-meter relay and 100 dash, and the boys 400 dash highlighted Tuesday’s state-line showdown between Jay County and Fort Recovery.
“They have some really good individuals and we do too,” said FRHS coach Brent Niekamp. “So it was fun for me to see the matchups between some of those individuals. I think that was good for some of our kids … to have to really push.
“I know point-wise we were way behind overall, but that’s something that we’ve battled all year because of the number of participants. I think that competition brought out some good performances out of our kids.”
Jay County easily won the team competition, taking the boys and girls competitions by identical scores of 94-33.
The Indians’ only wins of the night came from Matt Vagedes and Kylie Kahlig, who were involved in two of the three neck-and-neck battles of the night.
Kahlig squared off with Katie Snyder in the girls 100-meter dash with Snyder taking the early lead out of the blocks. The race remained close throughout, with Snyder edging Kahlig by a tenth of a second at the finish line to win in 13 seconds flat.
“Katie has really stepped up a lot this year,” said JCHS girls coach Brian McEvoy. “Her times have been excellent. She’s done a really good job anchoring our sprinting events.
“The great thing about her is she’s very coach-able and she’s willing to run anything. … She handles it really well.”
Vagedes and Brad Leuthold of the Patriots went head-to-head in the 400-meter dash with Luethold leading most of the way. He had an advantage of nearly 10 yards on the back curve before Vagedes came roaring back on the homestretch to win a photo finish by a tenth of a second in 54.3.
The other close call came in the opening race of the evening as Elle Sutter of the Tribe passed Liz Lennartz on the fifth lap of the 4x800 relay. Lennartz, however, reclaimed the lead on the sixth lap before handing off to Katie Simmons.

[[In-content Ad]]