Jay focused on repeat

Now that they have reached the top of the mountain, the Patriots have no intention of leaving.
Jay County High School’s girls track team had fallen painfully short in back-to-back seasons, narrowly missing sectional championships in 2008 and ’09. Last season, the squad left no doubt.
After finishing as the runner-up by one-fifth of a point a year earlier, the Patriots destroyed the sectional field to take their first title in 13 years by 50 points over runner-up Muncie Central.
They hope to turn in a similar effort this season, and they have a multitude of returning athletes to lead a deep squad.
At the forefront for JCHS are junior Maria Murphy, a state qualifier last season in the discus, and senior Jordan McMillan, who is the defending champion in three sectional events.
Murphy placed second in the shot put and third in the discus in the sectional, and then exploded for a pair of career-best marks in the regional. She earned her state berth in the discus with a runner-up toss of 113 feet, 1 inch, and then added a toss of 35 feet, 5 ½ inches to take sixth in the shot put.
Perhaps her most impressive efforts, however, have come since her 26th-place finish at the state finals.
During the indoor season she has already launched the shot put more than 39 feet, a number that would put her in contention for the regional title, destroying her career-best by about four feet.
In addition to Murphy in the throwing events, the team also gets Cara Garringer back. The senior missed the 2010 season after suffering a knee injury in basketball, but was the sectional shot put champion as a sophomore.
“Maria and Cara are going to be really strong in the throws,” said JCHS coach Brian McEvoy. “Maria had an outstanding indoor season. She’s really improved in the ring, especially her speed. She’s way more powerful. …
“(Cara) is picking up where she left off in her sophomore season.”
While Murphy was the team’s lone state qualifier, it was McMillan who dominated the sectional stage to lead Jay County to its title. She racked up 38 points on her own, winning the 100-meter dash, 200 dash and long jump championships.
The senior was also the runner-up in the high jump.
Her focus at the regional was the 100 dash, where she finished in seventh place less than three tenths of a second short of a trip to the state finals.
McMillan leads a strong sprint group, which also includes sophomore Katie Sndyer and freshman Miranda Gerber. Cierra Barcus, a freshman, will join her to create an impressive one-two punch in the jumping events.
“Jordan’s a do-it-all athlete for us,” McEvoy said. “In the indoor season for long jump she’s already had her career-best jump at 16-plus feet. The long jump record and the 100 record probably aren’t out of the question for her. … I think those have to be individual goals for her.”
Katie Simmons was also key to the Patriots winning their 2010 sectional championship.
A year after missing out on the event because of a broken foot — she was the No. 1 seed in both the 1,600 run and 3,200 run in 2009 — she made the most of her opportunity by winning the 1,600 title and finishing second in the 3,200.
She will return to those races this season as she leads a Jay County group with a ton of depth.
Leah Wellman can take on any of the three distance races. The senior stepped forward with Simmons out of the lineup two years ago and won the 1,600 run sectional title, and then finished fourth in the event last year.
Liz Lennartz and Abigail Johnson, both of whom helped JCHS win the sectional and regional cross country titles in the fall, will also run in the distance events. And track newcomers Tiffany Huelskamp and Kassi Hemmelgarn, both juniors, will be top contributors in the 800 run.
“Our distance depth is probably the best we’ve had,” said McEvoy, whose squad as always been strong in those events. “So there are going to be a lot of interchangeable spots. There is going to be a lot of intrasquad competition for us. … That’s been really good. ...
“They’ve just been outstanding so far in spring practice. We’re a lot further along than we typically are. Hopefully we can just continue to grow and get better as the season goes.”
 Freshmen Amber Huelskamp and Abbi Dunlavy project as strong competitors in the 400 dash after both running at the 1 minute, 5 second mark during the indoor season.
And the Patriots also return all three of their hurdle athletes in Megan Taylor, Kim Braun and Morgan Link.
Overall, Jay County looks to have sectional-title contenders in almost every event. And that will be key for the squad as it hopes to continue the success it had in going 35-2 last season on the way to the sectional championship.
“That’s definitely a big team goal,” said McEvoy. “We want to go back-to-back. … We want to start stringing these things together like we have with the cross country program. I think we have the personnel to do it.”[[In-content Ad]]