Jay fourth at regional

MUNCIE — As significant underdogs, the Patriots knew they had two options.
They could either take a risk and go for the title or play it safe and finish solidly in second play.
They took the risk. It just wasn’t their day.
Jay County tried to go out fast in Saturday’s regional meet in order to keep up with the heavily favored Pendleton Heights Arabians. But it couldn’t keep up the pace in the race at Muncie SportsPlex and faded to a fourth-place finish.
“We were going to take a gamble at it,” said JCHS coach Brian McEvoy,” who got a runner-up finish from senior Katie Simmons. “We were trying to go out way faster in our first mile than what we have in the past because we felt like if we started too slow and were behind Pendleton Heights with the way the course is laid out you weren’t going to pass too many people. …
“We elected to take a shot at it. It didn’t work out, but we’re going to semi-state. We thought it was worth the risk and we tried it.”
Pendleton Heights ran away with the regional championship, its first in school history, finishing 39 points ahead of runner-up Yorktown with 56. Mount Vernon was third with 101 followed by the Patriots (109) and host Delta (118).
Jay County’s Dylan Cope was 25th in the boys race.
Pendleton Heights made it a sweep by winning the boys team competition with 45 points ahead of Muncie Central (53), Frankton (89), Mount Vernon (102) and Delta (106).
The top five teams and top 15 individuals in each race advance to the semi-state level. They will compete in the meet hosted by New Haven at IPFW Saturday at 1 p.m.
Saturday’s faster pace didn’t change the front runners as Winchester’s Whitney Wiist and the Patriots’ Katie Simmons immediately grabbed the lead. Wiist, who won her third straight sectional Tuesday, again opened up about a 20-meter advantage on Simmons, but this time the JCHS senior was able to close the gap.
By the 1,000-meter mark Simmons was right behind Wiist, and she stayed there for most of the race. The runners were side-by-side late in the race with Simmons even grabbing a brief lead, but Wiist reclaimed first place and pulled away to win her second straight regional title in 19 minutes, 15.24 seconds.
Simmons was the only other runner to crack the 19-minute mark, easily claiming the runner-up spot in 19:22.55. On a day with winds gusting to about 30 miles per hour, she was just seven seconds off of the school record time she set earlier this season at the Delta Invitational at The Water Bowl.
“We were trying to take it out pretty fast, and Wiist took it out even faster,” said McEvoy. “Katie was pretty calm at that point. …
“And by the 800 or 1,000 mark Katie had her reeled back in. We wanted to maintain race touch with her the entire race, and Katie was able to do that.
“Katie did a nice job. She ran a nice race.”
While Simmons led the way among runners from contending teams, Pendleton Heights took control as its top three runners came in before the Patriots’ No. 2. All of the Arabians’ top five crossed the finish line before any other squad had its fourth runner in.
Eme Miller ran a steady race as she sat in about 10th place early. She held off Mount Vernon’s Elizabeth Cook by one second at the finish line for 12th place in 20:38.
Abigail Johnson was 29th in 21:38, and Miranda Gerber finished 36th in 22:09. Kaitlin Hemmelgarn, who was sixth for the team Tuesday, climbed to the No. 5 spot as she placed 40th with a time of 22:26.
“I think Kaitlin Hemmelgarn did a good job with the circumstances,” said McEvoy. “This is her first regional, and she stepped up and was our fifth today. That’s a big spot. She ran a nice race.
“I thought overall the girls did a good job. It was just a tough day.”
Cope ran out to the front of the pack just like he did at Tuesday’s sectional and was fourth after the first 400 meters. But by the mile mark he had dropped back to about 30th place and couldn’t rebound to have a chance at the top 15.
The junior did rally late, passing four runners in the final 150 meters to finish 25th in 18:04.
Blue River Valley’s Mark Steiner was the final semi-state qualifier in 15th place at 17:33.18.
“He’s been so coachable this year,” said McEvoy of Cope, who was just the second JCHS boy to run in the regional in more than a decade. “He’s done everything we’ve asked. And he’s worked really hard… That’s just having that inner push and drive to do it.”
Also running for the Patriot girls were Liz Lennartz, a senior, who finished in 44th with a time of 22:43, and Patricia Hein, who placed 51st in 23:24.
Prior to the fourth-place finish Saturday, Jay County had won three consecutive regional championships. And its streak of six straight sectional titles is the second-longest in school history
“It’s just amazing,” McEvoy said. “There have been very few programs to do that. … To win three regionals, that was an incredible accomplishment. … It says a lot about our girls .. that we’ve been able to keep that consistency through the years. … It’s a great accomplishment.”[[In-content Ad]]