JCHS girls top two

Maria Murphy launched another career-best throw.
Jordan McMillan racked up four victories.
And as a whole, the Patriots got back to competing at the level that allowed them to win the sectional title last season.
Coming off of its first loss of the season Tuesday, the Jay County High School girls track team scored 85 points Thursday to defeat the visiting Yorktown Tigers (55) and Delta Eagles (16).
“Tuesday I was extremely disappointed. I didn’t feel like we competed. Tonight it was the complete opposite,” said JCHS girls coach Brian McEvoy, noting efforts from Amber Huelskamp, Kassi Hemmelgarn, Tiffany Huelskamp and Eme Miller among the best of the evening. “We battled for position. It was just that way throughout. There were so many girls that … made this happen tonight. That’s how we’re going to be successful.
“I’m really happy with what I saw tonight. It was just a night-and-day difference.”
The Jay County boys finished third in the meet with 35.5 points. Delta picked up the win with 70 points, and Yorktown was second at 49.5.
“We knew Delta (was good),” said Patriot boys coach Greg Garringer. “After watching Delta tonight … I think they’re going to be the clear favorite for sectional.
“We were hoping for a split tonight, and in the running events we held our own. …
“But Yorktown owned the field events … they just dominated them.”
Murphy turned in another career-best throw to win the shot put, breaking the 40-foot mark for the first time. She took the event by nearly 6 feet over teammate Cara Garringer at 40 feet, 1/2 inch.
The junior also had the second-best toss of her career in the discus at 120 feet, 10 inches.
“That’s a career night.,” said McEvoy. “That’s a state-caliber night. … The 40 mark gets you real close to (a state medal). That’s a great achievement for her.”
McMillan took the top spot in the same four events she won to lead the Patriots (6-1) to the 2010 sectional title. She was first in both the long jump (15 feet, 6 1/2 inches) and the high jump (4 feet, 10 inches) to join Murphy in a sweep of the field events.
Freshman Abigail Johnson also cleared the bar at 4 feet, 10 inches to take second place in the high jump, and her classmate Cierra Barcus was just five inches behind McMillan to earn the runner-up spot in the long jump.
The senior added victories in the 100-meter dash in 13.3 seconds and the 200 dash in 28 seconds flat.
Katie Simmons won the 1,600 run in 5 minutes, 36.9 seconds, and Amber Huelskamp was first in the 400 dash in 1:07.3.
“Jordan had another great night. She carried us. … It’s good to see that out of her.
 “Katie Simmons had an awesome race in the mile.”
Dylan Cope picked up the lone individual victory for the boys team. His win came in the 1,600 run with a time of 4 minutes, 58 seconds.
“Cope had a nice 1,600,” said Garringer. “He broke five minutes tonight. He’s been wanting to do that for a while. That’s the one thing that kind of stood out tonight.”
Zach Cash and Blake Crouch led a pair of winning relay teams for the Patriots. They joined Joe Imel and Gerado Perez to take the 4x100 event, and joined Brad Leuthold and Zane Shreve for first place in the 4x400.
“We’re starting to put the pieces together,” Garringer said. “We’re starting to see where people go. When everybody’s healthy, I still think we’re a top four at sectional, but we’ve still got some work to do.”
The Patriot girls also picked up one relay victory, with the team of Megan Taylor, Kim Braun, Kaitlin Hemmelgarn and Amber Huelskamp taking the 4x400 by more than 11 seconds in 4:44.2.[[In-content Ad]]