JCHS juggernaut

MUNCIE — A couple of things have been constants during the spring season.
The weather has been horrendous. And the Patriots have been dominant.
At Tuesday’s sectional meet, nothing changed.
With temperatures in the 40s and a cool, misty rain falling almost constantly, Jay County got two wins apiece from Jordan McMillan, Katie Simmons and Maria Murphy as it buried the field by more than 60 points to repeat as the sectional champion.
“I think we did really awesome,” said McMillan, a senior, who had a second-place finish to go along with her two wins. “We wanted it really bad, and I think everyone did amazing.”
The numbers bear out that effort.
The Patriots, who won the title by 50 points last season, scored 169 points this year while Muncie Central was second in the 12-team field with 103. Their total was the highest since Muncie Central destroyed the group by scoring 208 points in 1999.
JCHS put multiple athletes in the top eight in 11 of 12 individual events, including two of the top four in four events. Eighteen Patriots qualified for the regional meet — at Ben Davis Tuesday at 6 p.m. — with 11 advancing in individual competition.
“We talked about how special something like this is,” said JCHS coach Brian McEvoy, whose team finished second to Central by one-fifth of a point in 2009 before breaking through last season. “The opportunity won’t always be there, and when the opportunity is there you’ve got to seize it. …
“They really bought into that. They really believed.”
While the unfavorable conditions resulted in slower times for most runners Tuesday, Simmons defied the odds. The junior blew away the field with career-best times in both of her races.
Her victory in the 1,600-meter run was never in doubt as she built a sizable lead on the first lap and never faltered.
She won the title in the event for the second straight season, defeating runner-up Whitney Wiist of Winchester by more than 11 seconds with a time of 5 minutes, 27.82 seconds.
Simmons’ strategy in the 3,200 run was slightly different as she tucked in behind Wiist and let the defending champion set the pace. She briefly took the lead on the third lap, only to have Wiist reclaim it immediately.
The two runners again traded the top spot twice early in the seventh lap with Wiist still holding on to the lead. But with 600 meters to go, Simmons imposed her will.
“I was planning on staying behind her, because I knew that she goes out pretty fast and then she just holds it steady,” said Simmons of her early race strategy. “(On the seventh lap) we were going back and forth and back and forth … at about the 600 (the coaches) were telling me to go … I guess that was kind of motivating. … And I started stretching it out.”
When she made her move with 1.5 laps remaining, Wiist could no longer keep up. Simmons ran away from the Winchester junior to win by about 50 meters.
Her time of 11:55.74 was a career best by seven seconds and was nearly 25 seconds faster than she ran in finishing as the runner-up last season.
“It was a huge back-to-back day for her,” said McEvoy. “Conditions were not ideal, especially for that many laps on the track.
“She’s tough. … She just had a phenomenal meet for us.”
Murphy’s undefeated season in the throwing events continued at the sectional meet as she led the discus and shot put competitions throughout.
Her last throw in the discus was her best of the night as she won the event at 116 feet, 9 inches. Union’s Marie Lumpkin was second at 107 feet, 4 inches.
Murphy and teammate Cara Garringer went one-two in the shot put with tosses of 38 feet, 11 inches and 35 feet, 8 inches respectively. Lumpkin was third at 34 feet, 10 ¾ inches.
The two titles were major goals for Murphy, a state qualifier in the discus in 2010, after finishing second (shot put) and third (discus) last season.
“I feel pretty dang happy. I’m really excited,” said Murphy, a junior. “I knew there were competitors going against me that could knock me off, but I just had to stick in there and be mentally tough.
“I had to make some adjustments. … I had to make sure I went slower through the circle, but still exploded at the end.”
McMillan scored more points individually than any other Patriot despite battling a sore ankle.
The senior picked up a solid victory in 13.4 seconds for her third straight title in the 100 dash, and also won the high jump at 5 feet even. She added a runner-up finish in the 200 dash in 27.63 seconds, and was also eighth in the long jump.
“That’s huge, and she’s not 100 percent,” said McEvoy of McMillan, who won three events and was second in a fourth a year ago. “That’s just being a team player to go out and do all that when you’re not feeling 100 percent. That’s just the kind of person she is. She was going to give us whatever she had. … That’s a great performance from her.”
Snyder trailed McMillan in third place in the 100 dash in 13.76. Leah Wellman added a third-place effort behind Simmons in the 1,600 run in 5:45, and Eme Miller was also third trailing Simmons in the 3,200 run at 13:05.
Abigail Johnson took the runner-up spot behind Muncie Central’s Jessica Helms in 2:38. Fourth-place finishes came from Morgan Link in the 100 hurdles in 17.82, Abbi Dunlavy in the 400 dash in 106.66 and Cierra Barcus in the long jump at 14 feet, ½ inch.
Jay County was also the runner-up to Muncie Central in all three relays. The team of Liz Lennartz, Tiff Huelskamp, Kassi Hemmelgarn and Wellman finished the 4x800 in 10:53; Miranda Gerber, Tasya Smith, Link and Snyder turned in their best effort of the year in the 4x100 for a time of 54.61; and Kim Braun, Amber Huelskamp, Dunlavy and Sndyer posted a time of 4:31.86 in the 4x400.
“Link did a nice job in the 100 (hurdles) to get out individually,” said McEvoy. “I thought our relays were all pretty good. All of our relays were second place, and that advances you big points.
“Eme Miller had a really nice race for us in the two (mile). She ran a really smart race. And then Abigail Johnson stepped up in the 800 and got us a second-place finish.”
Also scoring points for the Patriots were Amber Huelskamp (fifth – 400 dash), Snyder (fifth – 200 dash), Braun (fifth – 300 hurdles), Wellman (fifth – 800 run), Barcus (fifth – high jump), Garringer (fifth – discus) and Link (sixth – 300 hurdles).[[In-content Ad]]