Miller wins conference title

Seven area athletes competed in conference championship meets Saturday.
Eme Miller walked away with a title. Dylan Cope was part of a relay win, and just missed and individual crown.
Miller, a 2012 Jay County High School graduate, posted three top-five finishes, including a win in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, to help lead the host Defiance College women’s track team to the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference title.
Cope (Jay County – 2013) helped the Indiana University East men’s track team win the 4x400-meter relay title at the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships, and Tim Lehman (South Adams – 2012) led a group of four local graduates who competed in the Crossroads League Championships.
Miller blew away the field in the steeplechase, surpassing her best time of the season by more than a second. She was nearly 20 seconds ahead of runner-up Brianna Martinez of Manchester with her time of 11 minutes, 33.29 seconds.
The sophomore continued her success in the distance events with fourth-place times of 5:04.3 in the 1,500 run and 19:04.55 in the 5,000 run. The Yellowjackets scored 185.5 points to win by more than 50 over second-place Hanover in the 10-team meet.
Megan Taylor (Jay County – 2011) ran for the Manchester women’s team, finishing 14th in the 1,500 run in 5:39.73.
Cope joined fellow Red Wolves Clint Swanson, Kyle Hall and Cameron Jones in winning the 4x400 relay in the KIAC meet at Berea College. They edged the squad from Berea by 0.23 seconds with their time of 3:29.4.
The freshman was also the runner-up in the 1,500 run in 4:15.28.
Goshen College’s Lehman topped the list of area athletes at the Crossroads League Championships at Marian University in Indianapolis, placing fifth in the 400 dash in 49.63 seconds. He joined Daniel Zelaya, Lucas Harnish and Luke Graber for second in the 4x800 relay in 7:47.55, and was also on Maple Leaf teams that finished sixth in the 4x400 relay and seventh in the 4x100 relay.
Katie Snyder (Jay County – 2013) of Indiana Wesleyan was also part of a runner-up relay finish, teaming with Christy Schultz, Allix Miller and Corrine Melvin for second in the 4x100 event in 48.21. They were just four tenths of a second off the winning pace.
Snyder was also 11th in the 100 dash and 15th in the 200 dash.
Hannah Moore (South Adams – 2012) competed for the Huntington University women’s team and posted a time of 11:55.28 for seventh in the 3,000 steeplechase. She was also 10th in the 5,000 run, and was part of the seventh-place 4x800 relay team.
Alli Beitler (South Adams – 2010) joined Goshen College teammates Irene Schmid, Ali Hochstetler and Dana Christner for eighth in the 4x800 relay in 10:28.87.[[In-content Ad]]