Patriot girls dominate

The Jay County High School cross country teams host one dual meet every year. The girls team regularly dominates it.

Thursday's 2009 edition of the event was no different.

The Patriots took five of the top six positions to score 19 points and dominate the visiting Monroe Central Golden Bears and Union City Indians. Monroe Central finished with 39 points while Union City did not have enough runners for a team score.

Monroe Central had the only complete boys team and earned five of the top seven finishing spots.

"Right now we're just trying to get better. We're really focusing on the first pack," said JCHS coach Brian McEvoy, referring to top girls runners Leah Wellman, Katie Simmons and Aly Miller. "That pack has got pretty good times right now but we need them to get more into the 22s and the 21s. ... I think we're getting there. That pack is going to be the key."

Wellman led the Patriots for the third straight meet and she was at the front of the pack from the beginning with Simmons, Miller and Hailey Norris joining her. She and Norris pulled out to the lead at the mid-point of the race, but by the end Wellman was all alone.

The junior ran away to the finish line to win by 10 seconds over Norris in 22-minutes, 8 seconds.

"Leah has been incredibly solid for us this year," said McEvoy, whose team's only other home meet is the Jay County Invitational. "She's really stepped up the leadership role. ... She's got a lot of work in it and toughness. We're glad to see her running this way."

"It really started last year in track when Leah really stepped up in that mile when we needed her. ... In cross country it's just been a carry-over. She's been tremendously dedicated and it really shows in her times."

Simmons and Miller traded the third and fourth positions a few times throughout the race with Simmons eventually taking third in 22:33. Miller finished 10 seconds behind her for fourth place.

Kari Hemmelgarn, a JCHS senior, was in a fight for fifth place with Union City's top runner early in the race, but by the halfway point she had the position secured. She was not challenged the rest of the way and narrowly missed breaking the 23-minute mark as she finished in 23:01.

McEvoy said Hemmelgarn had been running out of gas at the end of races and she used a new strategy Thursday.

"We talked about starting slower for her and then getting progressively faster as she goes. She really took it to heart," said McEvoy. "I know she wants the 22s and 21s pretty bad and she's really close."

Logan Laux was next across the finish line for the Patriots, completing the team score as she took sixth in 23:55. Liz Lennartz of JCHS placed seventh in 24:32 before Monroe Central's second runner finally reached the finish.

"She's been a really solid five for us," said McEvoy of Laux. "She's puts in the time. ... She sets the pace for the girls just because she's so consistent."

With only one full team in the boys race, the focus turned to the first-place position. It was a battle between Jay County's Tevan Nichols and Monroe Central's Trey Thomas throughout, with Nichols leading at almost every turn.

He started out quickly, leading a group of five Monroe Central runners and one from Union City and at the midway point the group had dwindled to three. With a mile left Nichols still had two Golden Bears on his heels, but by the finish it was down to just he and Thomas.

Nichols made the turn for the home stretch first, but Thomas had more of a kick in the final 100 yards as he took the race in 18:21. Nichols was just two seconds behind him in 18:23 in his first race of the year.

"Tevan stepped up in his first race back ... he just got out-sprinted at the end," said McEvoy. "That's a pretty good time for your first race of the season. That's something to build off of. I think we're going to see his time drop a lot earlier this year."

Dylan Cope was the No. 2 runner for the Patriots. The freshman was eighth overall in 20:33.

"It's kind of a tough step sometimes because the middle school course is so much shorter than this," said McEvoy. "(Cope is) really learning pace, and when he gets that kind of figured out ... I think he's going to be a lot stronger. He's worked really hard."

Kyle Scott finished 13th in 22:41, and Zach Johnson was 16th at 24:04.[[In-content Ad]]