Patriots pay tribute

“4 DAVE”
The message was written on the Patriots’ hands. On Thursday, they were competing for much more than personal and team goals.
Jay County’s girls track team dedicated its first meet of the season to the memory of Dave Miller just a day after the father of their teammate, Eme, was killed in a Kentucky plane crash.
“It was a very emotional day for our team,” said JCHS coach Brian McEvoy, whose team defeated visiting South Adams 89-34. “The Miller family has been big supporters for as long as I’ve been here … It was emotionally hard for us, very tough.
“They did a really nice job, had a lot of good performances. They felt like the Millers would have wanted that.
“We wanted them to know that they were deeply in our thoughts. … We’re sure thinking about them and praying for them.”
Eme is a junior on the track team and runs for the JCHS cross country team, also coached by McEvoy. Her sister, Aly, is a former member of both squads.
The Patriots paid tribute Thursday not only with the inspirational message on their hands, but also with black and purple — Dave’s favorite color — ribbons in their hair. Following the meet, they gathered in a circle to pray for the Miller family.
“We just talked about how tough it must be for the Millers right now, especially Eme and Aly,” said senior captain Leah Wellman. “We don’t know what they’re going through, but we know how that must feel. We just prayed that they could stay strong and get through this.”
“We wanted to do it for them today,” added Jordan McMillan, also a senior and captain of the team.
McMillan did her part to lead Jay County, racking up three victories in individual events. She led sweeps of the 100-meter dash and 200 dash in front of teammates Kate Snyder and Miranda Gerber, winning in ties of 12.96 and 27.8 seconds respectively.
She also took the top spot in the long jump at 15 feet, 2 ½ inches.
Junior Maria Murphy added a pair of victories in the throwing events, leading a sweep in the discus. She won by more than 20 feet at 104 feet, 2 inches, with Sara Lennartz second and Cara Garringer third.
She also took the top spot in the shot put with a career-best outdoor throw of 36 feet, 3 inches. Her previous best toss came at last season’s regional at 35 feet, 5 ½ inches.
Katie Simmons, another junior, also earned two wins as she gave the Patriots a mammoth effort in the distance events. She dominated the 1,600-meter run, winning by more than 10 seconds in 5 minutes, 42.7 seconds.
She led for the first half of the 3,200 run before Hannah Moore of South Adams grabbed the lead on the fifth lap. But Simmons roared back to the lead and pulled away in the final 400 meters to take the race by nearly 20 seconds in 12:52.
“Katie Simmons wanted it tonight,” said SAHS coach Clint Anderson.  “She ran hard. …
“I know that they have some issues that they’re dealing with right now. Whether that inspired her or not, for those kids to be dealing with the turmoil they’re dealing with and for her to step up the way she did, I was inspired by watching her run.”
The lone double winner for the Starfires was Trisha Myers, who took the top spot in the 300 hurdles in 54.3 seconds. She also cleared the high jump bar at 5 feet even for first place.
Adrianna Teeter won the 100 hurdles in 17.87, and Kristen Muselman posted a time of 2:41.9 to take the 800 run.
“Trish Myers I thought had a great meet,” said Anderson. “We expected that. I thought Teeter had a solid meet. We’re pretty good in the hurdles. Trish did well in the high jump.
“But obviously we’ve got some work to do in sprinting. … And we’ve got some work to do in distance events because that’s not where we’re usually at.”
Amber Huelskamp added another individual win for the Patriots, who swept the relays, as she turned in a time of 1:06 in the 400 dash. She teamed with Megan Taylor, Kim Braun and Abbi Dunlavy to win the 4x800 relay in 10:58.
Kassi Hemmelgarn, Tiffany Huelskamp, Abigail Johnson and Wellman took the 4x800 relay in 10:58, and the team of Morgan Link, Cierra Barcus, Gerber and Snyder was first with a time of 55.7 in the 4x100 relay.[[In-content Ad]]