Patriot runners reach regional

MUNCIE — The streak came to an end.
But the Patriot girls are still heading to the regional meet. And four boys will be joining them.
The eight-time defending champion Jay County High School girls cross country team took the fifth and final regional-qualifying spot Saturday at the sectional meet at Muncie SportsPlex.
“It’s been a tough season, especially with the injuries we had,” said JCHS coach Sarah Mescher, who had just two of the top seven runners from last season return to the team and was without 2013 leader Megan Wellman for most of the year because of injuries. “Their heart and dedication has shown through, and it showed today.”
The girls scored 105 points to tie with fourth-place Monroe Central, but lost the sixth-runner tiebreaker. Randolph Southern cruised to its first title with 41 points ahead of Delta (92) and Union City (100).
The JCHS boys finished with 132 points and came up short of a team berth with a sixth-place finish behind Wapahani (53), Monroe Central (72), Delta (88), Muncie Central (112) and Cowan (120).
But Tanner Craw, Michael Denney, Travis Barton and Alex LeMaster all qualified as individuals to give the squad its largest contingent of regional runners in more than 15 years.
The top five teams and top 10 individuals not on qualifying teams advance to regional competition.
“I’m really proud of the guys,” said Mescher. “They came out and they ran hard.
“Having four advance to regional is huge. … I was really impressed with that.”
Also advancing was Burris junior Emi Minnich, who ran for Jay County during her first two seasons, with a 13th-place finish in 21 minutes, 58.27 seconds. Her teammate, Michelle Kent, was the individual champion in 20:12.98, and Cowan’s Blake Brooks took the boys title in 17:22.74.
As she has all season, Kellie Fortkamp led the Patriots in advancing Saturday.
The junior was strong from the start, running fourth in a group just behind leaders Michelle Kent of Burris and Kora Kerns of Union City. By the mile mark she had moved up to third place.
Fortkamp dropped back to fifth after two miles, and narrowly missed the top five as she finished less than a second behind Monroe Central’s Aubrey Norris in 21:02.69 seconds.
“Kellie Fortkamp has just been stellar this season,” said Mescher. “She puts in the extra effort. She runs after practice. … And she’s always motivating and pushing the girls to run harder. … She’s been a great leader to us.”
Megan Wellman, who had competed in just three races this season prior to Saturday, joined her classmate in the top 10.
While Fortkamp climbed to third at the mile mark, Wellman was close behind her in fifth as they ran down the slight decline at the SportsPlex. She was seventh at the two-mile mark, and held on for a top-10 finish in ninth place in 21:17.46.
“We weren’t really sure, just because she hasn’t been able to run,” said Mescher of Wellman’s race strategy. “In practice even this week she couldn’t run everything. For her it was just trying to keep Kellie in her sights. … Staying in that area, that’s what really helped her.
“Despite the injury and everything she’s been dealing with this year to come back and bounce back that well is impressive. I’m really excited for her.”
Craw led the Jay County boys team throughout the race as he finished 14th in 18:06.37. Denney, who was the team’s lone regional qualifier in 2013, followed Craw in 24th at 18:38.39.
Barton and LeMaster posted qualifying times of 19 minutes flat and 19:16.9 respectively.
“Travis has worked insanely hard,” said Mescher. “He’s been the leader of the team, so it’s great seeing him advance.”
Matthew Cox rounded out the team score in 34th with a time of 19:32.29.
Cousins Gabby and Erika Kunkler ran within a few steps of each other for most of the girls race, and remained close at the finish. They were back-to-back in 31st and 32nd, posting times of 23:48.2 and 23:55.29 respectively.
Ashley Alig rounded out the Jay County top five in 25:45.88 for 45th place.
Also running for the Patriots Saturday were Kay Morgan (49th - 25:57.11) and Kiara Walter (53rd - 26:57.79) for the girls, and Dustin Cope (39th - 19:46.2) and Dylan Harris (50th - 20:15.66) for the boys.