May 27, 2015 at 5:40 p.m.

Distance 'mighty' for Jay

Patriot junior Wellman scores in two events
Distance 'mighty' for Jay
Distance 'mighty' for Jay

By RAY COONEY
President, editor and publisher

INDIANAPOLIS — In a season stunted by injuries, the distance crew has been the constant for the Patriots.
It led them again Tuesday in the final meet of the year.
Junior Megan Wellman scored in a pair of individual events and anchored a top-eight relay as the Jay County High School girls track team closed its campaign with an 16th place finish at the regional meet at Ben Davis.
“Our distance has been a small group, but it’s been a really mighty group,” said JCHS coach Brian McEvoy, whose team was without senior hurdler Malarie Houck for most of the season because of an injury. “They’ve done a really good job. They’ve done everything we’ve asked of them, and they’ve done it really well.”
Pike, led by sophomore Lynna Irby’s regional record-breaking win in the 400-meter dash as well as victories in the 100 and 200, dominated with a winning score of 108. It was 44 ahead of runners-up Cathedral and Ben Davis among 26 scoring teams.
Wellman turned in the best effort for the Patriots in the 1,600-meter run despite getting stuck in traffic early.
As the runners merged to start the back stretch she was in 11th place, but managed to weave her way up to seventh by the 200-yard mark. She made a move on the outside on the back stretch of the second lap, climbing all the way to fourth.
Wellman kept that spot for more than a lap, opening a 10-meter lead, and stayed strong until the home stretch, when freshman Aubrey Norris of Monroe Central passed her with less than 20 yards to go. She held on for a fifth-place finish by about a half second over Grace Baer of Pendleton Heights in 5:39.31.

The top three from each event moved on to the state finals, which are scheduled for June 6 at Indiana University.
“I think it was kind of a big statement for her this tourney season that she was going to be tough,” said McEvoy, noting that Wellman missed the 2014 sectional and regional meets because of injury. “I thought in the mile she put herself in a really good position. … She did what she had to do. She was right in position where she could maybe strike and make something happen. It’s good experience.”
Wellman also turned in a top-eight finish for JCHS in the 3,200 run, settling into seventh place midway through the race. She made a run at Emma Hall of Pendleton Heights for sixth place on the final lap, but Hall pulled away in the last 100 meters and Wellman turned in a time of 12:18.92 for seventh.
The other points for the Patriots, who were second in both the sectional and Allen County Athletic Conference meets this year, came from the opening race of the evening — the 4x800 relay.
Junior first-year runner Ava Kunkler got Jay County off to a strong start, establishing herself in second place behind Southport’s Heather Blankenbaker. She dropped briefly to third, but reclaimed the No. 2 spot before handing off the baton to her sister Erika.
The younger Kunkler battled to keep the team near the front of the field, falling to third once before climbing to second again and then slipping to fourth at the handoff to Briana Muhlenkamp. The freshman, who had been a sprinter before stepping into the relay following an injury to Kellie Fortkamp, slipped back to seventh place, and Wellman held that spot as the Patriots finished in 10:14.53.
Britlyn Dues also competed Tuesday for JCHS, taking seventh in her heat of the 100 hurdles. She finished in 17.81 for 14th overall.
The Patriots were also slated to compete in the 4x400 relay, but were disqualified because of a false start.
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