May 24, 2017 at 3:49 a.m.
Muhlenkamp leads Jay
Sophomore improves on her seed by three places
Muhlenkamp leads Jay
Copyright 2017, The Commercial Review
All Rights Reserved.
INDIANAPOLIS — State berths were most likely out of reach. The heat sheets showed that.
But each time an athlete steps on the track, it represents a chance to improve.
Several Patriots took advantage of that opportunity.
Lead among that group was Kendra Muhlenkamp, who climbed three places from her seed to earn the only points of the night for the Jay County High School girls track team with an eighth-place finish in the 800-meter run at the IHSAA Girls Track and Field Regional meet at Ben Davis.
“Kendra did a really nice job in the 800, for not even running that event here last year,” said JCHS coach Brian McEvoy. “Last year she ran the mile. She stepped up really well, ran her season-best time against really tough competition. That just says something about her toughness and how she’s able to compete.”
The Patriots, who finished 28th thanks to Muhlenkamp’s single point, also got ninth-place efforts from senior Audrey Shreve and junior Lucy Laux. The top three finishers in each event advance to the state finals.
Pike, behind three regional titles from senior star Lynna Irby, scored 84 points to take the team title. The host Giants and Brebeuf Jesuit tied for the runner-up spot with 75 points.
Muhlenkamp’s success in moving up the charts came largely because of her ability to put herself in a good position at the beginning of the race.
She got out to a quick start and avoided getting boxed in when the runners cut to the inside of the track at the 100-meter mark. She was running clean and just behind the lead pack in fifth place.
The junior slipped a bit by the midway point of the race, sitting seventh but with the No. 5 spot still within striking distance. She held strong in seventh for most of the rest of the race before dropping to eighth at the finish line in 2 minutes, 27.88 seconds, about three and a half seconds faster than her sectional time a week ago at Delta.
Muhlenkamp was one of only two underclassman to crack the top eight.
“We talked about getting yourself established in the race and in that pack because it’ll make the race actually go easier,” said McEvoy. “So she did a good job establishing herself there and getting herself over the mental hump where she had someone to race, someone to pass, and some pressure on behind her. I think that really helped to push her along. It was nice to see her run against that kind of competition.”
Muhlenkamp also helped the Patriot 4x800 relay team to a 10th-place finish as she joined Taylor Homan and sisters Erika and Olivia Kunkler for a season-best time of 10:25.5.
Shreve matched the height — 4 feet, 10 inches — that earned her a regional berth last week, but was cleaner than the other athletes who did so. Because she had fewer misses she climbed to ninth place, one spot above her seed.
Laux struggled early in the long jump, fouling on her first attempt and hitting the sand well shorter than usual on her second. But she made the most of the third, launching herself 16 feet, 3.5 inches. That jump was good for eighth in the preliminaries, from which the top nine advance for three more jumps in the finals.
She cleared the 16-foot mark again in the finals, but was unable to better her third jump. Audrey Yaeger of Bishop Chatard passed Laux with a leap of 16 feet, 5.5 inches, leaving the JCHS junior in ninth after entering the meet as the No. 11 seed.
“Lucy made it to finals, which is a huge accomplishment down here,” said McEvoy. “Any time you get over 16 feet in long jump, that’s a legit jump.
“To me, it always takes a time or two down here to get yourself together, to run against this level of competition. And this is her first regional advancement this year … I thought she came out here like she had done it before. … The competition level didn’t scare her. I feel like it’s going to be a great building block for next year.”
Laux added a time of 13.5 seconds for 12th place in the 100 dash. Kendall Garringer was also 12th as she cleared 4 feet, 8 inches, in the high jump.
Other individual competitors for JCHS were Breea Liette in the 100 hurdles (14th – 18.67), Calli Stigleman in the 200 dash (15th – 28.07) and Rebekah Corwin in the shot put (16th – 30 feet, 8 inches).
The Patriots were also 13th in both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. Sprinters Karlie Bullard, Stigleman, Homan and Laux turned in a season-best time of 52.94, and the team of Kelsey Burden, Erika Kunkler, Liette and Homan posted a time of 4:28.25.
All Rights Reserved.
INDIANAPOLIS — State berths were most likely out of reach. The heat sheets showed that.
But each time an athlete steps on the track, it represents a chance to improve.
Several Patriots took advantage of that opportunity.
Lead among that group was Kendra Muhlenkamp, who climbed three places from her seed to earn the only points of the night for the Jay County High School girls track team with an eighth-place finish in the 800-meter run at the IHSAA Girls Track and Field Regional meet at Ben Davis.
“Kendra did a really nice job in the 800, for not even running that event here last year,” said JCHS coach Brian McEvoy. “Last year she ran the mile. She stepped up really well, ran her season-best time against really tough competition. That just says something about her toughness and how she’s able to compete.”
The Patriots, who finished 28th thanks to Muhlenkamp’s single point, also got ninth-place efforts from senior Audrey Shreve and junior Lucy Laux. The top three finishers in each event advance to the state finals.
Pike, behind three regional titles from senior star Lynna Irby, scored 84 points to take the team title. The host Giants and Brebeuf Jesuit tied for the runner-up spot with 75 points.
Muhlenkamp’s success in moving up the charts came largely because of her ability to put herself in a good position at the beginning of the race.
She got out to a quick start and avoided getting boxed in when the runners cut to the inside of the track at the 100-meter mark. She was running clean and just behind the lead pack in fifth place.
The junior slipped a bit by the midway point of the race, sitting seventh but with the No. 5 spot still within striking distance. She held strong in seventh for most of the rest of the race before dropping to eighth at the finish line in 2 minutes, 27.88 seconds, about three and a half seconds faster than her sectional time a week ago at Delta.
Muhlenkamp was one of only two underclassman to crack the top eight.
“We talked about getting yourself established in the race and in that pack because it’ll make the race actually go easier,” said McEvoy. “So she did a good job establishing herself there and getting herself over the mental hump where she had someone to race, someone to pass, and some pressure on behind her. I think that really helped to push her along. It was nice to see her run against that kind of competition.”
Muhlenkamp also helped the Patriot 4x800 relay team to a 10th-place finish as she joined Taylor Homan and sisters Erika and Olivia Kunkler for a season-best time of 10:25.5.
Shreve matched the height — 4 feet, 10 inches — that earned her a regional berth last week, but was cleaner than the other athletes who did so. Because she had fewer misses she climbed to ninth place, one spot above her seed.
Laux struggled early in the long jump, fouling on her first attempt and hitting the sand well shorter than usual on her second. But she made the most of the third, launching herself 16 feet, 3.5 inches. That jump was good for eighth in the preliminaries, from which the top nine advance for three more jumps in the finals.
She cleared the 16-foot mark again in the finals, but was unable to better her third jump. Audrey Yaeger of Bishop Chatard passed Laux with a leap of 16 feet, 5.5 inches, leaving the JCHS junior in ninth after entering the meet as the No. 11 seed.
“Lucy made it to finals, which is a huge accomplishment down here,” said McEvoy. “Any time you get over 16 feet in long jump, that’s a legit jump.
“To me, it always takes a time or two down here to get yourself together, to run against this level of competition. And this is her first regional advancement this year … I thought she came out here like she had done it before. … The competition level didn’t scare her. I feel like it’s going to be a great building block for next year.”
Laux added a time of 13.5 seconds for 12th place in the 100 dash. Kendall Garringer was also 12th as she cleared 4 feet, 8 inches, in the high jump.
Other individual competitors for JCHS were Breea Liette in the 100 hurdles (14th – 18.67), Calli Stigleman in the 200 dash (15th – 28.07) and Rebekah Corwin in the shot put (16th – 30 feet, 8 inches).
The Patriots were also 13th in both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. Sprinters Karlie Bullard, Stigleman, Homan and Laux turned in a season-best time of 52.94, and the team of Kelsey Burden, Erika Kunkler, Liette and Homan posted a time of 4:28.25.
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