Return to glory

MUNCIE — Renee Omstead raced out to the front of the field to open the final race of the night.

After handing off to Kinsey Shannon, the lead grew bigger.

Halle Hill created more separation as she passed off to Ashlyn Dow, who proceeded to leave the rest of the field in the dust. The Patriot quartet won the 4x400-meter relay by more than 10 seconds.

The commanding win was a fitting finish to a dominating night.

Jay County High School’s girls track team won seven events Tuesday, returning to glory as it scored 129 points to win the IHSAA track sectional at Delta.

“It was just a tremendous effort,” said JCHS coach Brian McEvoy, whose team had won five straight sectional championships from 2010 to 2014 before watching Yorktown run off the last four in a row.

Delta was the runner-up with 101 points, and Muncie Central scored 77.5 points for third.

“There are going to be lots of moments that are going to be hard and difficult, and there are going to be really crucial spots and you’re going to have a choice to give up or step up and perform and help us in a tight spot,” McEvoy said. “Everyone faces those decisions. I thought we did a really nice job of making things happen in really tight, in crucial spots in races.”

At the center of that was Shannon, a sophomore. The sprinter came in as the top seed in the 100 dash and edged teammate Calli Stigleman to claim her first career sectional title with her time of 13.03 seconds. Stigleman was 12-hundredths of a second behind to advance to regional.

The top three places in each event qualify for the regional meet Tuesday at Ben Davis in Indianapolis.

Shannon later backed up her top seed in the 400 dash, running away with the title in 59.75 seconds, a victory by more than 2 seconds over Delta’s Ashleigh Brelage. Dow, also a sophomore, was fourth.

“It was pretty good,” Shannon said of her overall effort. She was also fourth in the 200 dash, with Stigleman finishing one spot ahead of her. “Little intense, but good competition.”

As the top seed in the 100 hurdles, Abby Benter easily won her preliminary heat to make the final — the top two in each heat plus the next two fastest times qualify for the final. Once in the final, a slow start hampered her early, but she was able to take the lead with four hurdles to go. She nearly fell after clipping the second-to-last hurdle but was able to regain her composure, stay upright and cross the finish line in 16.95 seconds for the championship.

“Abby Benter didn’t even run in the sectional last year,” McEvoy said. Benter was also third in 300 hurdles, and Grace Saxman — she was sixth in the 100 hurdles — placed fourth.

“(Benter) was not even in our lineup last year,” McEvoy continued. “To come back this year and be the sectional champ in the 100-meter hurdles just says how hard the girls have worked for this.”

Jay County’s 4x800 relay team had to fight for its win to open the meet. Sophia Fugiett and Raven Weaver had the Patriots sitting in second behind Delta. Cheyenne Liette made up the gap of more than 5 meters to give Jay County a lead, and Lindy Wood kept the spot through the final 800 meters.

“They came out, set the tone, dug that out,” McEvoy said. “Huge effort by Cheyenne Liette in that third leg. It was huge for us. Lindy Wood drove it home.”

The Patriots’ 4x100 relay team of Shea Bailey, Karlie Bullard, Stigleman and Omstead also claimed a sectional title. Kassidy Fennig did too, throwing discus 110 feet, 8 inches, a career best by 16 feet.

“I thought she stepped up in a huge moment when we really needed it,” McEvoy said. “She’s always had the capability … It was just finally putting it together at the right moment.”

Fugiett (800 run) and Hill (long jump) also qualified for the regional meet by taking third in their respective events.

Other top-eight finishes to earn points for the Patriots were Kendal Garringer (seventh – high jump), Hallie Fields (eighth – high jump), Fugiett (fourth – 1,600 run) and Weaver (eighth – 1,600 run).