Keihn captures semi-state berth

Copyright 2019, The Commercial Review

All Rights Reserved

MUNCIE — Lydia Keihn doesn’t care too much about the other runners on the course.

Both she and her coach say the clock is what is most important.

The youngster didn’t quite get the time she was shooting for, but she’ll have another chance at that goal.

Keihn, a Jay County High School freshman, advanced to the semi-state by taking 23rd overall in the IHSAA regional meet Saturday at Muncie Sportsplex.

“It feels great,” she said. “It’s awesome.”

Keihn follows in the footsteps of teammate Sophia Fugiett, who was the last Patriot to advance to semi-state in 2017.

Fishers, which is ranked ninth in the state by the Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches, repeated as regional champion after winning its first crown a year ago. The Tigers had 30 points to match their 2018 score. Hamilton Southeastern, which is No. 12, was the runner-up with 69 points. Pendleton Heights (82), Yorktown (122) and host Delta (147) were third through fifth, respectively.

Jay County scored 205 for eighth out of 10 scoring teams.

The top five teams and top 10 individuals not on qualifying squads advance to semi-state, which is slated for Oct. 26 at Purdue Fort Wayne.

Keihn, who was fifth on the same course for sectional a week earlier, went out a little quicker than she anticipated in hopes of staying near the front. Shortly after the 1-mile mark she was sitting 24th, and fell one spot a mile later.

Long after Halle Hill of Hamilton Southeastern crossed the finish line in 18 minutes, 30.1 seconds, for the individual title, Keihn made her way toward the finish line. With 400 meters to go, Keihn had climbed two spots, and that’s where she ended in 21:00.2.

“My plan was to do what I usually do,” she said. “I was going to try to start off faster but I came off too fast and that hurt me through the race.

“That’s why I slowed down as my time was bad this time.”

The soft-spoken Keihn said she was shooting to break the 20-minute barrier. Although she didn’t get her goal, JCHS coach Paul Hyatt was still pleased with the way she competed.

“I think that speaks levels of an athlete that she’s able to advance as an individual she’s not happy … it’s all about the time with her and she didn’t get the time she wanted to have,” he said. “We’ll go back to the drawing board Monday and Tuesday this week and get her up to speed and hopefully we’ll get her to run her best time next Saturday.”

Fugiett, a junior, was just four spots behind Keihn after one mile, but continued to lose ground throughout the rest of the race. She dipped to 36th at the 2-mile mark and ended 42nd in 22:10.9, a time she was disappointed in following the race.

Lindy Wood, a sophomore, had Fugiett in her sights the entire race. Only two spots behind after each of the first two miles, Wood dipped back to 46th before making a final push in the last 400 meters and finished one spot behind Fugiett in 22:13.4.

Raven Weaver (23:44.7) was 65th and Lita Chowning (25:33.2) placed 82nd.

It was just the second time since 2015 the JCHS girls made regional as a team, and Hyatt is hoping for continued success with a team that only has one senior.

“To bring them here two years in a row, I really hope next year we can advance them on,” he said. “They ran as hard as they could. They ran great. Really proud of them. Really proud of Lydia and hopefully we can have a good turnout with her the next several years that she runs.”

Hill, an HSE junior who was eighth as an individual last year, dethroned defending champion Leah Keesling of Randolph Southern. Keesling was the runner-up nearly 37 seconds behind the winner.

Lauren Smith (Cowan), Ella Baldwin (Winchester), Lexi Wulff (Wapahani), Madisen Weir (Alexandria-Monroe), McKenna Minton (Cowan), Stormie Fritch (Shenandoah), Jaci Knott (Wes-Del), Emeline Thygerson (Burris) and Keesling were the other individuals to advance to semi-state.