Patriots pushed, place second

With the sectional meet less than three weeks away, it was time for the Patriots to see some top-level competition.
Richmond provided it.
Jay County was pushed to season-best scores in several events Monday as it finished second in a three-team meet with 86.75 points. Liz Ruger of the Red Devils won every event to lead her team to victory with 105.45 points, and Muncie Central was third with 74.775 points.
“I was really proud of what we did tonight,” said JCHS coach Jill Ranly. “I felt like our girls gave it their all and got some really high scores.”
A showdown between senior Halle Hill of the Patriots and Ruger on the floor exercise highlighted the meet.
Ruger, a sophomore who finished 16th in the state in the all-around last season, took to the event first and posted a 9.525. That set a high bar for Hill, who again hit the full twists at the end of her first and third tumbling passes and put together her best routine of the year.
However, her 9.475, which matched her best score of the season, left her a half a point behind Ruger marking the first time she has been beaten on the floor this year.
Despite that result, Ranly said she felt the meet was good for Hill as the sectional competition Feb. 29 draws nearer.
“It was really good, actually for both of them, to know that they really had to put it all out there,” said Ranly. “Sometimes you just get comfortable in your routine, and it’s good for everybody to have a little bit of competition and get out of their comfort zone.”
Ruger swept the meet, racking up a 37.45 all-around score led by her total on the floor. She added a 9.5 with her Yurchenko on the vault, a 9.45 for a balance beam that include a straddle jump and an 8.975 on the uneven parallel bars.
In addition to her runner-up effort on the floor, Hill was also second with an 8.825 on the balance beam despite falling on one of her jumps. (A fall is an automatic 0.5-point deduction.)
“Halle’s beam, if she stays on for sectional, she’ll be right up there,” said Ranly of Hill, who was also third on the vault (8.75) and fifth on the bars (8.15). “Just having one fall tonight … she really scored well. She didn’t have a lot of wobbles. Her tuck was solid. Her back handspring was solid as well as her dismount. That routine has the potential.”
Richmond’s Kinsey Bosell took second behind Ruger on both the vault and bars.
Junior Kenzie Ring led Jay County on the bars as she placed fourth with an 8.175. She was fourth on each of the other events as well, scoring a season-best 9.05 on the floor, 8.7 on vault and 7.925 on bars.
Kaley Young added a 7.1 for JCHS on the vault, and Misaal Fatimah had scores of 6.225 on the floor, a career best, and 4.375 on the beam.
In junior varsity floor competition, Cassidy Upp of the Patriots was first and Kaley Young finished third.