Parazzi wins high jump

BLUFFTON — The Stars aligned yet again.

The Patriots got a title from one of their newest members.

Elisa Parazzi had the only first-place finish for the Jay County High School girls track team during its runner-up finish in the Allen County Athletic Conference track and field championships Tuesday.

“I’m just really proud of all the girls and boys who ran for us today,” said JCHS coach Joe Imel. “They gave us the best they possibly could.”

South Adams, powered by three sprint victories from Ali Smith and two hurdle wins by Brooklyn Bixler, claimed its fourth consecutive ACAC title by scoring 140 points. Jay County totaled 117 for second, while Bluffton was third with 104 points.

The host Tigers won the boys’ championship, scoring 147 points to dethrone three-time defending champion Heritage. South Adams totaled 132 points for second, and Woodlan had 107.5 points for third. Jay County (72) took fourth.

Parazzi, an exchange student from Italy, didn’t start her evening on high jump until the bar was at 4 feet, 10 inches. (The opening height is 4 feet, 2 inches.) As one of nine competitors remaining when she began jumping, she was one of four athletes to clear 4 feet, 10 inches.

As the bar was raised to 5 feet, 1 inch, she was the only one to clear it to earn the championship.

“It’s actually risky when I get in at 4-10 and everybody started jumping at 4-2 because you don’t know, maybe you fail and you don’t get points for your team,” said Parazzi, who was also runner-up in long jump with a leap of 14 feet, 11 inches. “I actually felt really good. When I won, I wanted to get high and get my personal best.”

After claiming her title, she asked for the bar to move up to 5 feet, 6 inches, to attempt that career best, but she missed all three attempts.

“Elisa Parazzi is a pot of gold for us coming from Italy,” Imel said. “I do expect a lot of good things when the tournament comes up with these three meets. I’m sure that she will be headed to the state meet.”

Kinsey Shannon, a JCHS senior, and junior Shea Bailey ran toe-to-toe with Adrienne McKean and Smith of South Adams. Smith, who won the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dash races as a freshman back in 2019, backed up her titles in all three events this year as well.

Shannon was the runner-up to Smith in all three. Bailey was sixth, seventh and fifth, respectively.

“We ran as hard as we could,” Imel said. “We left it all on the track. We tried to keep up with the two fast South Adams girls. They were all in the same events. We tried to put our best with their best, and sometimes their best is just a little better than you.”

Like Shannon and Bailey, Aaron Funkhouser was a sprint workhorse for the JCHS boys by also running in the 100, 200 and 400 dashes.

He was the runner-up to Drew Stutzman of South Adams in the 200 and 400, and placed third in the 100.

“Aaron is the best guy we’ve got,” Imel said. “He’s probably the best guy I’ll have for a while, but hopefully not. He’s got guts. He’s a little bit banged up but he stuck it out.

“With the quality of runners we have in the ACAC, him receiving second place in those events is pretty outstanding. I’m real proud of him. Hope we can recover for a good sectional.”