Back to Bloomington (05/21/08)

INDIANAPOLIS - When regional week rolls around, Amanda Johnson is ready.

The Jay County High School senior turned in another jaw-dropping regional performance Tuesday at Ben Davis, earning a berth in the IHSAA Girls Track and Field State Finals for a third straight season. Her effort led the Patriots to 10 points, which placed them 17th for the 29 teams represented.

Johnson sliced more than 11 seconds off the time she ran just a week earlier to win the Muncie Southside sectional, finishing third in the 800-meter run in 2-minutes, 18.21 seconds. The top three individuals in each event earned state berths.

"I knew expectations were high, and that almost made me more nervous about today," said Johnson, who was second in the regional last season and third as a sophomore. "I really just wanted to prove to myself that I am a state runner. I'm excited to go back and really see what I can do this year."

In 2006 Johnson was the No. 6 seed in the regional and sliced her time by nearly 10 seconds to finish third and earn a state berth. She was also the sixth seed a year ago, when she finished as the regional runner-up.

Added JCHS coach Brian McEvoy: "We haven't seen that from her all year. ... We knew she had it in her. .. Tonight she really got pushed. I really liked the way she ran the first 400. It was pretty quick, but I think that's the way the state is going to be ran next week."

Johnson owns the school record in the 800 run at 2:17.43 - she set it by finishing 11th in the state last season - but had not come close to that mark this year. Her time of 2:29.48 in the sectional meet had her as the No. 9 seed, but that designation quickly went out the window.

Starting from box one (lanes one and two), Johnson got off to a quick start and led the field at the 100-meter cut in.

"I wanted to get out ahead at the 100 because I didn't want to get boxed in like I've gotten so many times," said Johnson. "I knew that I was one that had the most experience in the regional ... so this year instead of me following their pace I was determined to make the pace myself."

And that's exactly what she did.

The senior took a lead of a couple of strides over Bria Goss of the host Giants and continued to pace the field at the start of the opening lap. But then around the final turn top-seeded Verena Vogel of North Central and Abby Farley of Park Tudor made their move to the front, making it a four-way race for three state berths.

Vogel fought off Farley at the finish to win by six hundredths of a second in 2:17.09, and Johnson kept Goss on her heels to take the third qualifying position by more than two seconds.

"That last lap was hard, especially since I haven't ran anywhere close to that all season," said Johnson. "I knew I wanted to go on. ... My goal was just to run whatever I had to run to get top three. And I knew that would include dropping lots of time.

"I was really dead. I was just like, 'You've got one more hundred, you've got to lay it all out there.' Cause if this was my last race, I didn't want to have any regrets at all."

Now she'll have one more chance to put it all on the line as she runs for a state medal Friday, May 30, at Indiana University. The 800 is scheduled for 7:45 p.m.

"A lot of the girls she ran against at regional last year, and even the state finals, didn't make it to this level again," said McEvoy. "And she's been here three consecutive years to the state finals. ... We're hoping to get a medal around her neck next week.

"It's a tough, tough thing to make it there once. To make it there three times is just unbelievable."

The only other points on the night for Jay County came in the 3,200 run.

Aly Miller was fifth at the half-mile mark and stayed fifth at the mid-way point of the race. Much like the sectional race, Bonnie Kaminsky of Muncie Burris passed Miller with two laps to go, and the JCHS freshman finished sixth in 12:10.74.

Kylie Wellman, a junior, ran a consistent 3,200 race for the Patriots, staying eighth throughout and finishing in 12:37.26.

Erika Hunt finished 10th in the 100 hurdles in 17.12 ahead of teammate Stephanie Wellman (14th - 18.82), and was 14th in the 300 hurdles with a time of 51.65. Lindsey Current cleared the high jump bar at five feet even to place 10th.

Other individuals competing for Jay County were Kaelee Keller in the 200 dash (12th - 28.38), Cara Garringer in the shot put (13th - 32 feet), Leah Wellman in the 1,600 run (14th - 5:49.24) and Sarah Mescher in the 100 dash (16th - 13.98).

The Patriots best relay effort came in the 4x400 relay where Johnson, Mescher, Kaelee Keller and Macey Gerber were 12th in 4:20.94. Keller, Mescher, Lindsey Shannon and Kelsey Wood were 14th in the 4x100 in 54.02, and Miller, Leah Wellman, Katie Butcher and Kari Hemmelgarn placed 14th in the 4x800 in 10:45.06.

"We had a great season," said McEvoy, whose team went 26-2 during the regular season and finished as the sectional runner-up. "I thought the girls did a great job of pushing each other. ... When you have girls who are willing to make sacrifices, those things happen."

Three South Adams athletes competed Tuesday at the Northrop regional in Fort Wayne, but none qualified for the state finals. Kinsey Lengerich finished in a five-way tie for 12th in the high jump at 4 feet, 8 1/2 inches. Maddie Moore recorded a time of 5:37 in the 1,600 run, and Allison Beitler ran a time of 12:06 in the 3,200 run.

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