Champs again

MUNCIE - Dynasty is becoming a word that should be associated with the Jay County High School girls cross country team.

This season the Patriots won their fifth straight Union City Invitational. Just a week ago they picked up their sixth consecutive Olympic Athletic Conference title.

And Tuesday evening, in dominating fashion, they earned their fourth sectional championship in a row at the meet hosted by Delta at The Water Bowl.

All of Jay County's seven runners crossed the finish line before any other team even had four, giving the team a 20-point win. The Patriots scored 43 points to finish in front of runner-up Muncie Central and the third-place host Eagles (81).

Jay County, along with the other top five teams and top 15 individuals, advance to Saturday's regional at The Water Bowl at 10 a.m.

"That's just really a credit to our girls," said JCHS coach Brian McEvoy, whose team was led by sophomore Katie Simmons' runner-up finish. "We've had some adversity this year ... so it hasn't been the picture-perfect season, but when it came down to it they were so determined and so focused. ... Their determination has been to a level I've never seen. ... It was just an amazing performance."

Tevan Nichols was impressive for the boys as well, matching Simmons with a second-place finish. The senior, who was coming off of a third-place finish at the OAC meet, reached the regional meet for the second straight season.

"It finally hit me that it's my senior year and I won't be running any high school cross county any more," said Nichols, who was 11th last year. "It was like, 'Hey, I've got to kick it into gear here and show who I am out there.'"

Simmons and Nichols both went unchallenged down the stretch for their runner-up spots.

Simmons was eighth early on, but by the time the field round the pond she was up to fourth place. She quickly surged to second by the mid-point of the race and stayed there the rest of the way.

She finished in 20-minutes, 31.63 seconds, 13 seconds behind champion Whitney Wiist of Winchester and 10 seconds ahead of third-place finisher Hailey Norris of Monroe Central.

"I'm really proud of myself right now. I'm so happy," said Simmons, who has fought her way back from a broken foot suffered during the track season in May. "I always felt really strong. I got in the zone, and sometimes that doesn't happen. ...

"It was mostly my mindset. I was really nervous before the race, and then the gun shot off and I felt so much better."

Nichols ran out to the lead at for the opening 1,000 meters of the race before giving way to Muncie Southside's Ethan Evans.

He said from there he just tried to keep Evans within view as he finished nine seconds ahead of Monroe Central's Trey Thomas in 16:52.

Evans cruised to the win in 16:24.

Nichols, who finished behind Thomas in a three-team meet this season at JCHS, has improved by leaps and bounds. He was 35th in the sectional as a freshman.

"Tevan saw the big picture this year," said McEvoy. "He may be one of the most coachable kids we've had. He's done everything we've asked him at a level harder than we've asked him to got at it. He asked for more, and he wanted to be pushed. ...

"I'm glad that he's getting to see the fruits of his labor. He ran an excellent race, and he dominated that second spot tonight."

Junior Leah Wellman was the No. 2 runner for the Patriot girls behind Simmons as she ran her typical negative-split racing, moving up throughout the competition. After sitting 12th early and seventh following the first trip round the point she climbed to fifth with about 1,000 meters to go.

She held strong the rest of the way to take fifth in 20:56.

Kari Hemmelgarn, a senior, was as high as ninth during the race before recording an 11th-place finish in 21:48, and first-year junior Megan Taylor took 13th at 21:53. Junior Logan Laux just missed giving the Patriots a fifth runner under 22 minutes as she placed 15th in 22:00.21.

Aly Miller (17th - 22:11) and Liz Lennartz (18th - 22:13) also crossed the finish line before the No. 4 Central runner and the No. 3 Delta competitor.

Four Jay County runners shattered their career-best times, with Hemmelgarn slicing an amazing 41 seconds off of her previous mark. Taylor, Lennartz and Laux had career bests by 34, 29 and 26 seconds respectively.

"We talked about running the first half of the race smart and then the second half is nothing but guts and heart," said McEvoy of his pack of runners behind Simmons and Wellman. "Not only did they do their job, they did beyond their job. I think that's just determination.

"Logan and Kari and Liz and Megan Taylor are a huge reason we can experience success."[[In-content Ad]]