July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Confident Jay seeking third straight title (03/04/05)
JCHS gymnastics
Confident Jay seeking third straight title (03/04/05)
By By RAY COONEY-
Most people would probably say gymnastics is an individual sport. The Patriots don’t see it that way.
Jay County is all about team, and as such it has one goal: a third straight sectional title.
“I have heard individual goals in terms of the regional meet, but I think the whole goal at sectional is to win as a team,” said Patriot coach Kristin Millspaugh, whose athletes wouldn’t even utter an individual goal at practice Thursday night. All they want to do at Saturday’s Muncie Central sectional is avenge their only dual-meet loss of the season en route to a third straight crown. “I think the team that (people) on Saturday will see is a different team than at the Delta meet.”
The Delta Eagles account for that lone dual-meet defeat, and were one of only three teams to top Jay County all season. No. 4 Valparaiso and New Castle were the other two, both at the Valparaiso Invitational, and the Patriots have already avenged the New Castle defeat.
At its best, Jay County has posted higher scores than Delta, with season bests of 101.95 and 99.4 respectively. But the Eagles rose to the occasion once already as they posted their high mark in their 99.4-98.5 win Feb. 7 over a JCHS squad that was then ranked 18th in the state. It has not gotten back into the state top 20 since.
Despite that loss, which occurred at Delta, the Patriots don’t seem worried. They bounced back with one of their top scores of the season, a 100.675 at sectional host Muncie Central two nights later, and have not lost since.
And, they simply believe they are the best team.
“We’re confident we’re going to win,” said senior Lacey Grider. “We’ve prepared ourselves in practice all season.”
“We’re confident this year because we’ve (won) the last two years,” said another senior, Melissa Fifer, repeating the buzz-word of the evening. “Just because they beat us doesn’t mean we can’t come back and beat them. We’ve done it in years past ...”
Fifer knows her history.
Although Jay County was never really challenged last season, it was far from favored two years ago. It had lost to sectional rivals Delta, Marion and Blackford during the regular season and rallied to win the sectional championship by more than three points.
Fifer, Grider, senior Makenzie Knight and junior Hannah Williams all were part of that squad, and now make up the core of an experienced team. They will be joined in competition Saturday by sophomores Lacey Thornburg and Kristin Brown and freshman Erika Hunt.
Williams is one of the favorites to win the sectional all-around competition, and is threat to win any or all of the four individual events. She finished 11th in the state on the balance beam in her freshman season.
She was the sectional all-around, beam and floor champion last year, while finishing second on the bars and fourth on the vault.
The only other Patriots to place in the top six last year were Brown and Fifer, who were third and sixth on the floor respectively. Grider and Thornburg could have added to that list, but both missed most of the 2003-04 season because of injuries.
One of Williams’ top rivals for the all-around title is likely to be Kelly Criswell, a Delta sophomore. She was second to Williams at last year’s sectional — she won the vault title — and the pair tied for all-around honors at this year’s dual meet.
Fifer and Williams could be going head-to-head for the vault sectional title as they both will be performing Tsukaharas, and Jay County is strong from top to bottom on each of the three other events.
The other main competitor for the Eagles is senior Emily Carter. She was second in the sectional on the vault last year and fifth in the all-around, and finished second in three out of four events in their dual-meet win.
If the Patriots can overcome Criswell and Carter for the victory, it would not only be their third in a row, but also would place them second in the sectional grouping with six championships overall. Marion has 21 sectional titles, which included nine consecutive wins from 1984 to 1992.
“I’m really confident,” said Millspaugh. “I don’t know what it’s been about this year, but before the conference meet I just kind of knew we were going to win, and I kind of knew we were going to beat New Castle that day too. It’s just been kind of one of those years.”[[In-content Ad]]
Jay County is all about team, and as such it has one goal: a third straight sectional title.
“I have heard individual goals in terms of the regional meet, but I think the whole goal at sectional is to win as a team,” said Patriot coach Kristin Millspaugh, whose athletes wouldn’t even utter an individual goal at practice Thursday night. All they want to do at Saturday’s Muncie Central sectional is avenge their only dual-meet loss of the season en route to a third straight crown. “I think the team that (people) on Saturday will see is a different team than at the Delta meet.”
The Delta Eagles account for that lone dual-meet defeat, and were one of only three teams to top Jay County all season. No. 4 Valparaiso and New Castle were the other two, both at the Valparaiso Invitational, and the Patriots have already avenged the New Castle defeat.
At its best, Jay County has posted higher scores than Delta, with season bests of 101.95 and 99.4 respectively. But the Eagles rose to the occasion once already as they posted their high mark in their 99.4-98.5 win Feb. 7 over a JCHS squad that was then ranked 18th in the state. It has not gotten back into the state top 20 since.
Despite that loss, which occurred at Delta, the Patriots don’t seem worried. They bounced back with one of their top scores of the season, a 100.675 at sectional host Muncie Central two nights later, and have not lost since.
And, they simply believe they are the best team.
“We’re confident we’re going to win,” said senior Lacey Grider. “We’ve prepared ourselves in practice all season.”
“We’re confident this year because we’ve (won) the last two years,” said another senior, Melissa Fifer, repeating the buzz-word of the evening. “Just because they beat us doesn’t mean we can’t come back and beat them. We’ve done it in years past ...”
Fifer knows her history.
Although Jay County was never really challenged last season, it was far from favored two years ago. It had lost to sectional rivals Delta, Marion and Blackford during the regular season and rallied to win the sectional championship by more than three points.
Fifer, Grider, senior Makenzie Knight and junior Hannah Williams all were part of that squad, and now make up the core of an experienced team. They will be joined in competition Saturday by sophomores Lacey Thornburg and Kristin Brown and freshman Erika Hunt.
Williams is one of the favorites to win the sectional all-around competition, and is threat to win any or all of the four individual events. She finished 11th in the state on the balance beam in her freshman season.
She was the sectional all-around, beam and floor champion last year, while finishing second on the bars and fourth on the vault.
The only other Patriots to place in the top six last year were Brown and Fifer, who were third and sixth on the floor respectively. Grider and Thornburg could have added to that list, but both missed most of the 2003-04 season because of injuries.
One of Williams’ top rivals for the all-around title is likely to be Kelly Criswell, a Delta sophomore. She was second to Williams at last year’s sectional — she won the vault title — and the pair tied for all-around honors at this year’s dual meet.
Fifer and Williams could be going head-to-head for the vault sectional title as they both will be performing Tsukaharas, and Jay County is strong from top to bottom on each of the three other events.
The other main competitor for the Eagles is senior Emily Carter. She was second in the sectional on the vault last year and fifth in the all-around, and finished second in three out of four events in their dual-meet win.
If the Patriots can overcome Criswell and Carter for the victory, it would not only be their third in a row, but also would place them second in the sectional grouping with six championships overall. Marion has 21 sectional titles, which included nine consecutive wins from 1984 to 1992.
“I’m really confident,” said Millspaugh. “I don’t know what it’s been about this year, but before the conference meet I just kind of knew we were going to win, and I kind of knew we were going to beat New Castle that day too. It’s just been kind of one of those years.”[[In-content Ad]]
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