Defending champs place 2nd (10/13/04)

DECATUR — Wendy Mahlan took Alyssa Johnson’s title. Mahlan’s team did the same to Johnson’s Patriots.

On the strength of Mahlan’s first-place finish, the host Bellmont Squaws edged Jay County for the sectional girls cross country title Tuesday, 55-56.

Norwell was third with 71 points, Southern Wells was fourth (78) and South Adams took fifth (126). The top five teams advance to the Bellmont regional, which will be Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

“The girls were aiming for first, but, my word, 56-55 Bellmont beat us,” said Jay County coach Trent Paxson, whose team advanced to the regional round for the third straight season. “We ran against Bellmont three times this year, and beat them twice. To come into sectional and face a team of this caliber and try to beat them again is pretty tough.

“I’m a little disappointed, but at the same time we’re going to regional. We’ll have to get them there Saturday.”

Also competing at the Bellmont regional will be the top five teams from the Woodlan sectional: No. 10 Fort Wayne Concordia, No. 15 Fort Wayne Snider, Fort Wayne North Side, Homestead and Leo. The top 15 individual runners from both Bellmont and Woodlan also earned regional berths, regardless of their team’s finish.

Johnson, who had won back-to-back individual sectional championships, finished fourth in 15-minutes, 45 seconds. Mahlan, who was third last year, won in 15:06, and was followed by Haleigh Lehman of South Adams (15:21) and Eva Miller of Southern Wells (15:40).

Johnson had the early lead as the runners took their first lap around the pond and through the woods at Bellmont, but by the time she hit the mile mark Mahlan had taken over. Mahlan and Lehman pulled away during the second mile of the race, and Miller took over third place before the home stretch.

Mahlan’s victory came as she ran more than a minute faster than her 2003 sectional time. Lehman ran 50 seconds better than she had in last year’s sectional to take second, and Johnson’s fourth-place finish came despite running her best time of 2004.

Freshman Amanda Johnson finished just nine seconds behind her sister and ran a steady race the whole way. She was in the second pack of runners early on, then took fifth and kept it throughout.

She fought off Norwell’s Vanessa Macias at the finish line by 1.5 seconds, placing fifth in a career-best time of 15:54.

Jay County’s No. 4 and 5 runners also turned in their best times of the year. Freshman Amber Detro was 10th in 16:40, with senior Jill Roughia just a step behind in 11th in 16:41.

Jessica Mosier finished the Patriots’ team score as she took 26th in 17:25. Zoe Gonzalez was 44th in 18:33, and Lindsey Vesperry placed 56th in 19:14.

“We had some very good times,” said Paxson. “We had four girls that were in the top 11 and when you do that, especially with the competition we’re running against, that’s pretty good.

“We were able to move on to the next level and that’s what we want to do right now.

“The goal remains to keep going on (past regional). ... It’s going to be another tough race.”

South Adams’ No. 2 runner behind Lehman didn’t come until 25th with Whitney Sprunger in 17:16. But, the Starfires were still able to earn the final regional berth.

Katie Welch was 28th in 17:34, Shannon Muselman took 35th in 17:58 and Trisha Amstutz was 43rd in 18:32. Rachel Sprunger finished 52nd in 18:51.[[In-content Ad]]