Jay girls 2nd

Leah Wellman and Tevan Nichols each ran season-best times Saturday and placed third on their home course as the Patriot cross country teams hosted the Jay County Invitational.

Wellman's effort led the Jay County High School girls to a runner-up finish with 61 points. Leo placed five runners in the top 10 to win with 33, and Muncie Central was third at 79.

"We knew coming in here that Leo was really tough," said JCHS coach Brian McEvoy. "They have a state-caliber runner as their No. 1, and the four behind her are extremely solid. That's traditionally been a really good program.

"I think it's good to run against a team like that. We won't face a team that strong probably until the semi-state if we make it there."

Anderson Highland won the boys competition with 41 points. The Patriots do not have enough runners for a team score.

Wellman trailed teammate Katie Simmons for most of the race as the JCHS duo ran sixth and seventh early in the race and moved up to fifth and sixth at the mid-point.

They remained side-by-side heading into the final 1,000 meters before Wellman put together he usual sprint to the finish.

The junior pulled ahead of Simmons and Becca Coombes of Muncie Central as she surged to third place with her season-best mark of 20 minutes, 29 seconds. Eastbrook's Alyssa Foss was the runner-up in 20:04 while Leo's Lauren Hamilton won in 19:55.

"I'm really proud of Leah's race," said McEvoy. "She ran a smart race and put herself in good position. She had a really good sprint at the end.

"Her leadership this year has just been incredible."

Nichols ran a similar race, as early on he led the second pack from the fifth spot as four runners tried to pull away. Two of them succeeded, but Nichols caught the other two by the halfway mark of the race and held strong.

He pulled away from Muncie Central's Austin Green and Leo's Jon Dammeyer to easily take third in the 48-runner field at 17:30. Union County's T.J. Schienbein was first in 16:26, and D.J. Taylor of Highland took second at 17:08.

"Tevan had a really strong race and a really strong finish," said McEvoy. "He just keeps getting better and better. His leadership has been really good this year. The way he's worked has ... just been tremendous. ... He's really focused. I think he wants to go out with a bang."

Simmons continued her comeback from a broken ankle during the track season as she held strong for fifth behind Wellman in the girls race. She was just one of five runners to break the 21-minute mark with a time of 20:41.

"We held her out of so much stuff at the beginning of the year and took it easy on her ... She's just now getting the full dose," said McEvoy. "Last week was really the first week she got turned loose ... and she performed really well (at the Delta Invitational). She's just now hitting her stride, and it's a good time to hit it. ... It took a lot of patience on her part to do that."

The Patriots (47-11) took the runner-up team spot thanks to their next group of runners, who ran in a pack for must of the way. Kari Hemmelgarn, Logan Laux, Megan Taylor and Liz Lennartz were 19th through 22nd early in the race, and then moved up from 16th to 20th after their first trip around the JCHS grounds.

At the finish Laux stepped forward to lead the group in 16th at 22:26, and Taylor, a first-year runner, was just one second behind in 17th. They both posted career-best times.

Lennartz rounded out the team score in 20th at 22:42, and Hemmelgarn was 23rd in 23:08. Julie Valentine was 33rd at 24:59.

"Logan has done a really nice job of stepping up in that three spot and getting her time down," said McEvoy. "That is going to help us a lot. (She) has just worked so hard at it. Each year she puts in our most summer miles. She goes beyond what we want her to run ...

"She's just tough-nosed. That whole group is that way. ... If it comes down to a battle of wills, that group is going to win 9 times out of 10 ..."

Dylan Cope ran a solid race behind Nichols for the JCHS boys, placing 18th in 18:46.

"Dylan did a really nice job," said McEvoy of the freshman. "He's still working on pace a little bit. ... I thought he ran a pretty smart race today."

Kyle Scott was 42nd in 22:19.[[In-content Ad]]