Jay girls 2nd (05/10/08)

The closest race of the night went to the Patriots, hosts of the Olympic Athletic Conference Track Tournament.

And the Jay County High School girls track team won five event championships. But Connersville was better, winning nine of the 16 events to take the OAC crown Friday night with 194.5 points.

Jay County followed with 182 points, Anderson Highland was third with 108 and Muncie Southside was last with 79.5.

Laura Richards and Sara Bernzott each won three individual events and were on the winning 4x400 relay team to lead Connersville to the title.

"When we talked about this meet, our expectation for the girls was to make sure that every race you run you gave it everything you've got. You ran as hard as you can run and as smart as you can run your races," said JCHS girls coach Brian McEvoy, whose team is now 26-2. "And our girls did that tonight. They were just that amount of points better than us. ...

"But our effort was phenomenal. ... I don't feel there's any race where we had a girl on the track who could have done anything more. They did everything we expected of them and then some.

"It's just going to make us better. I'm really proud of them."

Brandon Reynard and Dexter Shreve earned the only wins for the Patriot boys team, which scored 109 points and placed third. Highland ran away with the title with 154.5, Southside was second at 154.5 and Connersville finished fourth at 102.5.

"We knew coming in here we were probably the third-best team," said Patriot boys coach Greg Garringer. "Highland's really strong, and Southside's got enough just to get us.

"Going into the sectional I still think we should be top two or three. Southside is deep enough that they're going to be the favorite. But I would say it'll be between us and Delta for second and third."

The most exciting race of the night was the 4x100 relay, in which Kaelee Keller started off and sophomore Lindsey Shannon grabbed first place for the Patriots on the second leg.

Kelsey Wood kept the lead as she handed off to senior Sarah Mescher, who met strong challenges from both Highland and Southside.

Mescher finished off the win for JCHS in a photo finish by just four hundredths of a second in 54.13 seconds. Southside was second, and Highland was third just three tenths of a second off the winning pace.

Senior Amanda Johnson walked away with three OAC championship medals and was the only Patriot to win a pair of individual events.

Both of her victories led one-two efforts for Jay County, with freshman Leah Wellman trailing her in the 800- and 1,600-meter runs.

In the 1,600 Johnson took the lead spot from the start and never trailed, and Wellman was third at the midway point. But after 1,200 meters Wellman moved into the runner-up slot and the Patriot pair turned in a solid sweep of the top two positions. Johnson won in 5-minutes, 41.48 seconds, and Wellman was three seconds ahead of third-place runner Katie Ross of Connersville in 5:49.29.

The double play in the 800 was not as close as Johnson and Wellman ran away from the field. They finished first and second in times of 2:31.02 and 2:40.39 respectively while Connersville's Alex Burns was a distant third in 2:47.6.

"Those one-two finishes are huge," said McEvoy. "Amanda, she's got all the state experience from behind at state the last couple of years. Leah's really come underneath her wing. She's been phenomenal for us this year."

Johnson and Wellman also teamed with Aly Miller and Katie Butcher to take the 4x800 relay in 10:23.55 for a win by nearly 20 seconds.

The other individual win for the JCHS girls also came as part of a one-two finish. Miller cruised to the 3,200-meter run title in 12:23.24, and Kylie Wellman, Leah's junior sister, took second at 12:36.46. Ross was third for Connersville nearly 12 seconds behind Kylie Wellman.

"They just keep getting better and better," said McEvoy. "Kylie's effort has really been phenomenal in finishing races. When she comes across the finish line she's exhausted. That's all she has.

"Aly runs so smooth and efficient and just runs really smart races for us. We're really glad her cross country success has carried over to track."

Reynard and Shreve have led the Jay County boys all season, and were the only members of the team to finish in the top two in any event. The sectional crown for Reynard came in the 300 hurdles, which he won by nearly three seconds in 39.18. Running from the inside lane in the 400 dash, Shreve made up the stagger before the mid-point of the race and also won by nearly three seconds in 50.77.

"Dexter ran another good 400, (and we got) another good 300 (hurdles) out of Reynard," said Garringer. "Long jump was interesting. First to third was, like, an inch."

Shreve turned in a leap of 20 feet, 6 inches, to finish third in that long jump battle behind Jay Mohr (20 feet, 7 inches) and Earlie Ivey (20 feet, 6¾ inches), both of champion Highland.

Reynard and Shreve also joined Patrick Johnson and Brady Mills for second in the 4x400 relay in 3:40.14.

Senior Erika Hunt finished second to Bernzott in both hurdle events, finishing in times of 16.95 in the 100 and 50.87 in the 300. Other runner-up efforts came from Lindsey Current (high jump - 5 feet even), Cara Garringer (shot put - 31 feet, 1 inch) and Macey Gerber (400 dash - 1:05.98).

"Erika Hunt is always huge for us," said McEvoy. "She ran a hurdler who is going to go to state in a couple of events this year, maybe three events, and she put her on the ropes in both races. I would love to have seen Erika all-conference again, but she pushed her to her max."

Sean Hatzell, who was battling an injury, was third for the boys team in the 200 dash in 24.05.

Patrick Johnson finished third in the 800 run with a time of 2:11.16.

"I really like what I'm seeing out of Patrick Johnson," said Garringer. "I don't know if it'll be possible for him to get into the regional, but he's really trying to push himself in the 800 right now."[[In-content Ad]]