July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Jay wins invite (10/06/2008)
JCHS cross country
Jay wins invite (10/06/2008)
By By RAY COONEY-
Every runner matters.
Every place counts.
Finishing 16th rather than 17th can make all the difference.
Cross country coaches say those things all the time. Saturday, it proved true for the Patriots.
Jay County needed every point it could get to eke out a 48-49 victory over another group of Patriots, from Union County, as it hosted the Jay County Invitational. Leo finished third in the eight-team field with 63 points.
"We had a pretty good bounce back week," said JCHS coach Brian McEvoy, whose team settled for a fourth-place finish last week at Delta. We didn't run real well at the Delta Invitational. "I thought we ran much better today on this course.
"Overall, I'm pretty happy with where we're at. We need to get better within this next week to really prepare ourselves for that sectional and regional course (at Delta). Hopefully we'll have a pretty good chance over there."
The JCHS boys were sixth out of eight teams with 147 points, three ahead of seventh place Muncie Southside. Anderson Highland won with 32.
St. Henry (Ohio) took the top spot for both the boys and girls in the small-school division. It finished ahead of Lincoln in the boys race, 27-47, and Randolph Southern in the girls, 43-65.
Union County could have picked up a point or two to tie or beat Jay County at several positions, but the host Patriots fought off the visiting Patriots at every turn.
Leah Wellman did it first, beating Union County's Meghan Hartman to the finish line by just three seconds in 20-minutes, 30 seconds for third place.
"Leah went out and dropped a bunch of time once again," said McEvoy. "The further she drops, the more successful we'll be.
"Leah's just a really tough-minded person. ... She runs smart races. ... It's a lot of fun when you see a runner just getting better and better."
Jay County fought off Union County again as Katie Simmons finished 14th in 21:51. Her time was five seconds better than that of Union County's Jordan Perry, who took 15th.
And once more, Kari Hemmelgarn of JCHS placed 16th in 22:21. She was nine seconds ahead of 17th-place finisher Jordyn Greer of Union County.
Had the race ended in a tie, the host Patriots still would have finished on top as its sixth and seventh runners were not far behind Hemmelgarn.
Sisters Cassie Laux, a senior, and Logan Laux, a sophomore, placed 19th and 20th in 22:36 and 22:45 respectively.
"It's great to have competition (for the fifth spot)," said McEvoy, who had Hemmelgarn and Laux running side by side for a portion of the race. "What's really good about it is they're not mad at each other when they beat each other. ... It's only making those three better. That's a really coveted spot, and it's a really important spot for our team. Sometimes, in some of these meets, the fifth spot is more important than the one and two spot."
Every spot was important Saturday as sophomore Aly Miller and senior Kylie Wellman joined Leah Wellman, Simmons and Hemmelgarn in the JCHS top five.
Miller was on the heels of Leo's Emily Johnson for much of the race, and finished second in 20:20. Johnson was first in 20:06.
Wellman, who sat out last week and has battled shin splints this season, ran 13th in front of Simmons in 21:51.
For the Jay County boys Tevan Nichols ran around the No. 10 slot for most of the 5K race, and just missed a top-10 finish. Eastbrook's Corbin Buckler (17:58) and Muncie Central's Mark White (17:59) edged him at the finish line as he took 11th in 18 minutes flat. He was one second ahead of Leo's Erik Wolfe.
Austin Bentz finished 27th in 19:36, and Branden Brinton (30th - 19:47) and Spencer Grady (32nd - 19:51) joined him in breaking the 20-minute barrier. Zach Johnson placed 47th in 24:01.
"Time-wise, as a team, that was probably our best," said McEvoy. "We came across in the 19s or under in our top four. ... That's good to see us finish that way. ... That's a goal we set early for ourselves ... that's something we can build off of."
Kristen Selvey finished second for Jay County in the junior varsity girls race in 23-minutes, 9 seconds. Liz Lennartz was third in 23:20.
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Every place counts.
Finishing 16th rather than 17th can make all the difference.
Cross country coaches say those things all the time. Saturday, it proved true for the Patriots.
Jay County needed every point it could get to eke out a 48-49 victory over another group of Patriots, from Union County, as it hosted the Jay County Invitational. Leo finished third in the eight-team field with 63 points.
"We had a pretty good bounce back week," said JCHS coach Brian McEvoy, whose team settled for a fourth-place finish last week at Delta. We didn't run real well at the Delta Invitational. "I thought we ran much better today on this course.
"Overall, I'm pretty happy with where we're at. We need to get better within this next week to really prepare ourselves for that sectional and regional course (at Delta). Hopefully we'll have a pretty good chance over there."
The JCHS boys were sixth out of eight teams with 147 points, three ahead of seventh place Muncie Southside. Anderson Highland won with 32.
St. Henry (Ohio) took the top spot for both the boys and girls in the small-school division. It finished ahead of Lincoln in the boys race, 27-47, and Randolph Southern in the girls, 43-65.
Union County could have picked up a point or two to tie or beat Jay County at several positions, but the host Patriots fought off the visiting Patriots at every turn.
Leah Wellman did it first, beating Union County's Meghan Hartman to the finish line by just three seconds in 20-minutes, 30 seconds for third place.
"Leah went out and dropped a bunch of time once again," said McEvoy. "The further she drops, the more successful we'll be.
"Leah's just a really tough-minded person. ... She runs smart races. ... It's a lot of fun when you see a runner just getting better and better."
Jay County fought off Union County again as Katie Simmons finished 14th in 21:51. Her time was five seconds better than that of Union County's Jordan Perry, who took 15th.
And once more, Kari Hemmelgarn of JCHS placed 16th in 22:21. She was nine seconds ahead of 17th-place finisher Jordyn Greer of Union County.
Had the race ended in a tie, the host Patriots still would have finished on top as its sixth and seventh runners were not far behind Hemmelgarn.
Sisters Cassie Laux, a senior, and Logan Laux, a sophomore, placed 19th and 20th in 22:36 and 22:45 respectively.
"It's great to have competition (for the fifth spot)," said McEvoy, who had Hemmelgarn and Laux running side by side for a portion of the race. "What's really good about it is they're not mad at each other when they beat each other. ... It's only making those three better. That's a really coveted spot, and it's a really important spot for our team. Sometimes, in some of these meets, the fifth spot is more important than the one and two spot."
Every spot was important Saturday as sophomore Aly Miller and senior Kylie Wellman joined Leah Wellman, Simmons and Hemmelgarn in the JCHS top five.
Miller was on the heels of Leo's Emily Johnson for much of the race, and finished second in 20:20. Johnson was first in 20:06.
Wellman, who sat out last week and has battled shin splints this season, ran 13th in front of Simmons in 21:51.
For the Jay County boys Tevan Nichols ran around the No. 10 slot for most of the 5K race, and just missed a top-10 finish. Eastbrook's Corbin Buckler (17:58) and Muncie Central's Mark White (17:59) edged him at the finish line as he took 11th in 18 minutes flat. He was one second ahead of Leo's Erik Wolfe.
Austin Bentz finished 27th in 19:36, and Branden Brinton (30th - 19:47) and Spencer Grady (32nd - 19:51) joined him in breaking the 20-minute barrier. Zach Johnson placed 47th in 24:01.
"Time-wise, as a team, that was probably our best," said McEvoy. "We came across in the 19s or under in our top four. ... That's good to see us finish that way. ... That's a goal we set early for ourselves ... that's something we can build off of."
Kristen Selvey finished second for Jay County in the junior varsity girls race in 23-minutes, 9 seconds. Liz Lennartz was third in 23:20.
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