July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
JC 16th at IPFW (10/27/20008)
JCHS girls cross country
JC 16th at IPFW (10/27/20008)
By By RAY COONEY-
FORT WAYNE - The semi-state meet was the next step in the state tournament series. In terms of talent, it was about 10 steps up.
Jay County High School's girls cross country team finished 16th out of 20 teams at the loaded semi-state hosted by New Haven Saturday at IPFW. The Patriots scored 392 points, finishing ahead of the four teams they defeated to win the Delta regional.
"This semi-state is arguably the toughest in the state," said JCHS coach Brian McEvoy. "You have six of the top 20 teams in the state here, plus you have three or four individuals who are collegiate runners. They're top runners in track and cross country. It's a huge, huge jump.
"We hopefully can get here each and every year. That's a tough thing. But we'd like to come up here and compete more and more each year and just get better and better ..."
No. 13 Northridge scored an impressive win with 84 points. No. 15 Northrop (117) was second, followed by second-ranked Carroll (124), DeKalb (159) and West Noble (160).
No. 8 Huntington North was sixth, No. 18 South Bend Riley took ninth and No. 20 Mishawaka placed 11th.
South Adams was 14th with 305 points.
The top five teams and top 15 individuals earned state berths.
Aly Miller posted the top finish for Jay County. After running around the No. 70 spot early in the race, she consistently pushed ahead to take 44th in 19-minutes, 52.11 seconds.
"Aly ran a great race," said McEvoy. "She was right on track that first mile. She put in another 19-minute 5K ...
"She had a great season. I think she's going to get better and better as she continues to gain strength ... She's got the heart and mental toughness for it."
Miller's time was second-best among the runners from the Delta regional - again she followed regional champion Alexis Hunt (19:45) of Yorktown - but more than 50 seconds behind the 15th-place finisher. Emily Haines of Mishawaka took the 15th and final qualifying spot in 19 minutes flat.
Allison Beitler of South Adams finished just ahead of Miller for the best time from the two area schools. She was in 43rd place at 19:51.95.
Leah Wellman was the No. 2 runner for Jay County in 81st at 20:28. Her senior sister, Kylie, followed in 111th with a time of 21:21.
Freshman Katie Simmons finished 16 seconds behind Kylie Wellman in 117th, and Kari Hemmelgarn capped the team score in 128th with a time of 22:01.
"We competed pretty well for the competition level," said McEvoy. "The field was pretty quick this year compared to years past as far as the number of girls in the 19s. ...
"We did a good job running race strategy. We were really conservative, maybe even a little too conservative that first mile. But we were able to pick up some spots."
Senior Cassie Laux was just three places behind Hemmelgarn as she finished in 22:41. Her sister, Logan, a sophomore, placed 150th in 23:08.
McEvoy credited Kylie Wellman and Cassie Laux, his two seniors, for leadership through what could have been difficult circumstances. Wellman has battled shin splints and asthma all season, and Laux has been a borderline top-five runner for the Patriots.
"They were instrumental leaders for us," McEvoy said. "They did all the little things. ... They just kept pushing and giving everything they've got.
"When you see two seniors willing to do things like that it makes it pretty hard for an underclassman not to want to. That's a big key to our success."
The success included titles at the Bellmont and Union City Invitational. Jay County also won its sixth consecutive sectional championship, and its third straight sectional crown.
The Patriots finished 16 points ahead of Pendleton Heights to pick up their first regional title. It was the 10th for JCHS overall in 34 years. (The boys soccer team earned the 11th a couple hours later.)
"It's tough to win one sectional, let alone three," said McEvoy. "There's a lot of work that goes into that. That's kind of their expectation of themselves now. ... We talked about the regional way early in the year ... that was one of our big goals this year."[[In-content Ad]]
Jay County High School's girls cross country team finished 16th out of 20 teams at the loaded semi-state hosted by New Haven Saturday at IPFW. The Patriots scored 392 points, finishing ahead of the four teams they defeated to win the Delta regional.
"This semi-state is arguably the toughest in the state," said JCHS coach Brian McEvoy. "You have six of the top 20 teams in the state here, plus you have three or four individuals who are collegiate runners. They're top runners in track and cross country. It's a huge, huge jump.
"We hopefully can get here each and every year. That's a tough thing. But we'd like to come up here and compete more and more each year and just get better and better ..."
No. 13 Northridge scored an impressive win with 84 points. No. 15 Northrop (117) was second, followed by second-ranked Carroll (124), DeKalb (159) and West Noble (160).
No. 8 Huntington North was sixth, No. 18 South Bend Riley took ninth and No. 20 Mishawaka placed 11th.
South Adams was 14th with 305 points.
The top five teams and top 15 individuals earned state berths.
Aly Miller posted the top finish for Jay County. After running around the No. 70 spot early in the race, she consistently pushed ahead to take 44th in 19-minutes, 52.11 seconds.
"Aly ran a great race," said McEvoy. "She was right on track that first mile. She put in another 19-minute 5K ...
"She had a great season. I think she's going to get better and better as she continues to gain strength ... She's got the heart and mental toughness for it."
Miller's time was second-best among the runners from the Delta regional - again she followed regional champion Alexis Hunt (19:45) of Yorktown - but more than 50 seconds behind the 15th-place finisher. Emily Haines of Mishawaka took the 15th and final qualifying spot in 19 minutes flat.
Allison Beitler of South Adams finished just ahead of Miller for the best time from the two area schools. She was in 43rd place at 19:51.95.
Leah Wellman was the No. 2 runner for Jay County in 81st at 20:28. Her senior sister, Kylie, followed in 111th with a time of 21:21.
Freshman Katie Simmons finished 16 seconds behind Kylie Wellman in 117th, and Kari Hemmelgarn capped the team score in 128th with a time of 22:01.
"We competed pretty well for the competition level," said McEvoy. "The field was pretty quick this year compared to years past as far as the number of girls in the 19s. ...
"We did a good job running race strategy. We were really conservative, maybe even a little too conservative that first mile. But we were able to pick up some spots."
Senior Cassie Laux was just three places behind Hemmelgarn as she finished in 22:41. Her sister, Logan, a sophomore, placed 150th in 23:08.
McEvoy credited Kylie Wellman and Cassie Laux, his two seniors, for leadership through what could have been difficult circumstances. Wellman has battled shin splints and asthma all season, and Laux has been a borderline top-five runner for the Patriots.
"They were instrumental leaders for us," McEvoy said. "They did all the little things. ... They just kept pushing and giving everything they've got.
"When you see two seniors willing to do things like that it makes it pretty hard for an underclassman not to want to. That's a big key to our success."
The success included titles at the Bellmont and Union City Invitational. Jay County also won its sixth consecutive sectional championship, and its third straight sectional crown.
The Patriots finished 16 points ahead of Pendleton Heights to pick up their first regional title. It was the 10th for JCHS overall in 34 years. (The boys soccer team earned the 11th a couple hours later.)
"It's tough to win one sectional, let alone three," said McEvoy. "There's a lot of work that goes into that. That's kind of their expectation of themselves now. ... We talked about the regional way early in the year ... that was one of our big goals this year."[[In-content Ad]]
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