JCHS 2nd at Central (05/18/08)

MUNCIE - Defending champion Muncie Southside was clearly still the class of the Muncie Central sectional. But thanks to a pair of juniors, the Patriots proved the best of the rest.

Dexter Shreve won three championships and Brandon Reynard defended his title in the 300-meter hurdles to lead the Jay County High School boys track team to a runner-up finish in the sectional tournament.

"I think we did really well without (Sean) Hatzell being here," said Reynard of the senior, who sat out the meet because of chest pains. "It's nice to have his senior leadership."

Despite missing the 2007 regional qualifier in the 100 and 200 dash, the Patriots scored 84.5 points to finish two ahead of third-place Winchester and 3.5 in front of fourth-place Delta. Southside won just two events, but easily took the top spot in the 12-team meet with 139 points.

Seven JCHS athletes finished in the top four in at least one event and will advance to the regional tournament Thursday at North Central (Indianapolis).

"I was impressed with the way we kind of came back from last year," said Shreve. "This year we had a really good year all year. Without Hatzell I thought we stood in quite well. Southside is a tough team to beat."

The second-place effort for the Patriots (29-13), who won its last sectional title in 1984, was their best in at least the last decade. The school was fourth last season and third in both 1999 and 2004.

"I'm real happy," said Garringer, whose team finished second despite scoring no points in four of the 16 events. "The guys came through. We've had a lot of good things this year. It's another step in the right direction."

Shreve won his three events without much of a challenge, dominating the high jump, long jump and 400 dash. He took the high jump without missing a single attempt as he was the only athlete to clear the bar at 6 feet.

His first of six attempts in the long jump won the meet as he soared 20 feet, 5 ½ inches. He was the only athlete to break the 20-foot barrier, and runner-up Mwangi Maina of Central was the only other competitor to clear 19 feet.

Running from lane one in the 400 dash, the junior made up the stagger by the 200-meter mark. He kept the lead throughout, winning by more than a second in 51.39 seconds.

"I just get out of the blocks and run," said Shreve. "If there's no one behind me, I just pretend there is and try to beat my best times.

"I set my goal to win high jump, long jump and the 400," he added, saying that his ultimate goal is to be in the state finals. "If you don't set it as a goal, it won't happen."

Reynard was equally dominant as he defended his title, clearing each of the first four hurdles first in the 300-meter event.

He had a lead of more than 10 meters by the time he hit the home stretch and powered to victory by 2.5 seconds in 39.38.

"I just try to start out strong and keep going all the way," said Reynard. "I try to push myself."

He also had victory within his grasp in the 110 hurdles, but clipped the second-to-last hurdle with his back foot. The mishap caused him to lose his footing and hit the last hurdle as well as he slipped to third place in 17.24 seconds behind Billy Rosson (17.07) and Gabe Detro (17.2), both of Winchester.

Shreve and Reynard also teamed with Patrick Johnson and Colton Sibery for third place in the 4x400 relay in 3-minutes, 41.89 seconds. Reynard joined Lance Franklin, Patrick Williams and Garrett Krieg for a runner-up finish in 45.42 in the 4x100 relay.

"The usual suspects come through big every time for us," said Garringer of Shreve and Reynard. "Those two guys are pretty awesome. They're really good kids and they work hard. ... They rub off on some of the other guys.

"Looking at the potential times, if they're on, they're both top-three material at the regional. It's all real tight there. They're going to have to really work, but the chance to go to Bloomington is there."

The only other Patriot to finish in the top four in an individual event was Franklin. His toss of 133 feet, 4 inches was good for third in the discus, just 4 ½ inches behind runner-up Brian Miles of Muncie Southside.

Williams finished seventh in the 100 dash with a time of 12.49, but will also advance because several athletes chose to scratch from the regional competition.[[In-content Ad]]