Johnson & Johnson lead Jay (05/18/05)

MUNCIE — Alyssa Johnson was only able to successfully defend one of her titles Tuesday. But the other one didn’t stray very far.

Alyssa won her third consecutive sectional championship in the 3,200-meter run and her freshman sister, Amanda, took the 1,600 run crown in leading Jay County to a third place finish at Muncie Southside.

The Patriots also won the 4x800 relay en route to 82.5 points, and had six athletes place in the top four to earn regional berths. They will compete at the Lawrence North regional Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Eighth-ranked Muncie Central won nine out of 15 events to finish first comfortably with 128 points, and Delta was second with 109.

“We’ve got a solid team,” said JCHS assistant coach Bob Lake. “We’re a better dual-meet team than we are an invitational team. We tied Delta this year, and we stayed close with Muncie Central. The girls have given us an exceptional effort.”

Though the Patriots couldn’t stay with Central — the champions won the discus, pole vault, two relays and swept the sprints and hurdles — they did continue their dominating year in the distance races.

The Johnson sisters led that effort, especially showing off in the 1,600.

Amanda grabbed the early lead, with Alyssa, a junior, pulling into second right behind her about 100 meters into the race. The elder Johnson pushed her sister throughout the first 800 meters, and the pair ran side-by-side across the start-finish line to cap each of the first two laps.

Alyssa grabbed the advantage briefly at about the 900-meter mark, but her lead didn’t last long. By the end of the third lap Amanda had pulled back in front and was up by a few steps.

She did nothing but extend that lead during the final 400, posting a personal-best time by three seconds to take the title in 5-minutes, 32.35 seconds. Alyssa fell just behind Vicki West of Wapahani and was third in 5:35.36.

Both sisters agreed the one-three finish was a dual effort.

“I started that race off telling myself I would just work hard and do my best no matter how much it hurt ...” said Amanda, who qualified for another regional spot by finishing second to Central’s Kamille King in the 400 dash in 1:03.09. “My main goal before I started was just to finish second behind Alyssa. I wouldn’t have ran that strong if she wasn’t running it with me.”

While reluctant to give up her crown in the race, Alyssa said it was nice to keep it in the family.

“I’m glad somebody from our team (won),” said Alyssa. “It felt good to know that I helped her out a little bit. That’s pretty impressive as a freshman.”

And Alyssa went on to dominate the 3,200 run, which she had won in each of the two previous seasons. She didn’t come close to matching the sectional record she set last year, but was never challenged as she led by about 100 meters for most of the race.

Union’s Mika Davis had a strong kick, but still could not come close. Alyssa rolled to victory by more than 15 seconds over Davis in 12:15.60.

Alyssa said she relaxed a little bit with the big lead in the 3,200, “but I’m hoping for a best time at regional. In the two mile I just haven’t had a whole lot of competition. I’m hoping to (go to state). I really think I can if I get my head into gear.”

“They’re both versatile and they did exceptionally well,” added Lake of the Johnsons. “I couldn’t say more about them as far as the contributions they make to this team.

“I think they feed off each other.”

The Johnson sisters were in on the third win for Jay County, which was second in victories behind the Bearcats on the night. They joined senior Jill Roughia and sophomore Jessica Mosier to take the 4x800 relay by nearly 10 seconds over Delta in 10:19.29.

Roughia also advanced to the regional round in the 800 run. She led for the first 600 meters before Winchester’s Tabitha Bogue rallied and ran away with the victory. Roughia placed third in 2:33.74.

The Patriots’ two other regional qualifiers were freshman.

Sarah Mescher advanced in a pair of sprints, finishing third behind Central’s King and Nikki Johnson in both the 100 and 200 dashes. She ran in times of 13.56 and 28.15 respectively.

Erika Hunt earned the other spot as she finished in a three-way tie for third in the high jump with Delta’s Mande Motsenbacker and Amanda Jordan at four feet, eight inches.

“We’ve got a lot to look forward to,” said Lake of the three freshman regional qualifiers. “The kids really don’t run like freshmen. We got a lot (out of them). They have contributed all year.”

Hunt also filled in the 4x400 relay, joining Jessica Heitkamp, Amanda Johnson and Roughia for a fourth-place finish. But, the team was disqualified because of an error on their entry form.

The Patriots narrowly missed making it through in two other events, with Hunt placing fifth in the 100 hurdles and the 4x100 relay team also finishing fifth.[[In-content Ad]]