Nichols seeded 13th

INDIANAPOLIS - When the Jay County High School boys track team competes in the North Central regional Thursday, it'll take a phenomenal effort to have a chance at a state berth.

Only the top three competitors from each regional event advance on to the state finals, and senior Tevan Nichols is the Patriots' top seed heading into the meet at No. 13 in the 800-meter run.

Nichols won the 800 run sectional title at Muncie Southside Thursday with a time of 2:03.92, and would likely need to cut that time by at least five seconds to have a chance to reach the state finals. The top seed in the event is Pendleton Heights' Nathan Hendershot, who ran a 1:53.48 at the Mount Vernon sectional, and the No. 3 seed is Connor Claflin of Lawrence Central at 1:58.81.

The automatic state-qualifying standard - the average of the ninth-place finisher at the state meet over the course of the last three years - is 1:55.99.

Zach Cash, a junior, will be the only other Patriot individual in competition at the meet. He finished third in the Southside sectional in the 300 hurdles in 42.46, and will be the No. 14 seed in the event Thursday.

The Jay County team of Joe Imel, Brad Leuthold, Patrick Johnson and Cash also hold the No. 14 seed in the 4x400 relay. And the 4x100 relay team of Patrick Williams, Blake Crouch, Gary Corle and Imel is the No. 16 seed.[[In-content Ad]]