July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
By By RAY COONEY-
The Patriots only get to run on their home course twice during the season. But they made those opportunities count.
Jay County's girls cross country team finished its home season undefeated Saturday as it won the Jay County Invitational's open division. It scored 46 points, finishing 10 ahead of defending champion Snider. Bellmont was third out of nine teams with 100.
"I'm very pleased," said JCHS coach Les Bantz, whose girls team has three invitational titles on the year and has finished in the top two at seven out of eight meets. "They're just working hard. They're doing what they're asked, and they've just got an air of confidence.
"I think they surprised themselves (Saturday). We were fourth in that race last year."
The Patriot girls finished behind Snider, Northrop and Celina in 2005.
The struggles continued for the Jay County boys team, which finished last for the fourth straight meet with 134 points. Anderson Highland won the five-team open division with 30, and Celina was third with 49.
Lincoln swept the top individual spots in the closed division with Zach Burns winning the boys race in 17-minutes, seven seconds, and Alysha Davis taking first in the girls in 15:59. St. Henry took the small-school boys title by a wide margin with 38 points, and finished second to Eastbrook in the girls 54-59.
Snider's Tynae Wilson ran away from the field of 55 in the girls race and both of the top two teams put their first five runners in the top 20, but Jay County (54-8) put together five smart races for its 10-point win.
Senior Jess Mosier ran out to the front of the pack while junior Amanda Johnson and sophomore Kylie Wellman held back in the early going.
By the time they finished their trip through the woods behind the former soccer field Johnson and Mosier were running second and third behind Wilson. And, as the race passed the one kilometer mark, Johnson, Mosier and Wellman were second, third and fourth respectively.
Celina's Melissa Roth passed the Jay County trio during the second half of the race to take second behind Wilson, but Johnson was a solid third in 16:27 while Wellman placed fourth in 16:45.
Mosier had the first of two strong senior finishes for the Patriots, holding off Melissa Porter of Snider and edging past Celina's LaRae Dorsten at the finish line. Mosier finished fifth in 16:54 with Dorsten sixth in 16:55 and Porter seventh in 16:56.
"The first three runners did a super job," said Bantz. "Jess really fought off that pack behind her. She did a good job of staying in front of that (group).
"I thought all the runners ran really great races."
Allison Fullenkamp made a consistent climb throughout the race as she started next to teammates Kari Hemmelgarn and Tina Gingrasso in a large pack of 20 runners behind the top 10. By the one-kilometer point of the race she was 22nd, and at the 3K-mark she had passed four runners to pull into 18th.
The senior caught a couple more competitors in the final kilometer, then matched Mosier's effort as she surged past Heather Petrie of Celina to place 15th in 17:13. Petrie also recorded an official time of 17:13.
Hemmelgarn finished off the Patriot team score, giving the team its fifth runner in the top 20. She was 19th overall in 17:39.
"I preach that continually," said Bantz of the smart, consistent races his girls put together. "I think they're beginning to see some of the positives from that.
"When they went through the 1K I was thrilled to death because they weren't just pounding it. They had it reeled in to where they weren't going to not have anything left for the last (kilometer)."
Three of the other four teams in the boys race had their top five runners across the finish line before Brady Mills posted the top finish for Jay County (3-59) in 22nd. He finished in 19:22 in the field of 32 runners.
Josh Selvey was 26th in 20:33 followed immediately by Tevan Nichols in 20:37 and Ty Fullenkamp in 21:23. Branden Brinton placed 31st in 22:41.
"Somebody on that team is going to have to make up their mind to take the bull by the horn," said Bantz. "There are some kids there I think are capable ..."
Also running for the Patriots were Tina Gingrasso (23rd - 17:51) for the girls and Devin Willoughby (32nd - 23:50) for the boys.
Cassie Laux topped the list of Jay County girls in the reserve race, placing seventh out of 48 in 18:42. She was followed by Kristen Selvey (eighth - 18:43), Jenna Valentine (10th - 19:06), Brittany Burris (27th - 21:06) and Paige Klinger (30th - 21:13).
Adam Mescher was 44th out of 50 runners in the reserve boys race with a time of 24:27. Dylan Cook was 46th in 25:33.[[In-content Ad]]
Jay County's girls cross country team finished its home season undefeated Saturday as it won the Jay County Invitational's open division. It scored 46 points, finishing 10 ahead of defending champion Snider. Bellmont was third out of nine teams with 100.
"I'm very pleased," said JCHS coach Les Bantz, whose girls team has three invitational titles on the year and has finished in the top two at seven out of eight meets. "They're just working hard. They're doing what they're asked, and they've just got an air of confidence.
"I think they surprised themselves (Saturday). We were fourth in that race last year."
The Patriot girls finished behind Snider, Northrop and Celina in 2005.
The struggles continued for the Jay County boys team, which finished last for the fourth straight meet with 134 points. Anderson Highland won the five-team open division with 30, and Celina was third with 49.
Lincoln swept the top individual spots in the closed division with Zach Burns winning the boys race in 17-minutes, seven seconds, and Alysha Davis taking first in the girls in 15:59. St. Henry took the small-school boys title by a wide margin with 38 points, and finished second to Eastbrook in the girls 54-59.
Snider's Tynae Wilson ran away from the field of 55 in the girls race and both of the top two teams put their first five runners in the top 20, but Jay County (54-8) put together five smart races for its 10-point win.
Senior Jess Mosier ran out to the front of the pack while junior Amanda Johnson and sophomore Kylie Wellman held back in the early going.
By the time they finished their trip through the woods behind the former soccer field Johnson and Mosier were running second and third behind Wilson. And, as the race passed the one kilometer mark, Johnson, Mosier and Wellman were second, third and fourth respectively.
Celina's Melissa Roth passed the Jay County trio during the second half of the race to take second behind Wilson, but Johnson was a solid third in 16:27 while Wellman placed fourth in 16:45.
Mosier had the first of two strong senior finishes for the Patriots, holding off Melissa Porter of Snider and edging past Celina's LaRae Dorsten at the finish line. Mosier finished fifth in 16:54 with Dorsten sixth in 16:55 and Porter seventh in 16:56.
"The first three runners did a super job," said Bantz. "Jess really fought off that pack behind her. She did a good job of staying in front of that (group).
"I thought all the runners ran really great races."
Allison Fullenkamp made a consistent climb throughout the race as she started next to teammates Kari Hemmelgarn and Tina Gingrasso in a large pack of 20 runners behind the top 10. By the one-kilometer point of the race she was 22nd, and at the 3K-mark she had passed four runners to pull into 18th.
The senior caught a couple more competitors in the final kilometer, then matched Mosier's effort as she surged past Heather Petrie of Celina to place 15th in 17:13. Petrie also recorded an official time of 17:13.
Hemmelgarn finished off the Patriot team score, giving the team its fifth runner in the top 20. She was 19th overall in 17:39.
"I preach that continually," said Bantz of the smart, consistent races his girls put together. "I think they're beginning to see some of the positives from that.
"When they went through the 1K I was thrilled to death because they weren't just pounding it. They had it reeled in to where they weren't going to not have anything left for the last (kilometer)."
Three of the other four teams in the boys race had their top five runners across the finish line before Brady Mills posted the top finish for Jay County (3-59) in 22nd. He finished in 19:22 in the field of 32 runners.
Josh Selvey was 26th in 20:33 followed immediately by Tevan Nichols in 20:37 and Ty Fullenkamp in 21:23. Branden Brinton placed 31st in 22:41.
"Somebody on that team is going to have to make up their mind to take the bull by the horn," said Bantz. "There are some kids there I think are capable ..."
Also running for the Patriots were Tina Gingrasso (23rd - 17:51) for the girls and Devin Willoughby (32nd - 23:50) for the boys.
Cassie Laux topped the list of Jay County girls in the reserve race, placing seventh out of 48 in 18:42. She was followed by Kristen Selvey (eighth - 18:43), Jenna Valentine (10th - 19:06), Brittany Burris (27th - 21:06) and Paige Klinger (30th - 21:13).
Adam Mescher was 44th out of 50 runners in the reserve boys race with a time of 24:27. Dylan Cook was 46th in 25:33.[[In-content Ad]]
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