Patriots first at Union City Invitational (09/18/06)

UNION CITY - For the second straight season, no other squad was even close.

Jay County's girls cross country team dominated the Union City Invitational again, winning with a score of 31. Muncie Central was a distant second with 65 points, and New Castle was third with 67 at the nine-team meet.

It was the second win of the year for the Patriots (39-7), who were first at the season-opening Bellmont Invitational.

Jay County's boys had a tough day, finishing last out of the nine teams with 197 points. Muncie Southside won with 32, and New Castle was second with 34.

Amanda Johnson paced the Patriot girls, who won at Union City by 24 points in 2005, scoring her second runner-up finish of the year. She crossed the line in 16-minutes, one second to take second place.

Kylie Wellman put up another season-best time to finish in fourth place. The sophomore crossed the line in 16:26, two seconds faster than at the Blackford Invitational a week earlier.

Senior Jessica Mosier was right behind Wellman, placing fifth in 16:38.

Allison Fullenkamp, also a senior, gave the Patriots another season-best time and a fourth runner in the top 10. She cut four seconds from her Blackford time to finish in 17:09.

Freshman Kari Hemmelgarn finished off Jay County's dominant score in 12th place at 17:40.

While the Patriot boys (3-47) struggled as a team, freshman Tevan Nichols continued to improve. He finished 25th in 18:48, which was a career-best by 27 seconds.

Sophomore Steven Kelly also had his best time of the year in 19:39. Others in the top five for the Jay County boys were Josh Selvey (45th - 20:56), Branden Brinton (52nd - 22:44) and Dylan Cook (56th - 25:23).

Also running were Tina Gingrasso (18th - 18:20) and Cassie Laux (20th - 18:26) for the girls team and Adam Mescher (57th (25:28) for the boys.

Brittany Burris was the top runner for Jay County in the junior varsity girls race, finishing first in 18:23.[[In-content Ad]]