Wellman finishes fourth in season debut

DECATUR — With a clean bill of health, Megan Wellman has picked up where she left off her junior campaign.
The Jay County High School senior finished fourth Tuesday in her cross country season debut at Bellmont.
She helped the Patriot girls team to a score of 128 and a sixth place finish.
New Haven won the eight-team meet with a total of 31. Leo was second with 99, edging third-place Adams Central by one point.
The Jay County boys team was last out of nine teams. New Haven and Leo were also one-two in the boys race with 39 and 66 points respectively. Bluffton placed third with 88. Jay County scored 236.
Wellman, who was ninth at sectional last season, had a time of 20 minutes, 22.2 seconds, nearly a full minute faster than her sectional time last season.
Kellie Fortkamp was seven places behind Wellman in 11th with a time of 21:59.3. Erika Kunkler crossed the finish line in 23 minutes for 17th place.
Destiny Berry (28:13 - 49th) and Vivienne Kunkler (29:56 - 59th) also ran for the Patriots.
Alex LeMaster and Travis Barton led the way for the Jay County boys, finishing in 20:06.4 and 20:08.8 respectively. LeMaster was 45th, and Barton was two spots behind him.
Freshman Tayler Smeltzer began his high school career with a time of 20:50 to finish 56th, edging first-year runner Dallas Dudelston by 1.9 seconds and one place.
Matthew Cox crossed the finish line in 21:44.9 for 66th place to complete the Patriots’ team score.
Sayger Holcomb (22:07.8 - 72nd), Dustin Bricker (22:16.3 - 73rd) and Dustin Moles (28.33 - 99th) also ran for Jay County.
Paige Boatright and Deric Laurent, both of New Haven, won the girls and boys races, respectively. Boatright had a time of 19:49.7, and Laurent finished in 16:50.4.