McClung won title

Twenty-five years ago this week, a Patriot was celebrating a state championship.

The June 6, 1998, edition of The Commercial Review featured coverage of Jay County High School sophomore winning the shot put state championship.

Athletes had six attempts during the meet at IUPUI.

McClung only needed one.

Her first toss of the state meet at IUPUI traveled 43 feet, 10.75 inches. It stood as the longest throw of the day, as no one else cleared 43 feet.

“I’m excited, really excited,” said McClung, who clear the 42-foot mark on all of her six throws but wouldn’t need any of them except the first. “It’s awesome. It’s undescribable. I think I may have been able to do better, but when I saw everyone else throw, I kind of went on cruise control.”

Janee Langhorne of Northrop was the runner-up at 42 feet, 8.5 inches.

McClung’s victory came after finishing as the state runner-up in the event during her freshman season. (She went on to place second in the shot put as a junior and then won her second state championship during her senior year.) Her previous experience helped her in the ring.

“I’m not really nervous,” she said prior to warm-ups. “Since I was here last year, I kind of know what to expect.”

The victory came after McClung had been at risk of missing postseason competition altogether. She had suffered a knee injury with two weeks remaining in the regular season. It kept her out of competition until the sectional meet, during which the only throw she was able to manage was good enough to get her another week. She then won the regional title.

“It’s a little sore,” she admitted before her first throw at the state meet. “I really can’t even jog on it yet.”