May 6, 2023 at 4:52 a.m.
Second in ACAC
Patriots come up just short of title
Second in ACAC
By Andrew Balko-
BLUFFTON — The Patriots were down by 1.5 points with only one event left.
Johanna Anders led off the 4x400-meter relay. She had a solid start for the Patriots, sitting in second place after the first lap.
The baton was handed off to Cash Hollowell, who slipped a bit but had a kick during the front stretch to hold on to third place.
Molly Muhlenkamp was next for the Patriots and worked back into second place before handing off to Alexis Sibray. The freshman held Jay County’s destiny.
Woodlan’s Katy Niles, who was handed the baton at the same time as Sibray, blasted ahead. Niles crossed the finish line at four minutes, 23.6 seconds, in second place. Sibray followed 3.32 seconds later, securing the Patriots second place.
The third-place finish in the relay earned the Jay County High School girls track team second place at the Allen County Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday night at Bluffton. The girls finished with 115.5 points, only three behind first-place Woodlan (118.5). The boys tied for third place with Heritage at 89 points. Bluffton ran away with the victory, tallying 152.5 points.
“I started way too fast and was worried I was going to die out,” Sibray said. “I started to lose vision near the final turn but I tried my best.”
While Sibray couldn’t secure the win for the Patriots, she still had a successful day, placing second in the 800 run and third in the 1,600, setting a new career best 5:58.13 in the process.
“All in all with everything that has happened tonight with absences, injuries and accidents, I feel like we did pretty well,” coach Imel said. “I feel like there were many girls who had a courageous night tonight … You can’t really find a fault anywhere.”
Gabi Bilbrey had the only first-place finish for the girls tonight. Her throw of 124 feet, 11 inches, edged out Lauren Reiff of Bluffton.
“I got pretty consistent numbers. I think that’s what pushed me further,” Bilbrey said. “The girl who got second place was throwing 130s in warmups but she scratched her last two. Fortunately for me I just kept super consistent.”
The boys got a pair of victories from Isaac Kunkler in the 110 hurdles and the 300 hurdles.
Kunkler set a career best in the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.95. The 300 hurdles didn’t go as smoothly for Kunkler, who nicked the last hurdles and stumbled slightly before eventually earning the win at 41.40.
“I was kind of worried that someone would catch me, but I had a good lead and still got first so it was a good race,” Kunkler said. “It feels great. Getting first is fun but we also have a lot of second and third-place finishes from other athletes that are pulling their weight.”
One of those runners was Jenna Dues, who didn’t win any races, but ended with the most points for the Jay County girls thanks to second-place finishes in the 200 dash and high jump and a third-place finish in the 100 dash.
“It feels pretty good getting a lot of points for my team helping them out,” Dues said. “I’m proud of myself.”
One athlete that stood out to Imel was Adam Alig. He finished fourth in the high jump and third in the long jump, despite not knowing that he qualified for the finals until after his coach asked him how he did.
“I just got done running my 300 hurdles and just didn’t want to scratch because I already did that once,” Alig said. “So I moved six inches back from my original mark and I ended up strengthening my strides and ended up with a (career best).”
The Patriot girls were without sprinter Natalie Wehrly, their fastest sprinter who was recovering from a car accident earlier in the week and lost distance runner Joseph Boggs, who went down with a knee injury during the 1,600 run.
“We adjusted some things to try and to get some kids in positions to make points and they did, we just didn’t make enough,” Imel said. “When you’re so close, you look back at the times, ‘what did we run?’ We ran three seconds faster than what we’ve ever ran in the 4x4, and that’s without Natalie Wehrly.
“All the girls really picked it up and ran really well with great splits, which will only help us in the sectionals coming up in a couple weeks.”
Johanna Anders led off the 4x400-meter relay. She had a solid start for the Patriots, sitting in second place after the first lap.
The baton was handed off to Cash Hollowell, who slipped a bit but had a kick during the front stretch to hold on to third place.
Molly Muhlenkamp was next for the Patriots and worked back into second place before handing off to Alexis Sibray. The freshman held Jay County’s destiny.
Woodlan’s Katy Niles, who was handed the baton at the same time as Sibray, blasted ahead. Niles crossed the finish line at four minutes, 23.6 seconds, in second place. Sibray followed 3.32 seconds later, securing the Patriots second place.
The third-place finish in the relay earned the Jay County High School girls track team second place at the Allen County Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday night at Bluffton. The girls finished with 115.5 points, only three behind first-place Woodlan (118.5). The boys tied for third place with Heritage at 89 points. Bluffton ran away with the victory, tallying 152.5 points.
“I started way too fast and was worried I was going to die out,” Sibray said. “I started to lose vision near the final turn but I tried my best.”
While Sibray couldn’t secure the win for the Patriots, she still had a successful day, placing second in the 800 run and third in the 1,600, setting a new career best 5:58.13 in the process.
“All in all with everything that has happened tonight with absences, injuries and accidents, I feel like we did pretty well,” coach Imel said. “I feel like there were many girls who had a courageous night tonight … You can’t really find a fault anywhere.”
Gabi Bilbrey had the only first-place finish for the girls tonight. Her throw of 124 feet, 11 inches, edged out Lauren Reiff of Bluffton.
“I got pretty consistent numbers. I think that’s what pushed me further,” Bilbrey said. “The girl who got second place was throwing 130s in warmups but she scratched her last two. Fortunately for me I just kept super consistent.”
The boys got a pair of victories from Isaac Kunkler in the 110 hurdles and the 300 hurdles.
Kunkler set a career best in the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.95. The 300 hurdles didn’t go as smoothly for Kunkler, who nicked the last hurdles and stumbled slightly before eventually earning the win at 41.40.
“I was kind of worried that someone would catch me, but I had a good lead and still got first so it was a good race,” Kunkler said. “It feels great. Getting first is fun but we also have a lot of second and third-place finishes from other athletes that are pulling their weight.”
One of those runners was Jenna Dues, who didn’t win any races, but ended with the most points for the Jay County girls thanks to second-place finishes in the 200 dash and high jump and a third-place finish in the 100 dash.
“It feels pretty good getting a lot of points for my team helping them out,” Dues said. “I’m proud of myself.”
One athlete that stood out to Imel was Adam Alig. He finished fourth in the high jump and third in the long jump, despite not knowing that he qualified for the finals until after his coach asked him how he did.
“I just got done running my 300 hurdles and just didn’t want to scratch because I already did that once,” Alig said. “So I moved six inches back from my original mark and I ended up strengthening my strides and ended up with a (career best).”
The Patriot girls were without sprinter Natalie Wehrly, their fastest sprinter who was recovering from a car accident earlier in the week and lost distance runner Joseph Boggs, who went down with a knee injury during the 1,600 run.
“We adjusted some things to try and to get some kids in positions to make points and they did, we just didn’t make enough,” Imel said. “When you’re so close, you look back at the times, ‘what did we run?’ We ran three seconds faster than what we’ve ever ran in the 4x4, and that’s without Natalie Wehrly.
“All the girls really picked it up and ran really well with great splits, which will only help us in the sectionals coming up in a couple weeks.”
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