Bilbrey is top seed

The Patriots went a decade without a regional champion.

Gabi Bilbrey is in position to earn their second in three years.

Bilbrey is the top seed in the discus as the Jay County High School girls track team prepares to compete in the regional meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Pike in Indianapolis.

The senior leads a group of regional qualifiers that also includes freshman Alexis Sibray, sophomore Jenna Dues and the Patriots’ 4x800-meter relay team. The top three competitors at the regional level will advance to the state finals June 3 at Indiana University.

Bilbrey is a dominant No. 1 seed in the regional for the discus after setting new school and sectional records Tuesday at 140 feet, 6 inches. No. 2 seed Alaina Bowman of New Castle is seeded second at 122 feet, 9 1/2 inches.

A victory from Bilbrey would give JCHS its second girls track regional title in three years following Elisa Parazzi’s win in the high jump in 2021. The exchange student from Italy went on to finish seventh in the state. (Prior to Parazzi, the Patriots’ last regional championship in girls track came from Maria Murphy in the discus in 2011.)

Bilbrey is also the No. 13 seed in the shot put at 34 feet, 6.5 inches.

The remaining Patriots are all double-digit seeds, with the team of Molly Muhlenkamp, Paityn Wendel, Willow Hardy and Sibray at 12th in the 4x800 relay with their time of 10 minutes, 38.97 seconds. Bishop Chatard is the No. 3 seed at 9:53.51.

Sibray placed third in the sectional meet at 2:30 in the 800 run and is seeded 13th for the regional. Dues is the No. 16 seed at 27.57 in the 200 dash.