Patriots improve

CELINA, Ohio — Improvement is the name of the game in cross country. In a sport where seconds can feel like millennia, it can also be elusive.

That wasn’t the case for the Patriots on Saturday, with Jay County High School showing improvement across the board in both the boys and girls races.

“We’re really proud,” said Jay County coach Gabby Williams. “We had all of our kids drop times today from last week, so we couldn’t really ask for more than that.”

The consistent progress across the board resulted in sophomores Ava May, Abby Fifer and Brooklyn Byrum all posting top-15 finishes for the JCHS girls, which took fourth overall in the 10-team field with 92 points. They trailed the hopes Bulldogs, who took three of the top eight places and scored 42 points, Fort Loramie (60) and Van Wert (63).

The Patriot boys got a top-15 finish from Caleb Garringer and placed seventh with 175 points, three points behind sixth-place Fort Loramie. Bryan dominated the race, with four of the top six runners en route to a 26-point total.

May was the standard-bearer for the Patriots for the second week in a row in the girls race. After settling into 12th position early, she pushed as high as 10th near the halfway mark. She continued to establish a rhythmic pace as the crossed the finish line 11th in 21:36.2.

May’s desire to push through sparked her ability to fend off fatigue late in the race.

“I just want to be done sometimes,” May said. “So the faster I go, you can’t feel the pain as much, so I like to try to go faster.”

For much of the run, May wasn't alone. Teammate Abby Fifer was going stride for stride with her throughout most of the event as they deliberately ran side by side. While May broke away from Fifer at the end, Fifer battled through the final portion of the run to finish immediately behind her teammate with a 21:51.9, good enough for 12th.

The time marked a significant improvement for Fifer — she sliced 50 seconds from her mark at the previous weekend’s season-opening Warsaw Cross Country Classic — as well as a catalyst for continued momentum.

“So far, compared to last year, I’m already on this course alone almost a minute ahead,” Fifer said. “So my times so far have really improved and I think this is going to be a great season.”

May and Fifer’s ability to run in tandem was symbiotic for the sophomore duo, and their chemistry off the course aided their performance on it.

“She’s one of my good friends,” May said of Fifer. “And it always feels better to run with somebody, so I like to run with her. You don’t have to say any words, but you know what you’re feeling.”

Running in groups was a common thread for Jay County throughout the day.

For Williams, who led the team in extensive bonding as well as training throughout the summer, sticking together has become a mantra, literally and figuratively.

“We want them to use each other,” said Williams, who is in her first year leading the Patriots after several as an assistant coach. “Because running can become such an individual sport, we want them to know that they’re still a team and there’s ways that you can use your teammates during races even though you’re running kind of for yourself. So, I think just building that trust and relationship throughout the season, throughout the summer, has really benefitted them in their races.”

On the boys side, junior Caleb Garringer didn’t have a teammate in close proximity, but that didn’t bother him as he cruised to 11th place with a 17:36.8.

“He’s just been a steady runner for us the last three years,” Williams said. “So we’re really proud of him and I think he’ll continue to drop time this year as the season progresses. He’s kind of just finding his mellow spot and we were proud of his performance today too.”

Garringer appeared relaxed throughout the run, finding a steady pace and settling into 17th as the field strung out. He found himself ahead of large clusters of runners and continually marched forward, reaching 14th by the midway point before the 11th-place result.

“I think being able to get ahead of that center pack so I didn’t have to get through all those people, and being able to get around and just having that straight line view of everyone in front of me, and just being able to go around them, that was very useful,” Garringer said.

Also notching a solid finish for the Patriots in the girls race was Brooklyn Byrum, who started slow, sifting through the field to around 25th before surging through the pack to a 15th-place finish in 21:59.3.

The second finisher for the Jay County boys was Max Klopfenstein, who came home 32nd with a time of 18:49.7.

Completing the fourth-place team score for the girls were Alexis Sibray (31st – 23:16.8), Jessie Homan (39th – 23:38.6). Paityn Wendel (45th – 24:12.3) and Alyvia Muhlenkamp (83rd – 29:16.4) also ran for the Patriots.

Joining Garringer and Klopfenstein in the top five for the boys were Caison Lloyd (48th – 19:38.6), Grant Glentzer (55th – 19:51.7) and Alex Rivers (63rd – 20:11.9). Ethan Powers (101st – 22:49.9) and John Cook (106th – 23:23.3) followed in the No. 6 and 7 spot.

Williams is expecting bigger and better things from an inexperienced boys unit as the season goes on.

“We’re just excited to see them grow,” Williams said. “We have a lot of new boys this year, so I think they’re just starting to figure it out and we’ll get to see them advance in the upcoming weeks.”