Alig just misses medal

A season best.

Big-meet experience.

The Jay County High School track team got plenty out of its trip Saturday to Indiana State Fairgrounds.

Adam Alig led a group of five Patriots who competed in the Hoosier State Relays at Fall Creek Pavilion, breaking his own record in the 60-meter hurdles and narrowly missing a state medal.

“This is a springboard for our outdoor season,” said JCHS coach Joe Imel, whose team also had Alig competing as part of the 4x200 relay and Jordyn Hutzler throwing in the girls shot put. “We’re here with a couple sectional opponents, a few conference opponents. This should hopefully give them the confidence to set them up to have a pretty good season.”

Competing in the small school meet for the first time Saturday — the relays are split by IHSAA football classes, with 4A and above in the large school meet and 3A and below in the small school — Alig broke his own school record and the other Patriots improved on their seeds.

Alig came closest to securing a state medal in the 60 hurdles despite a slow start out of the blocks. He found himself near the back of the opening heat before charging hard over the final two hurdles. He turned the race for third place in the heat into a photo finish, ending up fifth just 0.04 seconds behind Jaden Park of West Lafayette and 0.03 seconds behind Divine Olikagu of Illiana Christian.

He was just 0.06 seconds off the time needed to advance to the finals and earn a state medal.

“He’s just a hard worker,” said Imel. “He’s gotten faster. He works on his form. He puts in the time in the weight room. He’s a great kid. I’m surrounded by really, really great kids.”

That effort rubs off on the rest of the team, he said.

“I’m just thankful that we were able to give them this experience,” he added.

Alig also ran the second leg for the JCHS 4x200 relay team, making the cut following the three-turn stagger in second place after Gabe Pinkerton ran a tight opening leg with the rest of the field. John Cook slipped to the back of the four-team heat late in the third leg before senior Caden Gambill was able to pull back to third on the final lap.

Their time of 1 minute, 38.83 seconds, moved the Patriots up two spots from their seed to finish in 21st place despite one of their regular team members missing the meet because of a planned vacation.

“We were still less than a half-second away from their best time, which is our school record,” said Imel. “I’m really proud of the guys. This is the first time that we’ve had guys come to indoor state for I have no idea how long. I’m just real proud of them. …

“I’m just happy for the boys who were able to compete, to be out here on this big, huge stage, and to know it’s not too big for us. We ran well.”

Photo Gallery

JCHS track at Hoosier State Relays (03/29/2025)

Hutzler was seeded last in the shot put — athletes qualify for the state relays via a series of indoor meets throughout March — but made the most of her opportunity. Throwing in the same facility that hosted the NCAA Division II indoor national championships a few weeks earlier, Hutzler launched her best toss of the indoor season at 33 feet, 3 1/4 inches. That was good enough to push the senior all the way up to 18th place and ahead of sectional rival Ruth Sherck of Delta by more than a foot.

“We knew that she had it in her, (it was) just to get it out during this (meet),” said Imel. “We tried to reduce pressure on her, just tell her to have a good time out there, work on some stuff. She popped off for 33 feet, which is her best this year so far.”

It was about a foot off of her career-best mark.

“I’m just really proud of her,” Imel added. “She had a really great attitude.”