Senior pushes Jay to 2nd

UPLAND — In Paityn Wendel’s first two seasons with the Patriots, the team rarely had enough runners to post a team score.

A group of freshmen arrived last year to transform the team from an also-ran into a conference champion and a sectional contender.

Generally, Wendel has been the No. 5 or 6 runner on the squad. Sometimes she contributed to the team total, sometimes not.

In her final sectional meet, the senior was more than a contributor. She was a driving force.

Wendel pushed herself and her teammates on Saturday, placing third on the team and 16th overall to help power the Jay County High School girls cross country team to a second consecutive runner-up finish in the meet hosted by Delta at Taylor University.

“It's really amazing,” said Wendel. “Being able to contribute to the team and do this for the girls — I don't run this race for myself; I run this race for my girls, for my team. I want them to be able to go so far. And the fact that I'm able to push them and hopefully be like guidance for them just makes me so happy. I'm just so proud of how far they've come and I'm proud of myself for how far I've gone as well.

“For me and (senior Alexis Sibray), I know this is amazing. … We hadn't been able to score as a team in years, and now we have this great group of girls that have just allowed us to go as far as we can imagine.”

Her big push helped the Patriots to a score of 89 as they trailed only Norwell (52) for the second consecutive season. Bluffton (103), Wapahani (123) and Monroe Central (156) took the remaining regional-qualifying spots as the top five teams and top 15 individuals not on qualifying teams advanced.

“There's a lot of teams and a lot of good teams; this is the strong sectional for the girls,” said JCHS assistant coach Jared Owens, filling in for coach Gabby Williams after she gave birth to her son Parker early this month. “So to be second, I mean, it's a great accomplishment. The girls continue to compete and fought hard, and I thought we fought really hard today … We had a couple of girls that ran really, really well.”

Caleb Garringer, Max Klopfenstein and Grant Glentzer earned individual regional berths for the Jay County boys while the team finished eighth out of 14 scoring teams with 224 points. Norwell won the title with 44 points, followed by Delta (51), South Adams (115), Wapahani (119) and Bluffton (122).

Wendel started Saturday’s race in her more typical position, trailing a trio of sophomore teammates — Ava May, Jessie Homan and Brooklyn Byrum — and running even with Abby Fifer at the mile mark.

She didn’t stay there.

Seeking to make the most of her final sectional opportunity, by the 2-mile mark Wendel had surged to the No. 3 spot on the JCHS squad behind only May and Homan and the top 20 overall. She was not done.

In the final mile, Wendel overtook sophomores Mya Oatess of Norwell and Emma Ballinger of Eastbrook and senior Haileigh Allen of Randolph Southern. She was pushing toward her teammates by the line as Patriots finished in succession with May 14th in 21 minutes, 55.5 seconds, Homan 15th in 21:56.3 and Wendel 16th in 22:06.

“I didn't even have a strategy,” said Wendel. “All I did was work hard at practice. This year, these practices, coach Owens has really done a phenomenal job … He pushes us so hard, and then he rewards us when we do good. …

“I didn't even have to think about it. I just improved all on its own.”

Jay County locked up its runner-up finish with three more runners tightly packed in the late 20s as Sibray climbed to 26th in 22:52.6, Brooklyn Byrum completed the team score in 28th at 23:05 and Abby Fifer pushed back opponents in 29th with a time of 23:07.3.

Garringer, who missed three weeks in the middle of the season with a right hip injury that then affected his knee as well, still set the pace for the JCHS boys. Though unable to reach the heights he did last season — he finished sixth in the 2024 meet — the junior was solidly in regional-qualifying position throughout. His time of 17:36.3 earned him 15th overall, about a second ahead of Blackford freshman Gavin Bartrum.

“I missed the middle three weeks, probably the most important weeks,” said Garringer. “So I'm just trying to make up. …

“I’m still trying to get (to 100%). … I think I did the best I could continue with what I had.”

Klopfenstein, a senior, easily qualified in his final opportunity as he finished in 18:18.9 for 30th place. Glentzer, a freshman, was 13th among runners on non-qualifying teams and 35th overall with his time of 18:34.1.

“They had no idea that they could do that at the beginning of the year,” said Owens. “So it's great to see their growth. They really kind of came on strong the last couple weeks to drop their time down and really competed hard today. 

“Grant, right at the end, really charged hard to get a couple spots … and then Max has really came on strong here the last couple of weeks of running. He ran really well at ACAC and then ran great today as well.”

Alex Rivers (63rd - 19:56.3) and Ethan Powers (82nd - 22:25.2) completed the team score. 

Also running for the Patriots were Alyvia Muhlenkamp (80th - 32:03) for the girls team and John Cook (86th - 23:38) and Isaac Hawbaker (90th - 26:40) for the boys.