News editor
In a competitive meet Friday, the Marion girls edged out first place in the Marion Relays, while the boys finished second out of 13 teams. In the process, 13 athletes set personal records in 20 events.
“We had probably the most competitive Marion Relays we have had in a long time, and we are very pleased to have the girls’ team finish first and the boys’ team finish second to a very good El Dorado team,” head coach Grant Thierolf said.
The girls’ 4x400-meter relay team of Marissa Jacobson, Katey Ehrlich, Kelli Hess, and Marshelle Mermis won and set a meet record with a time of 4 minutes, 11.45 seconds. Kaelyn Thierolf, Erika Hess, Kaylie Waner, and McKenzee Remmers combined to place third in the 4x800 relay with a time of 11:40.6. Ehrlich, Erika Hess, Emily Schneider, and Alicia Maloney placed fourth in the 4x100, 53:37.
Jacobson was the leading individual scorer for the girls, winning the long jump with a leap of 16’6¼” and triple jump at 34’8½”. She also placed fourth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 48.61 seconds.
“Marissa Jacobson is going to be a force all year in the jumps and hurdles,” Grant Thierolf said. “She is so lucky to have a great senior teammate in Katey Ehrlich who can help her during meets, and it is fun to watch them push each other.”
Maloney and Erika Hess placed first and second, respectively, in pole vault with vaults of 8’ and 7’6”. Mermis won the 400-meter dash in 1:02.8 and placed fourth in the 200 with a time of 27.9 seconds.
Ehrlich placed fifth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 50.63 seconds and sixth in triple jump at 32’5”. Remmers placed fifth in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 13:36.6.
Kaelyn Thierolf placed second in javelin with a throw of 102’1”, followed by Kristen Herzet in sixth with a throw of 90’2”. Herzet also placed fifth in discus with a throw of 100’5”.
Boys dominate discus
The boys took the top four places and five out of six places in discus. The top four, in order, were Kyle Palic, Nick Meyer, Morgan Wheeler, and John Nordquist, with throws of 138’10”, 130’4”, 130’4”, and 127’7”, respectively. Clint Kroupa placed sixth with a throw of 123’1”.
All three of Marion’s shot put entrants placed. Palic was second, 47’9”; Meyer, third, 46’8½”; and Wheeler, sixth, 43’4½”. Nordquist placed second in javelin with a throw of 145’10”.
James Jones won triple jump, 43’8”, and placed second in long jump, 20’11”. Mason Pedersen placed third in long jump, 20’7½”, and Seth Snelling was third in triple jump, 39’2”. Pedersen also placed fourth in the 110-meter hurdles in 16.7 seconds and fourth in the 300-meter hurdles, 43.21 seconds. Brad Stone was fifth in the 300-meter hurdles, 43.77.
Snelling was third in pole vault, 11’6”, and Tyler Neufeld placed fourth, 10’6”. Neufeld also placed fifth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 54.97 seconds.
Neufeld, Pedersen, Snelling, and Jones combined to place third in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:40.93.
“Fun way to start the season, and on to Smoky Valley on Thursday,” Thierolf said.
New personal records
Thierolf, discus and javelin; Herzet, discus and javelin; Molly Hess, javelin; Jacobson, long jump, triple jump, and 300-meter hurdles; Meyer, shot put; Palic, shot put; Nordquist, discus; Kroupa, discus; Pedersen, long jump and 300-meter hurdles; Nicholas Stuchlik, triple jump and 300-meter hurdles; Stone, 300-meter hurdles; Tyler Arocha, long jump and 200-meter dash; and Neufeld, 400-meter dash.