Staff writer
The Marion High School boys’ and girls’ track teams endured threatening weather that forced delays Friday at the Beloit Relays to finish fourth in the 10-team upper division of the meet in Beloit.
“We got a taste of what a day at the state track meet would be like,” Marion head coach Grant Thierolf said. “The meet was delayed by a timing system and then by the weather. We were very pleased by how our athletes kept their focus and performed well.”
Weather and scheduling interruptions didn’t deter Colten Johnson from claiming first in the pole vault with a leap of 12 feet, 6 inches. Zach Hammond picked up fourth place in the event with a 12-foot vault.
“Colten had a very good day. His pole vault was interrupted by the weather and by the hurdles, and yet he jumped as well as we have seen him,” Thierolf said.
The javelin was the only other event in which two Warriors finished in the top 6. Dakin Ledford placed second with a heave of 149-5, and Spencer Fugitt places sixth with a 133-8 throw.
Ledford also scored in the discus, throwing 124-7, good enogh for fifth.
James Jones continued to do well in the long jump and triple jump. His 40-5 triple jump placed fourth, and he took sixth in the long jump with a leap of 20-2.5.
Johnson paced the Warriors on the track with a second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles in a time of 40.89 seconds. He dashed to third in the 110 hurdles in 15.66.
Jordan Hett earned third-place finishes in the 1,600 and 3,200, with times of 4:53 and 10:05, respectively.
Patrick McCarty scored the other individual points of the meet by taking third in the 400 with a time of 51.85.
The 4x400 relay team of Brody Carroll, McCarty, Jones, and Johnson placed fourth with a time of 3:33. Ledford, Carroll, Jones, and McCarty ran 46.86 in the 4x100 relay to place fifth.
Girls
Whitney Gordon led the charge for the Lady Warriors with a second-place 4-10 leap in the high jump, and a fourth-place finish in he 100 hurdles with a time of 16.59.
Corey Shields scored second place in the shot put with a 35-4 toss, and placed sixth in the javelin, throwing 89-4.
Third place in long jump went to Kadecha Gueary with a 15-5 jump, and she place sixth in the triple jump, leaping 29-1.25.
Alicia Maloney and Kelli Hess both scored in the pole vault. Maloney’s vault of 8-0 placed fifth, while Hess cleared 7-6 for sixth.
Kaelyn Thierolf raced to third-place finishes in the 1,600 and 3,200, with times of 5:51 and 12:44.
Katey Ehrlich ran the 300 hurdles in a time of 51.9 to finish fifth. Erin Meierhoff ran 2:38 in the 800 to place sixth.
The 4x100 relay team of Gueary, Gordon, Meierhoff, and Ehrlich placed fifth with a time of 54.21.
“We had another solid day. Corey had a great day in the shot put, getting closer to the school record,” Thierolf said. “Whitney looked very good in the hurdles. Erin had her best day on the track and is starting to come around in the 800.”
Marion participated Tuesday in the Hesston Relays at Hesston, a final tuneup before the Heart of America league meet May 11 at Bethel College.