Staff writer
Marion track and field athlete Julia Zeiner won two state championships this weekend in Wichita.
Zeiner won the long jump on Friday with a leap of 17 feet, 11 inches. It was Zeiner’s second jump in preliminaries — it was a full foot further than the next closest competitor, Claire Provenzano, at 16-9.25.
After winning her preliminary heats in the 100 and 300 hurdles on Friday, Zeiner won the 100 hurdles Saturday morning with a time of 15.20 seconds. The mark shattered the school record she set this year, 15.78.
Zeiner could easily have walked away with four gold medals except for two close competitions Saturday afternoon.
Zeiner came in second in the triple jump with a leap of 37-8.75. In preliminary jumps, Zeiner was the last jumper to leap, after setting the best qualifying mark at regional. Tina Liu, of Wichita Independent, jumped right before Zeiner. Liu was the only jumper to best the Marion senior all year, defeating Zeiner at Halstead.
In Liu’s second jump, she hit 37-3.25, which was then the longest jump of prelims. Zeiner came back with her best jump of 37-8.75.
On her next attempt, Liu eclipsed 38 feet at 38-2.5. It was a mark that Zeiner could not match in her final jump of prelims or in three jumps in the finals.
Zeiner had one more event — the 300 hurdles. She had posted the best qualifying time and was leading the race after the next to last hurdle. At the last hurdle, Mindy Wilson of Rossville caught up with Zeiner.
Zeiner said she saw Wilson start to pass her out of the corner of her eye before the last hurdle. After leaping the last barrier, Zeiner knew she had to try something. She dived for the finish line, falling to the red rubber track over the finish line that made the crowd gasp.
Wilson defeated her by three hundredths of a second, 46.12 to 46.15.
“I was hoping for a little more in the triple jump and 300,” she said.
Zeiner wished the triple jump and long jump would have been flipped. Her Friday afternoon schedule was much lighter, with the long jump in the late afternoon. She said the triple jump takes more out of her.
It didn’t help that the triple jump and 300 hurdles were in the heat of the day Saturday. She said she wasn’t used to competing in that type of heat.
“It happens,” Zeiner said of the circumstances.
Nick Klenda
It was a perfect storm of circumstances for Marion thrower Nick Klenda. He went through his routine leading up to the toss: he slept well the night before, he had a good breakfast, he warmed up well, and his warm up throws felt good.
Although his first two throws topped out in the 150-foot-range, he said he knew he would have a throw in the high 160s and maybe top out at 170.
The result was Klenda’s self-described best throw of his career. In his second to last throw in the finals, Klenda launched the discus 178 feet, defeating John Siale of Chaparral, who had just thrown, 162-4. It was the best throw of the meet.
Klenda said he was pushed by Siale, who claimed 3A state titles in the shot put and javelin earlier in the meet.
While the throw did not best Klenda’s school record throw of 182-10, he said he was not aided by the wind in Wichita as he was at Halstead.
According to Klenda, the throw — with the right spin and the perfect release — was like a feeling of ecstacy.
Other results
*Tylor Neil – 4. Long jump, 20-3.5. 6. Triple jump, 42-6.75.
*Whitney Gordon – 4. High jump, 5-2.
*Boys 4x800 relay team – 6. Eric Vogel, Jordan Hett, Patrick McCarty, Ryan Jones, 8:34.09.
*Sheldon Boone – 7. Javelin, 167-8.
*Jaclyn DeForest – 7. 3200, 12:44.48.
*Colten Johnson – 7. Pole vault, 12-6. 9. Javelin, 159-10.
Dillon Richmond – 8. Pole vault, 12-0.
Klenda – 9. Shot put, 47-2
Hett – 10. 3200, 10:32.01
Randy Regnier – 11. Pole vault, 11-0.
Drew Maddox – 14. Long jump, 18-11.
Vogel -15. 800, 2:14.00.
Girls 4x800 relay – 15. Jaclyn DeForest, Bridget Lundy, Monica Spachek, Erin Meierhoff, 10:52.90.
Parker Ash – 16. Shot put, 45-0
Girls team – 5. 41.
Boys team – 11. 20
*placed