Carr dominates Beloit; Gordon masters two sports
Sports reporter
It's not always one or two athletes who dominate for the Marion High School track teams, but this past week it was, with Erin Carr and Luke Gordon garnering most of the attention on the track.
Carr, who competed Friday in the Beloit Relays, won the 100 and 200-meter dashes and just missed out on the meet record in the 100 according to head coach Grant Thierolf.
"She was the star of the day for the Warriors," Thierolf said.
The senior also was the anchor of the 4x100m relay team that finished second.
Thierolf watched Carr nearly erase a huge gap between her and the first-place finisher.
"She came from about 14 meters behind when she got the baton to almost catch Concordia at the finish," he said.
Gordon didn't compete at Beloit because he was busy helping Marion win the four-man team title at the Sacred Heart golf invitational in Salina. After the tournament ended, he hustled to Hillsboro to compete in the high jump at the James Thomas invitational.
His jump of five feet, 10 inches won him a first-place medal in two sports on the same day.
"Luke had a good day," Thierolf said.
Most of the other boys were at Beloit, and had a number of fourth, fifth, and sixth place individual finishers.
Kyle Hett continued his comeback season from an injury with a fourth-place finish in the 200m dash.
The 4x800m relay team placed as well.
"John Barr III and Adam Regnier both ran strong legs and Justin Heidebrecht and Jason Hett continued to do what they have done for the past two year," Thierolf said.
On the girls' side, Julia Zeiner continued to impress during her fantastic freshman campaign, taking fourth in the hurdles at Beloit.
Two-time state qualifier Danielle Cope recorded a personal best time in the 3200m run, taking second only to a returning state champion according to Thierolf.
Other placers at Beloit were Camille Christensen (third, 1600m run), Erin Richmond (fifth, javelin), and Kimber Hardey (sixth, shot put).
"All in all, [it was] a solid day in our toughest track meet of the year," Thierolf said. "This meet will help us as we go through the next four weeks, and get us prepared for the state track meet."
Marion CKTL
Two girls placed at the Marion CKTL April 24 in a five-team meet.
Erin Richmond won the javelin throw and was third in the discus toss.
Zeiner was first in the pole vault, clearing eight feet, one inch.
The Hillsboro first-place medal was the second of the week for Gordon, as he took first at the Marion CKTL in the high jump, clearing 5-10.
Chase Carlson, a golf teammate of Gordon, was third with a clear leap of 5-8.
Eric Vogel was another other first-place finisher for the boys, taking first in the 800m run. He bested a Moundridge runner by just two-tenths of a second.
Brad Klenda was the final first-place medalist for Marion when he cleared 11-7 on the pole vault.
