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From the sidelines

It's hard to believe I just wrapped up my fourth year of covering Marion High School sports.

Time flies when you have fun working.

I've come up with a list of memorable moments from the past season that are unforgettable in some way.

It might be a great game, a gutty individual performance, or even a losing effort. But one thing is for sure — I won't forget these moments for a long time.

In no particular order:

Warrior girls advance to sub-state championship

It was a story-book season for a young Warriors' basketball team that ended the year as regional runner-up.

Seniors Lauren Helmer and Kimber Hardey, and sophomores Julia Zeiner, Lindsay Hett, and Kayley Heerey were the starting five on a team that peaked at the right time.

After starting the season 1-5, the team won nine of 11 at one point, and finished 10-10.

Two victories in sub-state play pushed the girls to within one game of the state tournament. A loss to SE of Saline ended the stellar season.

Ostmeyer leads golfers to third place on his way out

MHS head basketball and golf coach Rex Ostmeyer finished his sixth and final season at the school with a third-place finish at the 3A state golf meet.

Three golfers earned medals, led by Luke Gordon's ninth-place finish, and the golfers won the first state plaque for the school in any sport in more than 10 years.

Jackson qualifies for state in her final attempt

Senior triple and long jumper Kalaya Jackson earned a track and field state berth this season after taking fourth in the triple jump at the Marion regional.

Jackson just missed out in the long jump after taking fifth, and she didn't let a past ACL injury keep her from the premier meet of the season.

She took 10th at state in the triple, and impressed her coaching staff.

Head coach Grant Thierolf said it was amazing she could even compete in the most grueling competition anyone's knees can handle.

"We will talk about this for a long time to come," Thierolf said.

Relay teams takes gold at state

It was a true team effort Saturday at the Kansas state track and field meet.

The MHS 4x100m relay team of Kayley Heerey, Kristen Steinborn, Danae Edwards, and Julia Zeiner turned a second-place prelim finish into a gold medal with a near-perfect performance and time of 50.65.

All four will return next season as juniors, and compete for a state plaque after finishing tied for fourth, one point shy of third place.

Football team loses OT thriller to Hillsboro

It might not be a memory the MHS football team wants to have, but the Warriors competed against their rivals in October in a close, hard-fought overtime battle.

The Trojans eventually won the game 20-19 in overtime, but the Warriors used some late-game heroics, including a trick-play which involved a receiver completing a pass to another receiver, just to force overtime.

The game also included lightning strikes that caused more than an hour delay and a controversial Trojan touchdown just before the half.

In the end MHS didn't win, but the players had nothing to hang their heads about.

MHS girls win final game in old gym

If a regional runner-up trophy wasn't enough, the Warrior girls' basketball team won a game to remember, defeating Hillsboro in the final game played in the former Warrior gymnasium.

MHS will be playing in a state-of-the-art gym starting next season, and the Warriors made sure they ended the 50-year history of varsity games in the former gym, defeating the Trojans in the first round of sub-state play.

Wrestlers send school-tying record five to state meet

The MHS wrestling program only keeps getting better. After Adam Depler earned the school's first state medal in 2005 since the school had its own team, the Warriors have continued to send athletes to the state meet.

This year a record-tying five qualified, and sophomore Cody Wildin put his name in the record books with Depler.

Wildin finished 3-2 on the day and earned a sixth-place medal in the 125-pound pound weight class.

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