State track: girls take fourth, boys relay team brings home medal
Sports reporter
In what head coach Grant Thierolf called the most successful trip to state ever for a Marion High School girls' track team, the Warriors left Wichita with a fourth-place finish and seven total medals. The boys' 4x800-meter relay team won the team's lone medal with a seventh-place finish.
With 39 points the Warriors scored more points than anticipated. "This is the highest our girls have placed in a state meet in the history of the program," Thierolf said. "So these young ladies have something to be proud of."
After chilly but dry weather Friday, it was all too fitting Saturday for one of the wettest spring sports season in recent memory, to have the meet be delayed two and one-half hours.
Still, the all-class event finished Saturday night as planned, and the Warriors capped off a season full of personal and team accomplishments.
Freshman Julia Zeiner ended her incredible first season with a second-place medal in the long jump and 4x100-meter relay, and a seventh-place medal in the 400m dash.
While she has three years left at MHS, the Warriors will sorely miss two senior athletes who racked up points this past weekend.
Danielle Cope was the first medalist for MHS after taking third in the 3200m run. She broke the school record by 11 seconds with a time of 11 minutes, 36.59 seconds, and finished only behind last year's state champion and state runner-up.
Annie Martin of Riley County and Leah Thompson of Sacred Heart, who also finished one-two in the 1600m run, looked dominant toward the end of the race, but Cope outlasted every other runner.
"She ran a superb race, staying with the leaders through six laps and then maintaining her place through the finish," Thierolf said.
Erin Carr tied Zeiner with three medals of her own, and racked up a team-high 20 points with second-place finishes in the 4x100m relay and the 100m dash, and a third-place finish in the 200m dash.
She showed her senior leadership by anchoring the 4x100, running with freshman Zeiner, Kristen Steinborn, and Kayley Heerey. Her second-place finish in the 100 (12.49 seconds) was just .38 seconds behind Burlington's Katie Guevel, who earned four gold medals in her final high school meet.
Guevel's time of 12.11 would have been a meet record, but it did not count because it was wind-aided. Carr was behind Guevel again in the 200 along with Wichita Independent's Sierra Grant. Carr ran 26.19 and Guevel's time of 24.95 was only five one thousands of a second slower than the meet record.
In other words, Carr was just plain good.
"She showed what showing up every day in the weight room can do for an athlete," Thierolf said, "as she has turned herself into the greatest female sprinter in Marion High School history."
An athlete who has a chance to be one of the top female distance runners in school history when she is done, is sophomore Camille Christensen.
Competing in her second state meet, Christensen medaled with Cope in the 3200m run, taking sixth place with a time of 12:09.91. She also placed 10th in the 1600m run after finishing in 5:42.93. It was her second time running the one-mile at state, but she competed in the two-mile for only the third time in her entire career.
"[She had] a strong run in a very fast field," Thierolf said of her one-mile.
On the topic of fast, Zeiner not only ran that way, but also had to act fast between events Friday, competing in three at the same time.
The long jump, 4x100m relay, and the 400m dash prelims all overlapped each other. Zeiner said she was nervous before the meet, but once she got started it was all business. Thierolf agreed she handled herself well.
"She showed tremendous poise for a freshman," he said. "To go to your first state track meet and win three medals is quite an accomplishment. We are glad that she has three more years."
She had some help from some other poised freshmen in the 4x100m relay in Heerey and Steinborn.
Wichita Independent ran first with a time of 49.89, while MHS was right behind with a time of 50.96. Independent's team consisted of two sophomores, a junior, and a senior.
"They just had a little more experience than we did, but our girls ran very well," Thierolf said. "With three of the runners coming back, we look for this team to be back in Wichita for another run at it next year."
Overall Thierolf couldn't have been more pleased.
"We went into the meet thinking our girls could score between 30 and 35 points, based on their regional times and distances," he said. "To come out with 39 points and a chance going into the last event to place third as a team was a great accomplishment."
The boys' team did not have the same success as the girls, but it did have representatives in six events.
The rain and lightning couldn't stop the 4x800m relay team from capturing the only medal of the day for the boys' team. With just two races left before the runners were supposed to take to the track, lighting and a downpour forced the event to be delayed.
Justin Heidebrecht, John Barr III, Ryan Jones, and Jason Hett managed to run the relay on a wet course after the break and earn a seventh-place medal. It was just short of the school record, and each runner had his best time of the season.
"To win a medal when we finished fourth at regionals was fantastic," Thierolf said.
Sophomore Luke Gordon was the next closest to a medal with an eighth-place finish in the high jump. His leap of six feet even was tied with Trenton Jacobs of Halstead, but he lost on a tie-break.
" (It was) a good day for Luke who will only get better and better," Thierolf said.
Senior Kyle Hett ended his first trip to state placing 13th in the long jump, and 11th in the 4x400m relay.
"To end [his] senior year at the state track meet is a great way to close out," Thierolf said.
Jason Hett, who was recently named MHS male athlete of the year, and Emmanuel Jackson closed out their careers in the 4x400 as well.
Tylor Neil and Jake Czarnowsky will have more chances to earn medals after competing this season.
Neil, a freshman, jumped 40 feet, 1.5 inches in the triple jump to finish 10th.
"Tylor handled the atmosphere very well and has a great future in this event," Thierolf said.
Junior hurdler Czarnowsky was the final competitor for the team, taking 12th in the 300m hurdles. He was less than a second from finishing in the top 10.
"Jake really improved this year and will only get faster and faster," Thierolf said.
With strong showing at the past two state meets, it's apparent the hard work and dedication of all the athletes has paid off.
Cope, Carr, Jackson, Jason Hett, Kyle Hett, and Barr III will no doubt be missed, but the young corps of dedicated runners could make for another strong season next year.
Results: (top seven earn medals)
girls
Julia Zeiner - 2. Long jump, 17-3.25. 7. 400m dash, 1:00.51. 10. Pole vault, 8-6.
Danielle Cope - 3. 3200m run, 11:36.59.
Camille Christensen - 6. 3200m run, 12:09.91. 10. 1600m run, 5:42.93.
Erin Carr - 2. 100m dash, 12.49. 3. 200m dash, 26.19.
4x100m relay, second - Kayley Heerey, Kristen Steinborn, Zeiner, Carr.
boys
Kyle Hett - 13. Long jump, 19-0.75.
Luke Gordon - 8. High jump, 6-0.
Jake Czarnowsky - 12. 300m hurdles, 43.51.
Tylor Neil - 10. Triple jump, 40-1.50.
4x400m relay, eleventh - Kyle Hett, Justin Heidebrecht, Emmanuel Jackson, Jason Hett, 3:3.50.
4x800m relay, seventh - Heidebrecht, Ryan Jones, John Barr III, J. Hett, 8:20.67.
