Vondenkamp, Carr shine for MHS at home track meets
Sports reporter
Early in the season the Marion High School track squad has been busy.
Just two track meets into the season and MHS has already hosted both of them, with the Marion Quint April 5, and the Marion RelaysFriday.
The Warriors proved at the quint they could do some damage this season. They finished second with 78 points, with freshman Charlie Holub and junior Casey Nelson winning their respective events for the boys' team.
Holub finished the 3200m run in 11:55.27, just barely ahead of Marion's Daniel Goentzel who finished with a time of 11:55.57.
Nelson ran away with the pole vault event as he took first place, clearing 12-0, two feet ahead of the second place finisher.
Sophomores Erin Carr and Erin Richmond were the lone first-place finishers on the girls' team.
Carr ran the 100m dash in 13.20 seconds. She also finished third in the triple jump with a distance of 31-2.75.
Richmond took first in the pole vault, clearing 7-6, and third in the javelin with a throw of 95-2.
The girls finished in third place with 63 points, just one point behind second place Little River and 19 points behind champion Hesston.
Head coach Grant Thierolf was impressed with Carr, saying she has gotten stronger from last year and has shown that so far this season.
On Friday, MHS hosted the 12-team relay event and both teams placed in the top six.
The boys' team finished fourth with 64.5 points, and the girls' ended up sixth with 33 points.
Vondenkamp shined at the Marion Relays after a good showing at the quint.
After a second-place finish in the 110m hurdles at the quint with a time of 16.16, his time of 15.57 on Friday gave him the first-place medal.
His time of 42.02 in the 300m hurdles Friday gave him another first-place finish.
"Jeremy is off to a great start," Thierolf said. "He's eyeing the school record in both events."
He also was a part of the 4x400m relay team that took first with a time of 3:41.85, along with juniors Russell Ploutz and Casey Nelson, and sophomore Jason Hett.
While Vondenkamp was the only individual first-place finisher, other Warriors had good showings this past week.
Junior Adam Depler took second Friday in the shot put with a throw of 46-9.5. Sophomore Ben Leppke leapt to a second-place finish in the triple jump at 40-9. And junior Michael Brookens took third in the javelin with a throw of 136-1.
Carr wasn't the only trackster who found success on the girls' team.
MHS softball seniors Leann Thomas and Amber Richmond took a break from the ball field to help the Warriors to the sixth-place finish.
Thomas took fourth in the discus Friday with a throw of 104-7, and Amber notched a second-place finish in the javelin with a toss of 105-7.
Thierolf and the other coaches are pleased with what they have seen so far, and are excited for the next seven weeks of competition.
Centre High School hosted a meet Tuesday at Marion. The Warriors competed. On Friday Marion will head to Lindsborg for the Smoky Valley Invitational.
