Warrior athletes have most success at state track meet in thirty years
Sports reporter
It has been more than 30 years since Marion High School experienced a state track meet like it did this past weekend.
The boys' team tallied 31 points for a fifth-place finish, and the girls' team, which wasn't supposed to compete during the season because of lack of numbers, still scored 8.5 points at the state meet.
Head coach Grant Thierolf enjoyed his best weekend as a head coach.
"We could not be more happy with how our athletes performed," he said.
A week after losing to Hillsboro in a home regional by one point, the Warriors turned it on this past weekend, defeating their rivals by 10 points.
Senior Jeremy Vondenkamp also enacted some revenge on the field after taking second in the 300-meter hurdles at regionals.
His time Saturday of 40.32 seconds earned him the title of state champion, erasing the memory of the second-place regional finish. After taking first in the 110m hurdles at regionals, Vondenkamp settled for fourth at state.
"He now takes his place in the MHS Hall of Fame as the new 300-meter intermediate hurdle champion," Thierolf said. "Jeremy and Coach Bill Darrow have worked very hard for the past three years, and to see him on the top stand Saturday night was awesome."
Gavin Moore ended his track career right where he and his coaches thought he should.
He took second in the 3200m run, a realistic finish considering Lane Boyer of Fredonia pretty much never loses a race.
Moore ran in fourth or fifth most of the race, but in his signature way, turned it on for the final 120 meters.
"I've been working hard all year," he said. "I knew my kick was behind me so I felt if I could get up close I could bring it home."
Moore earned another medal in the 4x800m relay. He, Justin Heidebrecht, Jason Hett, and Russell Ploutz were seventh with a time of eight minutes, 28.09 seconds.
"They competed in this relay all year long and did really well," Thierolf said. "They did not have one race this year in this relay that did not include at least three and sometimes up to seven other relay teams that would place at the state track meet."
The senior Ploutz joined Moore and Vondenkamp on the boys' team with two medals.
After improving his personal best jump by more than a foot in the triple jump according to Thierolf, he earned a fourth-place medal with a leap of 42 feet, one half inches.
Just four inches from fourth place, Thierolf was pleased with Ploutz's performance.
"He really had a great series of jumps," Thierolf said.
Shawn Britton and Emmanuel Jackson also earned medals for the boys' team, making it a perfect seven-for-seven in medal attempts.
Britton threw a personal best 48-10 in the shot put, to give him fifth overall.
"Shawn has improved from his freshman year to his senior year more than any athlete we have ever coached," Thierolf said. "He really earned his state medal."
Jackson, a junior competing in his first state track meet, jumped 20-10.25 inches in the long jump and took fourth place.
The girls' team represented Marion well, earning three medals out of seven events.
Junior Erin Carr brought home one of three after competing in three events.
She fell short in the triple jump and 100m dash taking 12th and eighth respectively, but a fifth-place finish in the 220m dash with a time of 26.29 seconds gave her the hardware. The eighth-place finish in the 100 earned one point for the girls' team.
"She has put an awful lot of time in the weight room and all of that hard work has really paid dividends," Thierolf said.
Competing in her second straight state meet, junior Danielle Cope was fifth in the 3200m run, besting her 12th place finish a year ago.
"Danielle ran a very gutty race, beating girls that she had lost to earlier in the year," Thierolf said. "She capped off a great year with a medal."
The final girls' medal belonged to junior Erin Richmond who finished fourth in the pole vault. She cleared nine feet even, to earn her first-ever medal.
Senior Toni Gordon and freshman Camille Christensen both just missed bringing home a medal.
Christensen did earn one point for the girls' team with an eighth-place finish in the 1600m run.
"She had a great season and we look for continued greatness out of her the next three years," Thierolf said.
Gordon, who was named the MHS female track and overall athlete of the year, finished out her career with a ninth-place finish in the discus. It was her second straight appearance at the state meet.
"Toni really worked hard at throwing the discus and goes down as one of the top throwers in Marion High School history," Thierolf said.
