News editor
Marion High School had 12 track and field athletes qualify for the state track and field meet Friday at regionals, with six qualifying in multiple events.
“It was arguably the toughest regional meet,” coach Grant Thierolf said. “We performed very, very well.”
The girls’ 4x400-meter relay team of Marissa Jacobson, Katey Ehrlich, Kelli Hess, and Marshelle Mermis won first place and set a new school record of 4 minutes, 8.8 seconds, topping their own school record by nearly two seconds. The team ran neck-and-neck with Hesston for much of the race before pulling away on the home stretch.
Jacobson also qualified for state in triple jump, winning at 36 feet, 1¾ inches; long jump, second, 16-5½; and 400-meter dash, second, 1:00.71. Mermis qualified in the 400-meter dash in third place with a time of 1:01.55.
Alicia Maloney won first place in pole vault with a vault of 10 feet, 6 inches.
Emily Schneider, Hess, Ehrlich, and Maloney qualified for state by taking fourth in the 4x100-meter relay in 51.69 seconds. Maloney lunged at the finish line to edge out Trinity Catholic’s relay team.
Thierolf complimented Hess and Ehrlich on running excellent legs in both relays, despite having an illness earlier in the week that prevented them from training.
Kristen Herzet rounded out the state qualifiers for the girls, placing fourth in discus with a throw of 99-10.
Herzet also earned points for the team but didn’t qualify for state in javelin, placing fifth at 102-8. McKenzee Remmers placed sixth in the 800-meter run in 2:35.3.
While they didn’t place, Molly Hess in shot put and Ehrlich in 300-meter hurdles set personal records.
James Jones qualified for state in long jump, leaping 20-10¼ to place third, and triple jump, 42-1½ to place fourth. He was the only multiple qualifier for the boys’ team, despite not feeling well.
Nick Meyer and Kyle Palic took the top spots in discus, with Meyer defeating Palic by one inch, 146-3 to 146-2.
Seth Snelling placed fourth in pole vault at 12-6 to qualify for state, and Mason Pedersen qualified in the 110-meter hurdles in 16.27 seconds.
Palic placed fifth in shot put; John Nordquist, fifth in javelin; Tyler Neufeld, sixth in pole vault; Pedersen, fifth in 300-meter hurdles; and the 4x400-meter relay team of Neufeld, Snelling, Brad Stone, and Jones placed sixth, all earning points for the Warriors but not qualifying for state.
Stone also set a personal record in the 300-meter hurdles.
State meet
The state track and field meet will be Friday and Saturday at Cessna Stadium at the intersection of 21st and Hillside in Wichita. Admission is $7 for students and $8 for adults.
Schedule
Girls
Herzet: discus, 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Jacobson: 400-meter dash, preliminaries at 3:35 p.m. Friday and finals at 3:45 p.m. Saturday; long jump, 4:45 p.m. Friday; triple jump, 8 a.m. Saturday.
Maloney: pole vault, 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Mermis: 400-meter dash, preliminaries at 3:35 p.m. Friday and finals at 3:45 p.m. Saturday.
Jacobson, Ehrlich, Kelli Hess, and Mermis: 4x400-meter relay, preliminaries at 5:55 p.m. Friday and finals at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Schneider, Kelli Hess, Ehrlich, and Maloney: 4x100-meter relay, preliminaries at 2:55 p.m. Friday and finals at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Boys
Jones: triple jump, 4:45 p.m. Friday; long jump, 1:15 p.m. Saturday.
Meyer: discus, 8 a.m. Saturday.
Palic: discus, 8 a.m. Saturday.
Pedersen: 110-meter hurdles, preliminaries at 2:30 p.m. Friday and finals at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Snelling: pole vault, 3 p.m. Friday.