News editor
The Marion girls placed second out of 11 teams Friday in the Marion Relays, while the boys went on a victory lap after it was announced that they had defeated McPherson for the meet championship.
The Warriors once again benefited from the strength, literal and figurative, of their throwers. Marion had the top three finishers in boys’ discus as Nick Meyer threw 139-6; Kyle Palic, 136-4; Morgan Wheeler, 136-0; and Spencer Fugitt, 128-03. Meyer also won the shot put with a throw of 44-11¼, and Wheeler placed third at 43-2½. Palic was third in the javelin with a throw of 142-9. Corey Shields was second in the girls’ discus at 103-10.
Jumps were also a strength for Marion. Zach Hammond, 12-6, won in pole vault, and Seth Snelling placed third at 10-6. James Jones won the long jump with a jump of 21-7½ and was third in triple jump at 42-11½.
For the girls, Erika Hess was third in high jump at 4-6. Alicia Maloney, 8-0, and Kelli Hess, 7-6, placed first and second in pole vault. Marshelle Mermis was second in long jump at 15-6¾.
Jumps coach Deanna Thierolf said Katey Ehrlich’s triple jump of 31-6 was a personal best, and it was enough to nab a couple of points at fifth place. Thierolf said she was happy with the results for the jumpers so early in the season.
“All of us just need a little bit more boardwork,” she said. “It takes a lot of run-throughs to get that rhythm and that confidence.”
She was especially happy to have three boys clear 18 feet in long jump — Brody Carroll and Patrick McCarty joined Jones in that category.
Mermis won the girls’ 400-meters with a time of 1 minute, 1.17 seconds.
Jordan Hett won the 1,600-meter run and the 3,200-meter run with times of 4:54.69 and 10:48.20, respectively. McKenzee Remmers was third in the girls’ 3,200 with a time of 13:20.11.
Kirsten Hansen picked up a third-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 17.26 seconds. Ehrlich was third in the 300-meter hurdles at 51.28 seconds.