Boys finish fourth, girls seventh

The Marion High School track team got one final tuneup before regional and state Friday, competing in the Heart of America league meet at Sterling.

Paced by two first-place finishes by Tyler Palic, the boys finished fourth out of 10 teams with 77 points.

Bennington cruised to a league championship for the boys, edging runner-up Hutch-Trinity, 114-94.

Anne Baliel was the lone league champion for the girls, who finished seventh out of 10 with 44 points, 62 behind champion Sterling’s 106.

The Warrior boys managed nine top-three finishes, with Palic supplying a trio of them and Jack Schneider adding a pair.

Friday was business as usual for Palic in discus, setting the table for back-to-back showdowns with Hillsboro foe Wes Shaw.

Nobody was within 35 feet of Palic’s winning throw of 177 feet, 9 inches with Ell-Saline pest and runner-up Nick Davenport throwing 142’ 3”.

The adversaries from wrestling were first and second in shot put, also, with Palic’s top throw of 52’7” better than 6 feet past Davenport.

Palic capped his day with a third-place finish in javelin with a throw of 153’2”.

Schneider added two second- place finishes to Bennington’s speed-burner Javon Allen in the 100 and 200 with respective times of 11.03 and 23.36 seconds.

Austin Neufeld was second in the pole vault, clearing 12 feet, and Zach Stuchlik jumped 39’5” in triple jump for third.

Collin Williams picked up a pair of third-place finishes in the 800 and 1600, with 2:08.20 and 4:57.25 times, respectively, to round out top three-finishes.

Other than Baliel, the girls only mustered just two other top-three finishes.

It took Baliel having to go through teammates Michaela Regnier and Grace Winter, but Baliel cleared a meet-best 9’3” in pole vault, with the other two finishing third and fourth, respectively.

In long jump, Emmy Hess’s leap of 15’7” was good for third, as was Drew Helmer’s 92’10” throw in discus.

The Warriors travel to Blue Rapids on Friday for the Valley Heights regional.

Field events are scheduled for 3 p.m. with running events beginning two hours later.

FRIDay at Sterling

Girls

High jump — 5. Samantha Kelsey, 4 feet 6 inches.

Pole vault — 1. Baliel, 9’3”. 3. Regnier, 8’. 4. Winter, 7’.

3200 — 6. Megan Frese, 15:03.41.

Long jump — 3. Hess, 15’7”.

Discus — 3. Helmer, 92’10”.

4x100 meter relay — 6. Marion, 56.10 seconds (Samantha Richmond, Baliel, Maria Stuchlik, Hess).

200 — 5. M. Stuchlik, 28.38.

400 — 4. Richmond, 1:05.95.

4x400 — 5. Marion, 4:29, (Baliel, Maria Stuchlik, Abigail Stuchlik, Richmond).

Javelin — 6. Courtney Herzet, 93’6”.

Boys

Shot put — 1. Palic, 52’7”.

Discus — 1. Palic, 177’9”.

High jump — 5. Dalrymple, 5’10”.

Javelin — 3. Palic, 153’2”.

Pole vault — 2. Neufeld, 12’.

Triple jump — 3. Stuchlik, 39’ 5”.

Long jump — 6. Stuchlik, 18’1”.

100 — 2. Schneider, 11.03.

200 — 2. Schneider, 23.36.

800 — 3. Williams, 2:08.20.

1600 — 3. Williams, 4:57.25.

4x100 — 5. Marion, 46.23 (Juri Billerbeck, Stuchlik, Neufeld, Colton Mercer).

400 — 5. Mercer, 54.21. 5. Billerbeck, 55.27.

4x400 — 5. Marion, 3:43.09 (Mercer, Stuchlik, Billerbeck, Williams,).