Will be at home Thursday
Fifty percent of the Marion High School cross-country team earned medals Thursday, running at Topham Family Farm in Peabody.
Peabody-Burns High School was host to the event.
The Warriors did not have enough runners to field a full girls’ team, but two runners still earned medals in the process.
The boys’ squad again was led by junior Ryan Jones and freshman Jordan Hett en route to a fourth-place finish.
Jones, a state medalist and two-time state participant, took fourth place in the 5-kilometer with a time of 18 minutes, 5 seconds. Hett was hot on his heels coming in fifth, one second behind his teammate. Both runners have finished in the top five of all three races this season.
Louis Holt earned his third medal of the season, coming in 15th with a time of 19:18. Freshmen Patrick McCarty and Jacob Cope both set personal records at the meet.
The strong performances from everyone gave Marion 99 points and tied them with Bennington for fourth place. Hillsboro was just six points ahead in third, while Peabody-Burns took second and Hesston brought home the championship.
Derek Stuchlik added another medal for Marion by finishing 16th in the junior varsity meet.
Jaclyn DeForest and Monica Spachek kept their medal streaks alive by earning hardware in their third straight meet this season. DeForest ran the 4K in 18:02 to take 12th place. The freshman Spachek was just four seconds behind, coming in 13th.
“Jaclyn ran a strong race” MHS head coach Bethany Carlson said.
Elizabeth Goentzel was the only other varsity girls’ runner. Her time of 19:14 put her at 24th.
The teams will be home Thursday for their annual runs at Marion County Park and Lake. A varsity race for both the boys and girls will take place.
The runners will begin in grass, south of the lake office and proceed to cross the dam heading east on an asphalt road. After circling through campsites and the east side of the lake, they will head for the home stretch, across the dam — heading west this time. Runners will finish near the starting line.
The girls’ race is set for 4:30 p.m. and the boys will begin at 5 p.m.
BOYS
Teams: 1. Hesston 59. 2. Peabody-Burns 89. 3. Hillsboro 93. 4. Marion 99. 5.Bennington 99. 6. Trinity 142. 7. Remington 180. 8. Halstead 192. 9. Clearwater 207. 10. Bluestem 261. 11. Sedgwick 265.
Ryan Jones – fourth place*, 18:05
Jordan Hett – fifth*, 18:06
Louis Holt – 15th*, 19:18
Patrick McCarty — 37th, 20:30@
Michael Kirkpatrick — 38th, 20:31
Jacob Cope — 48th, 21:08@
Clark Kroupa — 61st, 22:32
Junior varsity
Derek Stuchlik — 16th*, 22:50.
Max Heinemann — 42nd, 26:06
Nicholas Davies — 52nd, 30:25@
GIRLS
Jaclyn DeForest – 12th*, 18:02
Monica Spachek – 13th*, 18:06
Elizabeth Goentzel — 29th, 19:14
Junior varsity
Cassandra McPhail — 19th, 21:58
* denotes medal winner
@ denotes personal record