News editor
Friday the 13th was anything but bad luck for Marion High’s track and field teams, with both the boys and girls claiming team championships at the Heart of America league meet at Warriors Stadium.
In the days leading up to the meet, Coach Grant Thierolf emphasized the importance of getting points from athletes finishing fourth through sixth, and that proved to be the difference on the boys’ side, where the Warriors edged Bennington by just 3 points for the crown.
Two of those came in triple jump, where Jerid Schafers nailed a personal best jump of 39 feet, 10 inches to place fifth. His prior best would have been well short of scoring.
“Jerid has kind of come out of nowhere to help us in the triple jump,” Thierolf said. “Adding two feet to a PR in a high pressure meet is phenomenal.”
Nicholas Stuchlik scored critical points by soaring 5-10 to place second in high jump.
“He is peaking at the right time,” Thierolf said.
Jack Schneider turned in another strong performance on the track, winning championships in the 100-, 200-, and 400-meters. Tyler Palic won the discus for Marion’s other individual crown.
The girls had more breathing room, winning by 29 points over Moundridge and Berean Academy.
Thierolf said Marissa Jacobsen “had her best day of the year,” winning both long and triple jumps and placing second in the 200.
“She showed what she can do when the pressure is on,” he said.
Kristen Herzet won a pair of championships in shot put and discus, and Erika Hess took top honors in pole vault.
“Erika had a huge day in the pole vault and in the long jump, scoring points that we would need,” Thierolf said. “She has worked so hard to become a league champion.”
The 4x400 relay of Jacobsen, Samantha Richmond, Samantha Kelsey, and Marshelle Conley won the team’s sole championship in the running events.
With the league crowns and regular season wrapped up, the Warriors’ next test will be the 3A regional meet in Lyons.
“It will be the toughest 3A regional,” Thierolf said. “Our schedule has prepared us well for this meet.”
Heart of america league meet
friday, may 13
Girls
100-meter dash — 5. Marshelle Conley, 13.33.
200 — 2. Marissa Jacobsen, 26.85. 5. Conley, 27.63.
400 — 3. Samantha Richmond, 1:05.7. 6. Samantha Kelsey, 1:07.82.
1600 run — 5. McKenzee Remmers, 6:03.07. 11. Brittany Hett, 9:18.73.
3200 — 5. Remmers, 13:06.72. 6. Meggan Frese, 13:25.51.
4x100 relay — 2. Marion (Emily Schneider, Erika Hess, Emmy Hess, Conley), 54.47.
4x400 — 1. Marion (Jacobsen, Richmond, Kelsey, Conley), 4:20.7.
4x800 — 6. Marion (Frese, Jessi Lewman, Maria Stuchlik, Michaela Regnier), 12:53.57.
Pole vault — 1. Erika Hess, 9-6. 3. Emmy Hess, 7-0. 6. Regnier, 7-0.
Long jump — 1. Jacobsen, 16-10. 3. Erika Hess, 16-0. 4. Kelsey, 15-9.
Triple jump — 1. Jacobsen, 36-0 ¾. 7. Emmy Hess, 31-5 ½.
Shot put — 1. Kristen Herzet, 34-6 ½. 3. Molly Hess, 32-1.
Discus — 1. Herzet, 118-11. 6. Drew Helmer, 86-0.
Javelin — 6. Herzet, 104-3. 8. Molly Hess, 91-8.
Team scores — 1. Marion, 117. 2. (tie) Moundridge and Berean Academy, 88. 4. Bennington, 84. 5. Hutch Trinity, 76. 6. Sedgwick, 36. 7. Canton-Galva, 34. 8. Remington, 17. 9. Ell-Saline, 16. 10. Inman, 1.
Boys
100-meter dash — 1. Jack Schneider, 11.04.
200 — 1. Schneider, 23.33. 3. Tyler Arocha, 23.7.
400 — 1. Schneider, 53.77. 2. Arocha, 53.98.
800 run — 2. Colin Williams, 2:13.3. 13. Colton Mercer, 2:29.86.
1600 — 2. Williams, 5:06.31. 5. Mercer, 5:11.8.
300 hurdles — 6. Bryce Shults, 45.9.
4x100 relay — 5. Marion (Kolton Brewer, Jerid Schafers, Noah Kukuk, Aaron Riggs), 49.11.
4x400 — 3. Marion (Arocha, Shults, Williams, Schneider), 3:42.63.
4x800 — 6. Marion (Kukuk, Devin Regnier, Austin Neufeld, Mercer), 10:01.92.
High jump — 2. Nicholas Stuchlik, 5-10.
Pole vault — 2. Shults, 12-6. 4. Neufeld, 10-6.
Long jump — 5. Arocha, 19-2 ½. 8. Zachary Stuchlik, 18-03.
Triple jump — 5. Schafers, 39-10. 10. Z. Stuchlik, 37-0 ½.
Shot put — 4. Tyler Palic, 42-11. 5. Cade Harms, 40-1 ½.
Discus — 1. Palic, 147-5. 11. Jeremy Hett, 100-0.
Javelin — 3. Palic, 139-06. 10. Harms, 121-03.
Team scores — 1. Marion, 115.75. 2. Bennington, 112.75. 3. Berean Academy, 73. 4. Moundridge, 61.5. 5. Inman, 51. 6. Hutch Trinity, 50. 7. Ell-Saline, 42. 8. Remington, 31. 9. Sedgwick, 16. 10. Canton-Galva, 1.