Marion performs well at MCAA meet
Sports reporter
Participating in its first Mid-Central Activities Association meet Thursday at Marion Reservoir, the Marion Warriors proved they belong.
The girls' team took third place and the boys finished eighth in their last tune-up before regionals Saturday at Halstead.
"I was pretty pleased," coach Rex Ostmeyer said. "We've got some young kids running pretty well."
One of them is sophomore Danielle Cope, who had her best time of the year except for the race at Marion County Lake. She finished in 12th place out of 52 runners with a time of 13:39:88.
"Danielle has really gained a lot of confidence and pride for what she's accomplished," Ostmeyer said.
That includes six top-20 finishes, two top-10 finishes, and a fifth place finish.
Alissa Vogel, who consistently finished right behind Cope during the year, turned in another solid performance Thursday. Her two-mile time of 14:08:95 placed her 17th in the varsity race.
Sophomore Laura Holt (23) and senior Katie Hett (24) rounded out the four top-25 finishers for Marion. As a team the Warriors finished third, with no runner lower than 38th out of 52.
The boys' team didn't fare as well with an eighth-place finish, but many runners improved their times from previous races. Sophomore Luke Bowers once again led the boys with a 22nd-place finish and a time of 18:24:25.
Despite not finishing particularly high, it was his second best time of the year.
Another sophomore, Daniel Goentzel, had his second best time of the year, 18:54:76, and finished in 34th place.
The lone junior varsity runner, freshman Keith Jones, finished fourth out of 35 runners with a time of 20:23:33.
Overall Ostmeyer thought it was a good meet for the teams, and was pleased with how the season has gone so far.
"They've maintained a great attitude," he said. "I've been real pleased. I definitely think we got better as the season went along."
Improvement is what Ostmeyer preached all season long. Now he says improvement is nice, but it's time to step it up.
"You want to improve all year because you're working for the post-season," he said. "Now your main focus is where you finish."
Marion will compete with its top seven runners in the regional meet Saturday at Halstead. The top three teams in the meet, as well as the top 10 finishers not on those three teams, will advance to the state meet at Wamego Country Club. The meet begins at 3 p.m. with the girls' race followed by the boys' race at 3:30.
Girls' Varsity Race
Danielle Cope 13:39:88 (12)
Alissa Vogel 14:08:95 (16)
Laura Holt 14:40:43 (23)
Katie Hett 14:44:18 (24)
Sabine Teichert 14:55:09 (26)
Anika Wegner 15:12:39 (32)
Briana Vogel 15:42:57 (38)
boys' Varsity Race
Luke Bowers 18:24:25 (22)
Daniel Goentzel 18:54:76 (34)
Ben Leppke 19:52:81 (48)
Justin Heidebrecht 20:19:12 (54)
Jordan Timm 21:23:95 (58)
Matt Kirkpatrick 21:47:09 (61)
Girls' jv race
Chelsea Arnhold 15:16 (4)
Sasha Mikheyeva 15:30 (6)
Emily Svoboda 16:45 (9)
Elisa Gayle 16:57 (10)
boys' jv race
Keith Jones 20:23:33 (4)
