MHS tracksters finish third at home meet
Marion High School girls' and boys' track teams finished third overall at the Marion Relays track meet Thursday at home. The Warrior girls finished 13 points shy of second-place Hillsboro, while less than seven points separated them from fourth-place Smoky Valley. The Smoky Valley Vikings won the girls' crown with 147.66 points, while Hillsboro won the event with 191 points for the boys.
Tedra Eis was the lone first-place winner for the Marion girls. Eis finished first in the high jump with a leap of 4-4. She also nabbed a sixth place finish behind Erin Carr, who finished fifth in the triple jump. The duo recorded jumps of 29-8 and 30' respectively. Carr also added a second-place finish in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.6 seconds and a third-place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 28.89 seconds.
Seniors Jessica DeForest and Sara Regier also did their part to secure the third-place team title. DeForest wrapped up second place in the 1600-meter run (6:04.31) and third in the 3200-meter run (13:12.46). Regier finished second and third in the discus (103-6) and shot put (31-.5).
Others who contributed to the third-place finish for the girls were: Amber Richmond, second in javelin, 97-11 and second in pole vault, 7-6; Emalee Versch, fifth in shot put, 29-5; Alissa Vogel, fourth in the 300-meter hurdles, 57.38 seconds; and Chelsea Arnhold, third in pole vault, 7-6.
The Marion 4x400-meter relay and the 4x800-meter relay teams finished third (4:46.17) and fourth (11:44.01), respectively.
Sophomore Jeremy Vondenkamp led the Marion boys' team with a first- and second-place finish in the hurdle events, while senior Steven Boone held firm in the throwing events. Vondenkamp finished first in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.51 seconds, edging out his closest rival by three seconds. He also claimed second in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.58 seconds.
Boone nabbed first place in the javelin with a hurl of 162-11. He out-threw the closest opponent by 12 feet. The senior also finished second in the discus with a throw of 136-1, and fourth in the shot put with a heave of 42-5.5. Another senior, Tyler Smith, finished ahead of Boone in the shot put. Smith's throw of 43-2.5 helped propel him into a second-place finish in the event. The senior slinger also finished third in the discus with a throw of 129-1.
Others who contributed to the Warrior boys' cause were: Gavin Moore, second in the 3200-meter run (10:49.85) and the 1600-meter run (4:58.16); Casey Nelson, second in pole vault (13') and fourth in the 400-meter dash (56.4); and freshmen, Jason Hett, third in the 3200-meter run (11:06.06) and the 1600-meter run (5:07.72); Ben Leppke, fourth in triple jump (39-3) and fifth in the 100-meter dash (12.24); and Kyle Hett, sixth in the 100-meter dash (12.29).
The Marion 4x100-meter relay team finished fourth with a time of 47.67, the 4x800-meter relay team finished fifth with a time of 9:41.94, and the 4x400-meter relay team finished sixth with a time of 4:01.64.
