Track: Marion boys take third at invitational
Eric Clark
Sport Editor
Inner team competition appears to be a fueling force behind the strength of the Marion High School boys track team.
The Warrior boys took home third place out of 10 teams Friday at the James Thomas Invitational track meet in Hillsboro.
"(It was a) good weekend for our vaulters and hurdlers," head coach Grant Thierolf said.
Pole vaulters Casey Nelson and James Davis nearly went the distance at the meet. On a crucial 13'6" vault, Nelson, Davis, and Hillsboro's Caleb Marsh each had two misses heading into their final attempts.
In his last attempt, Nelson cleared 13'6" only to watch Davis and Marsh both clear the same distance in their respective final attempts.
The trio of vaulters eventually stalled out at 13'6" after failing to clear 14', with Marsh winning the event after recording less misses during the event.
Davis and Nelson finished second and third respectively however, and according to Thierolf, Nelson's work ethic is beginning to pay dividends to both the vaulter and to his teammate.
"Casey has been good for James in the vault," Thierolf said. "The senior just won't let the freshman beat him. That type of competition is good for our team."
Davis added a fourth-place finish in the high jump with a jump of 5'10".
In the hurdle events, Joel Versch and Calvin Riggs are having similar success because of the constant team competition.
Versch captured a first-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles in a time of 42.57 seconds, with Riggs close behind. Riggs finished third in a time of 43.84 seconds.
In the 110-meter hurdles, Riggs took second with a time of 15.92 seconds, while Versch took third with a time of 15.93 seconds.
Riggs also captured a fourth-place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 39'5 1/2" and a sixth-place finish in the long jump with a jump of 19'5 1/4".
Steven Boone finished third in the javelin with a throw of 53'7" and fourth in the discus with a throw of 33'7".
But the story of the day belonged to senior runner Zac Ewert, who took first in the 3200-meter run with a time of 10:41.2. Gavin Moore finished third in the same event in a time of 10:50.1.
"Our distance corps ran well and continue to push towards getting ready for regionals," Thierolf said.
Ewert added a third-place finish in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:58.2 and Moore finished fourth in the 1600-meter run in a time of 5:00.9.
The relay team of Joe Goering, Tyler Stubenhofer, Russell Ploutz, and Brandon Watson finished fourth in the boys' 4x800-meter relay event with a time of 9:26.4.
Stubenhofer, Ploutz, Nelson, and Josh Smith added a sixth-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay event with a time of 3:56.4.
The girls' team finished eighth out of 10 teams.
Shawna Hett headlined the girls' efforts with a third-place finish in the pole vault with a vault of 8'6".
Allison Maddox finished fourth in the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 19.13 seconds. Maddox also finished fifth in the 300-meter hurdles in a time of 55.64 seconds.
Savannah Killough finished fourth in the javelin with a throw of 95'4".
Brandi Shipman captured a fifth-place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 30'5 1/2".
Jessica DeForest finished fifth in both the 1600-meter run and the 3200-meter run with times of 6:13.4 and 13:32.9 respectively.
The Warriors will continue their season Thursday when they travel to Hesston for the Hesston Invitational track meet.
Centre quintuplet
The Warriors made quick work of the Centre Quintuplet track meet April 29. Marion hosted the meet and took home several honors for the afternoon.
The Marion girls' team was led by first-place performances by Shawna Hett, who finished with a vault of 7'6" in the pole vault to capture victory in the event, Sarah Regier, who flung the discus 103'8" to take first in the event, and Megan Moore, who tossed the javelin 117'10" to win the javelin event.
Other noteworthy performances included; second-place finishes by Chelsea Arnhold in the pole vault with a vault of 7', Allison Maddox in the 300-meter hurdle event with a time of 56.6 seconds, Leann Thomas in the discus with a heave of 102', and Regier in the shot put with a throw of 29'9"; third-place finishes Savannah Killough in the shotput with a throw of 30'5", Amber Richmond in the javelin with a throw of 96'10", Maddox in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 19.66 seconds; fourth-place finishes by Toni Gordon in the discus with a throw of 91'10" and Killough in the javelin with a throw of 96'8"; and fifth-place finishes by Emalee Versch in the shot put with a throw of 27 3/4" and Molly Rhodes in the javelin with a throw of 72'10".
Thierolf said he was happy with the effort of his girls' team especially those in throwing events.
"We were pleased with our throwers," Thierolf said. "Sarah Regier and Leann Thomas threw very well in the discus, Megan, Amber, Savannah, and Molly improved in the javelin, and our shot putters did well."
On the boys' side of things, first-place finishers included Alan Vogel, who captured first with a 45'5"-throw in the shot put, and Tyler Smith, who took first in the discus event with a throw of 147'5".
Other notable performances include: second-place finishes by Steven Boone in the discus and in the javelin with throws of 128'8" and 137'7" respectively, Joel Versch in the high jump with a leap of 5'6", Casey Nelson in the pole vault with a vault of 12'6", and the 4x400-meter relay team of Joe Goering, Brandon Watson, Russell Ploutz, and Casey Nelson with a time of 4:09.8.
Third-place finishes by Boone in the shot put with a throw of 41'2", Joel Versch in the long jump with a jump of 18'7", Ploutz in the triple jump with a leap of 36'5 3/4", and Josh Smith in the high jump with a jump of 5'4", Jeremy Vondenkamp in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 49.5 seconds.
Fourth-place finishes included Tyler Smith in the shot put with a throw of 41'1", Dale Vogel in the discus with a throw of 109'11", Alan Vogel in the javelin with a throw of 124'2", Goering in the triple jump with a jump of 33'6 3/4" and in the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.2 seconds.
Fifth-place finishes by Adam Depler in the shot put with a throw of 40'2", Josh Smith in the long jump with a leap of 7'3 1/2", and Brandon Watson in the triple jump with a jump of 32'2 1/2".
According to Thierolf, the boys' team came on strong and got solid performances from several of their athletes.
"Tyler Smith hit a great throw in the discus, Alan Vogel did his usual thing in the shot, and our young runners came through with much better times," Thierolf said. "Casey Nelson had a great day in the pole vault, so all in all, it was a good day."
