The Marion boys look to break away from the pack Thursday. They are (from left) Louis Holt, Andrew Shipman and Derek Stuchlick. Holt placed fourth in the race. Andrew Ottoson / Free Press
Marion hosted its annual invitational Thursday at Marion County Lake, with the Warrior boys scoring 63 points and placing second to Andover Central (49). None of the county schools fielded a girls team, but Marion’s Jaclyn DeForest (11th, 17:25) and Peabody-Burns’ Lauren Pickens (13th, 17:33) medaled.
The Marion boys edged third-place Peabody-Burns (65) by a slim margin, while Canton-Galva (202) placed eighth on the boys side.
Marion—Louis Holt (4th, 18:31) led the Warriors to the line, with Ryan Jones (10th, 18:51) and Andy Shipman (11th, 19:02) finishing a half-minute later.
Michael Kirkpatrick (19th, 19:26) set a new personal best time and medaled, with Brandon Meierhoff (32nd, 20:40) rounding out the top five. Philip Gu (50th, 22:10) and Max Wagner (53rd, 22:47) both set personal bests.
“We wanted the guys team to be more competitive this week and we were,” coach Bethany Carlson said. “Louis Holt lead the team as Ryan had to stop during the race to tie his shoe.”
Marion dominated the school boys race, with Austin Pederson and Clark Kroupa placing 1-2.
Elizabeth Goentzel set a new Marion Middle School girls record, placing first of four runners with a 2-mile time of 15:21.
Peabody-Burns—Strong individual finishes by heavy hitters Aaron Topham (2nd, 18:19) and Kendall Wiebe (3rd, 18:27) put PBHS in position to bump Marion into third, but Josh Klarmann (14th, 19:09), Sheldon Wiebe (22nd, 19:55) and Seth Methvin (35th, 20:48) did not produce the points the Warriors needed to claim second. Curtis Frederick (41st, 21:08) and Jake Middleton (43rd, 21:15) also ran.
Canton-Galva—Jesse Evans led the Eagles (36th, 20:42), with Tad Wedel (46th, 21:49), Nathan Bray (47th, 21:57), Sam Janzen (51st, 22:24), Justin Hiller (54th, 23:04) and Codey Johnson (57th, 23:30) close behind.
“Justin Hiller twisted his ankle on a rock during the race and didn't finish as well as he has shown he can do,” coach Lyle Silsby said.
Coming—Marion travels to Halstead for a meet to be held Thursday at Wedgewood Golf Course.
