Hiebert?s throw put an exclamation mark on Goessel?s strong second-place team finish in Class 1A. The Bluebirds rolled by 501⁄2 points to finish just short of Atwood with 58.
Three silver-medal performances highlighted Goessel?s run for a team title. Craig Banman placed second in the 300-meter hurdles in 40.16 seconds, missing gold by 0.6 seconds. Sheldon Goerzen placed third in that same race (40.86).
Also finishing as runners-up were the 4×100 team of Brett Goerzen, Travis Fensky, Sheldon Goerzen and Banman, which finished in 44.53?0.27 seconds behind Palco.
The 4×400 team of Sheldon Goerzen, Banman, Weston Hiebert and Garrett Hiebert placed second in 3:28.44.
Also contributing points for the Bluebirds: Garrett Hiebert, fourth in the triple jump (43-91⁄4); and Banman, fourth (12-6), and Brett Goerzen, tied for fifth (12-6) in the pole vault.
Three Goessel girls contributed to the Bluebirds? team total of three points. Tricia Fensky was sixth in pole vault at 8-0, Kylee Nikkel was seventh in shot put (34-21⁄2) and Aspen Frey finished seventh in the 1,600 (5:44.25).
Marion
Led by senior Erin Carr, the Marion girls raced to a fourth-place finish in Class 3A with 39 points.
?We went into the meet thinking that our girls could score between 30 and 35 points, based on their regional times and distances,? coach Grant Thierolf said. ?To come out with 39 points and a chance going into the last event to place third as a team was a great accomplishment.
?This is the highest our girls have placed in a state meet in the history of the program, so these young ladies have something to be proud of.?
Carr placed second to four-gold medalist Katie Guevel of Burlington in the 100 (12.76) and 200 (26.19) and anchored the silver-medalist 4×100 team that included Kayley Heerey, Kristen Steinborn and Julia Zeiner (50.96).
?Erin did what she had to do, knowing that first place was probably out of reach,? Thierolf said. ?She showed what showing up every day in the weight room can do for an athlete as she has turned herself into the greatest female sprinter in Marion High School history.?
Zeiner, a freshman, also won silver in the long jump (17-31⁄4) and seventh in the 400 (1:00.51).
Danielle Cope captured third place in the 3,200 (11:36.59), lowering her regional time and school record by just over 11 seconds, while teammate Camille Christensen placed sixth (12:09.91).
?Danielle ran a superb race, staying with the leaders through six laps and then maintaining her place through the finish,? Thierolf said.
For the boys, Marion scored its single point in the 4×800, where anchor Jason Hett edged Hillsboro?s Sean Leihy at the finish line to take seventh in 8:20.67. Running with him were Justin Heidebrecht, Ryan Jones and John Barr III.
?We were just off the school record and to win a medal when we finished fourth at regional last week was fantastic,? Thierolf said. ?All four runners ran their best splits of the year and really competed hard throughout the race.?
Peabody-Burns
Two second-place performances by senior distance standout Andrew Topham paced the Peabody-Burns boys to 11th place in Class 2A with 19 points.
Topham battled Sterling?s Kaleb Humphreys for the top spot in both the 3,200 and 1,600. Topham?s time of 9:30.29 broke the existing meet record of 9:31.90. But Humphreys? late burst caught Topham at the end to set the new standard at 9:29.63.
In the 1,600, Humphreys edge Topham in the final straightaway to win in 4:27.11. Topham crossed in 4:29.23.
Also scoring for the Warrior boys was the 4×100 team of William Pratt, Derrick Sim?monds, Todd Woodruff and Trevor Hamm, who placed fifth in 44.77.
Danielle Savage was the Warriors? only entry in the girls? division, but did not score.
Centre
Seth Jirak, Centre?s only athlete in the boys? division, scored in one of his two events. He placed seventh in the discus (136-10).
Ashley Barney was the Cougars? only athlete in the girls? division, but did not place in the pole vault.
