Marion?s track and field athletes returned from the Class 3A state track and field championship this weekend with seven medals.
Alicia Maloney turned in the top finish for the Warriors, clearing 9 feet, 7 inches in pole vault to tie for second place with Emilie Taylor of Thomas More Prep. Gold medalist Bailey Am?brosier of Norton Commun?ity cleared 10-0.
Also earning a medal for the girls was Whitney Gordon, who tied for sixth in high jump by clearing 5-2, which was just 2 inches off the winning height.
For the Warrior boys, Dakin Ledford led the Warriors? threesome in javelin with a throw of 172-3, which was good for a bronze medal. Seth Derr of Phillips?burg won the event with a toss of 185-7.
Two other Warriors competed in the vault. Colten John?son won a sixth-place medal with a throw of 165-8 while Spencer Fugitt was 13th at 145-0.
Johnson won a second sixth-place medal by clearing 13 feet in the pole vault. Dylan Poirier of Riverside won the event by clearing 14-0.
Johnson also ran a leg of the 4×400 with teammates Patrick McCarty, James Jones and Brody Carroll and Colten Johnson to earn a point for the team by placing seventh in 3:31.51, about 7.5 seconds behind the winning team from Holcomb.
Jordan Hett came home with two fifth-place medals in distance races. He crossed the finish line of the 1,600 in 4:41, just over 11 seconds behind the gold medalist, Cory Donley of Sacred Heart. Donley also won the 3,200 in 9:50.79 with Hett coming in at 10:16.26.
Several Warriors did not make it to the medal stand, but competed well:
? In the preliminaries of the 100-meter hurdles, Gordon crossed the finish line 16.84 seconds, but missed the finals by 0.07 seconds.
? In his third individual event at state, Johnson missed the finals of the 300-meter hurdles by placing seventh in his preliminary heat with a time of 41.83.
? Kadecha Gueary placed ninth in long jump with a leap of 15-101?2; Savannah Rose of Hoi?sing?ton won by jumping 37-71?4.
? Corey Shields placed 10th in shot put with a toss of 33-4, almost 5 feet behind the winning heave of Brandy Lowe of St. Marys.
? James Jones turned in the 11th-best effort in long jump with a leap of 20-31?4.
? Nicholas Meyer placed 15th in shot put with a heave of 43-0. Lyons? Zach Loesch won the event by almost 6 feet at 57-3.
? Fugitt placed 16th in discus with a throw of 117-7, more than 43 feet behind the winner, Jacob Lott of Horton.