In the process of winning the boys? team competition and taking second among the girls, Marion track qualified 19 athletes in 12 events Friday at the Class 3A regional at Fredonia.
The Marion boys scored 105 team points, qualifying 12 athletes in 10 events. Caney Valley was second with 84, followed by Baxter Springs (63), Douglass (56) and Galena (45).
Douglass won the girls? title with 128 points. Marion was runner up with 77, followed by Burlington (66), Galena (49) and Fredonia (46).
Defending state champions Julia Zeiner and Nick Klenda will defend their state titles and pursue gold in new events at the state track meet in Wichita Friday and Saturday.
Zeiner, long- and triple-jump champion, qualified in four events Friday. She dominated at Fredonia, winning the long jump (17 feet, 103?4 inches), triple jump (37-101?2), 110-meter hurdles (15.29 seconds), and 300-meter hurdles (46.50).
She will enter the state meet with the top regional performance in three events, and the second best in the fourth.
Klenda, who will defend his discus title, qualified in the shot put as well. Finishing one place ahead of state-bound teammate Parker Ash, Klenda placed third with a throw of 47-11?2. Ash was fourth throwing 46-103?4. Klenda won the discus with toss of 165-5. He will compete at state as the No. 1 seed in the discus.
Marion qualified several other state returners as well as some newcomers to Wichita.
In 2009, Kristen Steinborn and Denae Edwards ran in the 4×100, Whitney Gordon competed in the high jump, senior Tylor Neil placed fourth in the triple jump, and Eric Vogel and Ryan Jones were part of a seventh-place 4×800 meter relay team.
Neil is the regional triple-jump champion, jumping 43 feet. He also qualified in the long jump, taking third with a distance of 19-9.
Placing fourth at Fredonia with a time of 46.48, was the 4×100 team of Neil, Drew Maddox, Patrick McCarty and Colten Johnson.
Johnson won the pole vault (12-6), with Randy Regnier third (12-0) and Dillon Richmond fourth (11-6).
Johnson also qualified in the javelin (147-7) by placing fourth, two spots behind teammate Sheldon Boone, who was second with a throw of 157-4.
Qualifying individually and as part of the 4×800 meter relay, Vogel will return to state, and Jordan Hett will make his first trip. Vogel, Hett, Jones and Patrick McCarty won the 4×800 regional in 8:47.47.
Vogel will also compete in the 800, placing fourth at Fredonia in 2:10. Hett will run in the 3,200 as a freshman, placing third at Fredonia in 10:28.34.
Gordon, Steinborn and Edwards return as part of the 4×100 team along with freshman Erin Meierhoff. The quartet placed third in 53.59. Gordon also qualified in the high jump placing second with a leap of 5-0.
Meierhoff also was part of the third-place 4×800 relay team (10:54.42) that included Jaclyn DeForest, Bridget Lundy and Monica Spachek.
DeForest will compete at state in the 3,200, crossing the finish line in third place at 12:55.96.
Monica Spachek qualified for state by placing third in the triple jump with a distance of 33-61?2.
The state track meet starts for Marion on Friday afternoon and runs through Saturday at Cessna Stadium on the campus of Wichita State University.
