Warriors combine for seven medals at state track meet

Senior Seth Snelling clears the bar during competition in the Class 3A boys? pole vault Friday at the state track meet. Snelling placed fifth in that event with a height of 13-0.  Janae Rempel / Free Press

Marion?s seven track and field state qualifiers combined for seven medals at the Kansas Track and Field Championships in Wichita Friday and Saturday.

Sophomore Marissa Jacobson earned two medals and was the Warriors? highest finisher.

Jacobson earned the bronze medal in the triple jump with a leap of 36 feet, 51?2 inches, a distance she attained after fouling on her first two attempts. That mark was just one-quarter of an inch behind second place and was more than seven inches farther than her gold-medal jump a year ago. Jacobson also placed fifth in the long jump (16-51?2).

?Marissa followed up a great freshman season with a very strong meet at state,? coach Grant Thierolf said.? ?Her jump in the triple jump was actually farther than her winning jump last season.?We were very pleased with her jump in the long jump.?Another very solid year for her, and we look forward to more success.?

Junior Kristen Herzet placed fifth in the discus, throwing a personal-best 119-3.

?Kristen had a PR in the discus, and it was the right day for it,? Thierolf said. ?She had a very good series of throws and will be one of the top returning throwers in the state for next year.?

Marion?s three senior qualifiers capped their careers by each bringing home a state medal.

Seth Snelling placed fifth in the pole vault (13-0). He also competed in the 400-meter dash but did not qualify for finals, finishing 13th in the preliminaries (53.19).

?Seth just missed out on 13-6 in the pole vault but had a great season in that event,? Thierolf said.

Kyle Palic placed fifth in the discus with a throw of 149-5, attained on his final attempt Friday. Palic finished 12th in the shot put (45-9).

?Kyle probably didn?t have the weekend that he was hoping for,? Thierolf said. ?But he has brought home a lot of hardware these past four years and capped a pretty special senior season by placing in the discus.?

Brad Stone placed sixth in the 300-meter hurdles (42.70), qualifying for finals by placing sixth in Friday?s preliminaries (42.35).

?Brad improved as much as any athlete we have had these past four years,? Thierolf said ?(He) worked very hard to earn the medal in the 300 hurdles.?

Junior Marshelle Mermis finished seventh in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:02.19 Saturday, having qualified for finals with a seventh-place finish in the preliminaries (1:01.74).

?Marshelle ran a gutty 400-meter for us,? Thierolf said. ?She has been injured all year, and she did not let the injury keep her off the medal stand.?We look to get her healthy for next season.?

In his first state appearance, freshman Tyler Palic turned in a personal-best throw in the discus, finishing 10th (135-11).

?Tyler had a great day throwing the discus?on Friday,? Thierolf said. ?He had a PR at his first state track and field meet, and we look forward to great things from him in the next three years.?

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