Marion County teams compete at state track and field

“It was really fun to experience it for the last time but also the first time,” Maier said. “I was proud of my performance. I probably could’ve done better, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I made some great memories and I got to watch some awesome athletes.”

Maier also ran in the trials for the girls 100 meter hurdles, advancing to Thursday’s final with a time of 17.17. But the headline for Fairmont Senior in that event was that Paytyn Neal, who ran the fastest regionals time in all of Class AA, did not make it out of her heat Wednesday.

Neal was near the front of the pack in the late stages of the race before she knocked over a hurdle, fell to the back of the race and was ultimately disqualified.

Lydia Falkenstein continued Fairmont Senior’s busy Wednesday with a second-place finish in the girls 3200 meters, running the race in 11:41.74. Taylor Hess of North Marion came in fifth in 12:09.45. The top six finishers in each event score points for their team in the team standings.

“It wasn’t her best time, but got us some good points there,” Parker said of Falkenstein.

In the other Wednesday field events, Dakota Dammeyer picked up a third-place finish for East Fairmont in the boys discus with a throw of 139 feet, 6 inches, Grace Lamb of Fairmont Senior was fourth in the girls shot put with a mark of 33-3.75 and Tariq Miller of North Marion came in fourth in the boys long jump with a mark of 20-1.5.

The Polar Bears also had Jasper Brown finish fourth in the boys 3200 in 9:41.13 and Grant Broadhurst come in fourth in the boys 400 in 52.87. In the girls 400, North Marion’s Trinity Hine was fifth in 1:01.74.

In Thursday’s action, the North Marion girls picked up wins in two different events.

The Huskies repeated as champion in the girls 4x200 relay as Hine, Cierra Parker, Rylee Delovich and Abby Masters became the first local champions of the meet, beating out second-place Fairmont Senior. The Huskies ran a school-record 1:45.13 to beat the Polar Bears’ 1:48.50.

“They thought they had a chance to get the state meet record, and they came up just a little short,” Huskies coach Jeffery Crane said. “But they worked hard all year … They wanted to win, they expected to win, they came out and did it.”

The Huskies’ other winner was Parker, who took the long jump with a mark of 16 feet, 7.25 inches. Parker, a sophomore, didn’t compete in the event as a freshman.

“We only had 14 girls last year,” Crane said. “I really couldn’t afford to put her in (the long jump) because I needed her in other places … It’s not a surprise that she won, but it’s just a good thing for her that she did.”

The North Marion girls continued their run of point-scoring finishes with a second-place finish in the shuttle hurdles in 1:08.68 and a runner-up spot in the 4x400 in 4:16.78. Delovich came in third in the 300-meter hurdles in 48.38 seconds and third in the 100 hurdles in 16.35, Masters was third in the 100-meter dash in 12.75 and third in the 200 in 26.81, the team was fifth in the 4x100 in 52.17 and Isabella Richards was sixth in the 100 hurdles in 17.36.

North Marion had one state title on the boys side as Tristin Glasscock took the high jump with a mark of 6 feet, 2 inches.

“It feels good,” Glasscock said. “I’m a senior, so I really just wanted to come out here and do good.”

Fairmont Senior repeated as champion in the girls 4x100 as Paytyn Neal, Maddie Awbrey, Marin Parker and Gracie Lamb finished in 51.07. The Polar Bears were third on the boys side of the 4x100 in 44.33.

Crane was honored during the afternoon for having won the state coach of the year award in 2021. The longtime Husky leader was able to accept his award on a day when his athletes did him proud.

“That’s a coach’s dream, to be honored by your peers as one of the best coaches in the state,” Crane said. “But again, it takes those 14 girls (last year), those 18 girls (this year), to make that happen. The harder they work, the better they make me look.”