Marion Stadium is open for business, and the Wolves ‘love it here’

MARION — The defending state champion in the Class 3A boys’ 100-meter dash, Alex Mota can be considered an expert on the subject.

So when he says the track on the brand-new, on-campus Marion Stadium “feels better” than its predecessor, you take him at his word.

“It’s new material,” the senior sprinter at Marion High School said. “It’s a lot softer, a lot better to run on.”

And the convenience ...

“It’s just a walk away,” he said.

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Mota and schoolmate Kenzie Lovell swept the 100-meter races at Monday’s wind-buffeted Marion Invitational track and field meet.

Lovell, a sophomore, used the wind to her advantage in the girls’ 100-meter dash, running a personal-best 12.85 seconds. Mota followed by winning the boys’ race in 10.96.

“I love it here,” Lovell said. “It’s a new environment, but it’s still home.”

Actually, it’s more of a home than the old digs, a few blocks away at Thomas Park.

“So much easier,” Lovell said. “So convenient. I really, really love it.

“The first practice, when we walked out here, it was surreal. It was a really cool feeling.”

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The front stretch at Marion Stadium is north to south, and a stiff wind out of the north was an ally to 100-meter sprinters.

“I told myself, ‘I have to run a (personal best) today,’” Lovell said. “If I did that, I knew I was winning.”

The hope, originally, was for this facility to be ready for last fall, which would have been Mota’s final football season (he’ll leave June 11 for summer workouts at the University of Iowa, where he will be a wide receiver).

But it’s OK, he said.

“I’m just glad I had one last season with the guys,” he said.

Most teams utilized skeleton crews due to the fact that conference meets are Thursday throughout the area. Solon’s girls and Mount Vernon’s boys won the team championships.

Solon and Marion won seven girls’ events apiece. The Spartans scored 165.75 points; the Wolves scored 135.

Five different Spartans won an individual event apiece, and they claimed two relays.

Depth carried Mount Vernon, which claimed just one boys’ title. The Mustangs scored 123 points.

Benton Community and Center Point-Urbana tied for second with 95 apiece, followed by North Linn (93) and Marion (86).

North Linn won four relays (sprint medley, shuttle hurdle, 4x200 and 4x400), and Tate Haughenbury was a common denominator on all of them.

Marion Invitational

AT MARION STADIUM

Girls results

Teams — 1. Solon 165.75, 2. Marion 135, 3. C.R. Kennedy 79.75, 4. Benton Community 64.75, 5. Center Point-Urbana 59, 6. North Linn 54, 7. Williamsburg 20, 8. Valley Lutheran 3.75.

Shot put — 1. Taylor Luscomb (CPU), 36-10 3/4; 2. Leah Kollar (Solon), 36-0 1/2; 3. Ana Glawe (BC), 34-5 1/4.

Discus — 1. Kate Shafer (Solon), 121-3; 2. Taylor Luscomb (CPU), 120-7; 3. Abigail Felton (Solon), 117-11.

High jump — 1. Carlee Webber (Marion), 4-10; 2. Emilee Beuter (NL), 4-6; 3. Emersyn Secora (CRK), 4-6.

Long jump — 1. Hailey Miller (Solon), 16-2; 2. Carlee Webber (Marion), 15-9 1/4; 3. Aisley Foster (Solon), 15-4 1/4.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Solon (Wolff, Stahle, Duckett, Lietz), 1:59.32; 2. Center Point-Urbana, 2:00.10; 3. Benton Community, 2:01.77.

3,000 — 1. Emma Wilkerson (CPU), 11:45.92; 2. Mary Fiala (Solon), 12:17.33; 3. Maggie Churchill (Marion), 12:18.83.

3,200 relay — 1. North Linn (Haughenbury, Wheatley, Collum, Bridgewater), 10:37.54; 2. Marion, 10:47.48; 3. Solon, 11:26.49.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Benton Community (Moore, Sadler, Moore, Seeck), 1:12.40; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 1:16.99; 3. North Linn, 1:19.29.

100 — 1. Kenzie Lovell (Marion), 12.85; 2. Mia Duckett (Solon), 13.07; 3. Morgan Hospodarsky (CRK), 13.13.

Distance medley relay — 1. Marion (Dietzenbach, Mike, McAllister, Dabroski), 4:31.61; 2. Benton Community, 4:33.46; 3. Center Point-Urbana, 4:34.07.

400 — 1. Grace Hoeper (Solon), 1:04.68; 2. Jayda Carnes (Marion), 1:06.47; 3. Mia Stahle (Solon), 1:07.15.

800 relay — 1. Marion (Lovell, Van Weelden, McAllister, Cave), 1:49.56; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 1:50.00; 3. Solon, 1:54.68.

100 hurdles — 1. Hope Moore (BC), 15.90; 2. Caitlin Benesh (NL), 16.44; 3. Kayla Langerman (CRK), 17.17.

800 — 1. Addison Dabroski (Marion), 2:25.61; 2. Anabel Bradley (CRK), 2:31.03; 3. Alyssa Brandt (CRK), 2:32.00.

200 — 1. Abigail Cave (Marion), 26.52; 2. Mia Duckett (Solon), 27.97; 3. Kobi Lietz (Solon), 28.25.

400 hurdles — 1. Trea Eidahl (Solon), 1:13.97; 2. Caitlin Benesh (NL), 1:15.02; 3. Maddy Gustafson (Marion), 1:16.76.

1,500 — 1. Kayla Young (Solon), 5:10.97; 2. Deni Katcher (CPU), 5:11.68; 3. Jaida Lyons (BC), 5:17.06.

400 relay — 1. Solon (Stahle, Wolff, Stahle, Duckett), 51.42; 2. C.R. Kennedy, 52.22; 3. Center Point-Urbana, 52.69.

1,600 relay — 1. Marion (Dabroski, McAllister, Lovell, Cave), 4:17.69; 2. Solon, 4:19.18; 3. Benton Community, 4:32.43.

Boys Results

Teams — 1. Mount Vernon 123, 2. (tie) Benton Community and Center Point-Urbana 95, 4. North Linn 93, 5. Marion 86, 6. Vinton-Shellsburg 58, 7. Springville 30, 8. Valley Lutheran 1.

Shot put — 1. Corbin Woods (NL), 50-6 3/4; 2. Brennen Blegen (BC), 49-0 1/4; 3. Tory Wash (V-S), 46-5 1/2.

Discus — 1. Byron Christianson (V-S), 141-9; 2. Keegan Heneisen (Marion), 140-0; 3. Ian Shady (MtV), 138-6.

High jump — 1. (tie) Michael Briesmeister (MtV) and Cooper Grimm (CPU), 5-8; 3. Nathan Miller (CPU), 5-6.

Long jump — 1. A.J. Maloney (CPU), 19-2 1/2; 2. Jake Van Etten (NL), 18-6 1/2; 3. Tyler Panos (MtV), 18-5 1/2.

Sprint medley relay — 1. North Linn (Van Etten, Wheatley, Bechen, Haughenbury), 1:40.27; 2. Marion, 1:40.91; 3. Benton Community, 1:44.30.

3,200 — 1. Cayle Estling (CPU), 11:33.23; 2. Levi Benesh (CPU), 12:22.96; 3. Cayden Scheil (MtV), 12:40.36.

3,200 relay — 1. Center Point-Urbana (Andersen, Witte, Stowers, Havel), 8:53.30; 2. Mount Vernon, 9:09.42; 3. North Linn, 9:17.26.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. North Linn (Holtz, Caryl, Betenbender, Haughenbury), 1:05.87; 2. Mount Vernon, 1:05.91; 3. Marion, 1:07.18.

100 — 1. Alex Mota (Marion), 10.96; 2. Carson Bruns (BC), 11.45; 3. Noah Brady (Spring), 11.59.

Distance medley relay — 1. Center Point-Urbana (Spore, Andrews, Maloney, Grimm), 4:02.81; 2. North Linn, 4:02.81; 3. Mount Vernon, 4:06.40.

400 — 1. Evan Robertson (Spring), 53.95; 2. Dallas Fairbanks (V-S), 54.27; 3. Braxton Pitlik (MtV), 55.82.

800 relay — 1. North Linn (Bechen, Wheatley, Van Etten, Haughenbury), 1:35.70; 2. Mount Vernon, 1:36.00; 3. Marion, 1:36.67.

110 hurdles — 1. Carter Holtz (NL), 15.94; 2. Kayden Fox (MtV), 16.37; 3. Nathan Miller (CPU), 16.40.

800 — 1. Eli Page (V-S), 2:05.68; 2. Cooper Cook (Marion), 2:10.00; 3. Seamus O'Connor (MtV), 2:11.21.

200 — 1. Carson Bruns (BC), 23.20; 2. Carter Andrews (CPU), 23.95; 3. Cyrus Zangerle (MtV), 24.08.

400 hurdles — 1. Easton Patterson (BC), 59.54; 2. Ryne Moeller (MtV), 1:00.48; 3. Brody Timmerman (BC), 1:01.00.

1,600 — 1. Jedidiah Osgood (Marion), 4:37.91; 2. Alex Torres (V-S), 4:52.80; 3. Jack Stamp (Spring), 4:55.37.

400 relay — 1. Marion (Rouson, Mota, Caldwell, Brainard), 45.19; 2. Benton Community, 45.94; 3. Center Point-Urbana, 46.53.

1,600 relay — 1. North Linn (Van Etten, Bechen, Caryl, Haughenbury), 3:37.24; 2. Mount Vernon, 3:42.04; 3. Vinton-Shellsburg, 3:42.86.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com