Explorers Girls Track Team Starts Strong With Third-Place FInish, Boys Also Post Solid Performances

ELSAH - Marquette Catholic High School's boys and girls showed early strength with some solid performances in the Illinois College Track and Field Meet this past Saturday in Jacksonville.

Marquette Catholic boys and girls track coach Tim Turnbeaugh said he is extremely excited about the Explorers' track hopes this year and getting several athletes to the state championships.

Marquette Girls Third Out of 30 Teams

The Marquette Catholic girls track and field team finished third overall in a field of 30 teams. Riley Vickrey led the way with a first-place finish in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:23.

The Explorers' Jessica Cutts added a fourth-place finish in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.81. Mya McKenzie placed ninth in the 55-meter dash with a time of 8.28. Explorers' freshman Sammy Hentrich was ninth in the 200 meters with a time of 29.6.

Nathaliah Buttry placed fifth in the 400 meters with a time of 1:05. The girls 4 x 400 placed second in the meet and included Nathaliah Buttry, Sammy Hentrich, Kailey Vickrey and Riley Vickrey.

Freshman Kailey Vickrey also placed seventh in the 800 meters with a time of 2:40 and Tristin Fraley placed 10th and 12th, in the 55-meter hurdles and the long jump.

Marquette Boys Led By Hewit, Hampton

The boys were lead by Jake Hewitt with a third-place throw of 49.76 feet in the shot put. Connor Hampton also scored with a fourth-place finish and a personal record of 8.9 in the 55-meter hurdles. Hampton followed that up with a personal record and a seventh-place finish with a jump of 18-feet-10 inches.

Kalen Williams had a personal record of 25.1 in the 200 meters placing 11th. Jacob Rummerfield was eighth place in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:15.15. In the same race, Jacob Morris recorded a 10th. place finish and a time of 2:15.25 seconds.

The boys were 17th of 32 total teams.

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