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Marietta girls track sets school record

4x100 team breaks mark set in 1986

Marietta’s Meadow Benton, right, hands the baton to teammate Courtney Schuck during the 4x100 relay in Thursday’s Division I East/Southeast District Meet at Dun Drumm Stadium. RON JOHNSTON The Marietta Times

Marietta High’s undefeated girls 4 by 100 meter relay team was rewarded.

MHS seniors’ Meadow Benton, Lexie Mullen, and Torrance Nonnenmacher each was presented with a necklace momento while sophomore Courtney Schuck got a ring from a Tiger parent after breaking the 1986 school record in the event in a clocking of 50.50 seconds Thursday night in an OHSAA Division I district track meet at Don Drumm Stadium on the campus of Marietta College.

“It’s amazing,” said Benton, who led off the relay. “I feel so good.

“We’ve had good competition this year but nobody’s really pushed us. But today, we had this opportunity to break the school record, and we were ready to go. We were ready to do it, and let me tell you, we did it.”

Carrollton was runner-up in the race in 51.40.

“This is when things should start coming together,” said Tiger coach Mollie Schramm. “And, we’ve been pushing all season to try to beat that record –and the competition (Carrollton) is what they needed. The record is an old one, too.”

Added Nonnenmacher, “As weird as its sounds, I’m glad somebody here is ranked better than us. It’s so much easier to run faster when you’re chasing someone. We’re all excited to have competition.”

With that relay victory, the 4 by 1 advances to next week’s D1, Region 3 event at Pickerington North. Benton, Schuck, Mullen, and Nonnenmacher will also be entered in the 4 by 2. At district, the fab foursome was third in that relay in 1:49.22 to winning Carrollton and second-place New Philadelphia.

At district, Benton was also a regional qualifier in the 100 with a third-place finish in 12.88.

Nonnenmacher, an all-stater in the long jump last year, repeated as district champion in the LJ with a season PR of 17 feet-10.50 inches. She was also third in the 100 in 12.92, right behind Benton.

In the long jump,Nonnenmacher actually won it in the prelims.

“Since I was ranked first out of the prelims, I have the choice to go very last,” she said. “So, if I have that choice, I’ll aways wait to see if I need to jump, because if I can, I like to save my legs, because on really hot days like today, I get strained pretty quickly. Any chance that I can take to save myself some energy, I’m going to do it.”

Tiger senior Baylee Brown was first in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 11 feet.

MHS sophomore Jessica Smith was also a regional qualifier with a district long jump of 16 feet.

Team-wise, the Tiger girls finished fourth (74.50 points) to winner New Philadelphia in the nine-team field.

On the boys side, Marietta senior Quintin Southerly captured the long jump with a leap of 21.09.75.

“I’m happy with it getting to regionals but I’m not satisfied with it,” he said. “It really wasn’t my day, because my legs were hurting. I don’t think I warmed up the best.”

“Hopefully, I’m more nervous (at regional),” Southerly added. “I swear, when I’m nervous, I seem to do better.”

Team-wise, the MHS boys were eighth (22 points) to winner Dover.

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