Bulldogs place second at Apollo Conference meet

By Fred Kroner

Freshman Madalyn Marx was a four-event champion on Thursday (May 4) in the seven-school Apollo Conference girls’ track and field meet at Charleston.

Marx swept the sprint races and beat a teammate to the finish line in two of the events.

Marx (12.71 seconds) and Lauren Burr (personal-best 13.07 seconds) went 1-2 in the 100 meters. Marx (59.35 seconds) and Burr (1:01.60) were the top two placers in the 400 meters.

In the 200 meters, Marx was the winner (25.85 seconds) and Burr came in third (personal-best 26.52 seconds).

Marx won the 200 meters by .45 seconds.

Her fourth conference crown came as the anchor runner on the 400-meter relay, which was timed in 51.30 and had a 1.06-second margin of victory.

Joining Marx on the winning relay were junior Holly Hawes, senior Karlie Fuoss and junior Meah Beacham.

Beacham was an individual conference champion, outdistancing the field in the triple jump. Beacham’s winning jump was 32 feet, 8 inches and provided her with a 9-inch margin of victory.

The Bulldogs’ other Apollo titlist was senior high jumper Grace Rodebaugh. She cleared 5 feet, 1 inch, which was 3 inches better than the runner-up.

M-S placed second to Mount Zion in the team standings, 187 1/3 points to 128 ½ points. Third-place Effingham had 59 1/3 points.

Besides Burr, other M-S athletes in the top-10 with personal-best performances were Kara Carney (third in the 300-meter hurdles in 51.39 seconds) and Hannah Hofbauer (tied for sixth in the pole vault at 6 feet, 7 inches).

Four Bulldogs, besides Carney, claimed third-place finishes, including Burr (long jump at 15 feet. 2 inches).

Ava Boyd was third in two races (800 meters in 2:22.87 and 1,600 meters in 5:11.91). The other third-place finisher for M-S was Chloe Bundren (3,200 meters in 12:51.31).

Bundren placed seventh in the 1,600 meters (6:04.17).

Other M-S runners in the top 10 were Adelyn Boyd (300-meter hurdles in 1:01.19) and Morgan Waisath (800 meters in 2:47.74).

Seven other Bulldogs snared top-10 finishes in field events, including Karlie Fuoss (fifth in the long jump at 14 feet, 7 inches), Kelsie Fuoss (fifth in the pole vault at 8 feet, 9 inches), Grace Ribbe (fifth in the shot put at 28 feet, 10 inches), Kendyl Petro (sixth in the discus at 85 feet, 1 inch), Selah Campion (eighth in the discus at 76 feet, 9 inches), Carney (eighth in the high jump at 4 feet, 4 inches) and Lydia Risser (ninth in the triple jump at 26 feet, 11 inches).

Three relays, besides the 400-meter unit, placed well.

The 800-meter pairing of Hawes, Kira Smith, Chloe Merkle and Karlie Fuoss was third in 1:54.50.

The featured runners on the 3,200-meter relay were Emma Frazier, Callie Jansen, Jinan Abdo and Bundren placed fifth in 10:56.20.

Sharing the baton on the 1,600-meter relay were Smith, Carney, Frazier and Merkle. They placed sixth in 4:30.84.

M-S returns to action on Thursday (May 11) in the 17-school Rantoul Class 2A Sectional.