MARSHALL — The Marshall girls track and field team won its first Big South Championship since 2018 on Tuesday afternoon, blowing out the six-team field to finish 34.5 points ahead of their next closest opponent, Waseca. The Marshall boys team also compete, placing fourth.

The Marshall girls seemed to excel in every aspect of the sport. Bri Simpson got a pair of wins in sprints for the Tigers, placing first in the 400 meters and 200 meters. Taleigha Bigler held down the middle-distance group with a win in the 800 meters and contributed in the 4×400-meter relay. Allyson Sample led the long-distance squad with a win in the 3200 meters. Paige Gillingham also gave the Tigers a throwing win, placing first in the shot put with a distance of 34 feet, 11.5 inches. 

“Everybody stepped it up, did their part and really hammered it on the track,” Marshall girls head coach Marie Sample said. “We expected our distance team to do well, and they did, but our sprinters really stepped up and achieved. They scored more points than we thought they were going to on paper. Outstanding performance across the board, they really wanted to get it done as a team.”

While the Tigers ran away with the championship, it didn’t come without adversity. A number of Marshall athletes were unable to race due to illness, Marie Sample said. Still, the team’s depth stepped up when it mattered and helped them get the win. 

“It kind of reminded me of cross country this fall, we had a sickness kind of hit us right before sections and then we had girls step up. Then it hit us again at [the state championship meet] and we had girls step up and they were still able to get on the podium. It’s kind of like people are excited to be a part of it,” Sample said. “They want to be there like, ‘okay, it’s my turn, I’m going to do my part, I’m ready to step in.’ They were just hoping for that chance and you had to have kids that are waiting there and eager and very focused and wanting to get in and go after it and get the job done for the team.

“[They were asking] ‘What can I do to help the team?’ They were all running around asking, ‘Hey, I’ll run that, somebody’s sick.’ I’ll take that. I’ll do that.’ They did and they not only did it, but did it really well, so I’m really proud of them.”

On the boys side, Keagen Anderson and Josh Leibfried helped the team secure some points. Anderson picked up a win in the 800 meters while Leibfried won the 1600 meters. They also both competed in runner-up finishes for the Tigers in the 4×400-meter relay and 4×800-meter relay. 

“We’ve got a lot of young guys. Alex in the [4x800m], Keagen in the [400m], Josh also in the 4×800… those guys are solid. They’re all under sophomore age,” Marshall boys head coach David Sample said. “They’re going to have a good thing going here in the next couple of years. We’ve been trying to get them out of our section. Our section is really stacked and ultimately the goal for next week is to try to get those guys to state. It looks like our best shot for a lot of those guys is going to be the [4×800-meter relay] next week.”

The Marshall girls finished with a total of 182.5 points while runner-up Waseca finished with 148. Fairmont rounded out the podium while St. Peter, New Ulm and Worthington finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

On the boys side, Marshall’s total of 11 points put them one point ahead of fourth-place Fairmont. Worthington won the boys meet with 166.5 while Waseca finished second with 137.5. St. Peter and New Ulm finished fifth and sixth respectively.

The Marshall track and field teams will compete in the 2AA Section Meet in Worthington on Wednesday at 3 p.m.

“It’s a cookie recipe,” Marie Sample said of the team’s training plan for the next week. “We’ve got some strategic workouts planned between here and there. We’re going to taper just a little bit with some kids, try to rest them so they can peak at sections, and then some of our kids we’re not going to rest quite as much because we don’t want them to peak at sections… We’re going to finish with the recipe, put the workouts in place, we’ve got some good things planned. Just hope everybody can stay healthy.”

Girls

100m: 2-Bri Simpson, 13.43; 3-Alexi Schneider, 13.51. 200m: 1-Bri Simpson, 27.20. 400m: 1-Bri Simpson, 1:01.79. 800m: 1-Taleigha Bigler, 2:19.09. 1600m: 2-Allyson Sample; 3-Taleigha Bigler, 5:12.25. 3200m: 1-Allyson Sample, 11:59.39; 3-Cameen McFarquhar, 12:24.90. 4x100m: 3-Alexi Schneider, Aysia Miles, Makayli Burrell, Chioma Onyeaghala, 53.34. 4x400m: 1-Taleigha Bigler, Anna Kuecker, Landrey Graven, Katelyn Leibfried, 4:13.28. 4x800m: 1-Jersey Leysen, Avery Schneekloth, Miracle Tucker, Landry Graven, 10:09.42. Shot put: 1-Paige Gillingham, 34-11.5. Discus: 2-Brooke Gillingham, 101-4. High jump: 2-Ava Holmgren, 4-10. Pole vault: 2-Autumn Deutz, 10-3. Long jump: Chioma Onyeaghala, 15-5.25.

Boys

400m: 2-Alex Franson, 51.70. 800m: 1-Keagen Anderson, 2:01.84. 1600m: 1-Josh Leibfried, 4:36.42; 3-Sam Deutz, 4:45.26. 3200m: 3-Landon Marthaler, 11:01.64. 300m hurdles: 3-Soe Ka Maw, 42.57. 4x400m: 2-Chidi Nwakama, Alex Franson, Josh Leibfried, Keagen Anderson, 3:32.30. 4x800m: 2-Sam Deutz, Mykel Paulsen, Josh Leibfried, Keagen Anderson, 8:09.20. Triple jump: 3-Andrew Elton, 41-4.75.