Photo courtesy of Brian Leibfried: Marshall junior Josh Leibfried runs in the 800-meter race at St. Peter on Monday. Leibfried broke new ground for the Tigers with a school record of 1:57.46 in the event.

ST. PETER — Marshall Track and Field had numerous outstanding performances on Monday night in St. Peter on the track and in the field. Both the boys and girls squads finished in third. The boys had 119 points which was 41 behind first place St. Peter. The girls had 134.75 points which was 44 points behind first place Belle Plaine. 

 Leading the way for the Tigers was junior Josh Leibfried who broke the school record in the 800-meter run. Leibfried ran a 1:57.46 which broke the school record of 1:57.65 previously held by Eli Salisbury who set the record in 2021. Leibfried also competed in the 400-meter dash where he finished in third place with a time of 51.88. 

Leibfried, who had just run a hard 400-meter dash, had to quickly regroup and get ready for the 800.

“I didn’t really feel like doing it, but it was another chance to get after it. During the race I didn’t think much, I just focused on my form and trusted in myself to hang in there,” Leibfried said. “I didn’t really expect to run that well, but I’m really glad that I am doing it this early in the season.” 

Sam Deutz had a personal record in the 800 as he came in just behind Leibfried in second place with a time of 1:59.24. 

Marshall had two high jumpers set personal bests and place in the top two in the event. Junior Jack Meier and eighth grader Brooklyn Purrington both set new personal bests in the high jump. Meier cleared 6-0 and finished in second in the meet. Purrington cleared 5-03 to win the girls high jump in the meet. 

Alex Franson ran a couple of 400-meter races in the meet. He took second place in the open 400-meter dash with a time of 51.27. Franson was also the anchor leg of the boys 4×400 team which for the fourth consecutive meet took first place. The relay team featuring Mychel Paulson, Ethan Bly, Sam Deutz and Franson ran a season-best 3:33.69. 

Mickey Hess had a great day as he won the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.7 seconds and took second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.98. 

Several other boys placed in the top three of their events on Monday. Aidan Schuerman placed second in the 300 hurdles with a time of 42.12. Cesar Guzman took third in the shot put with a throw of 42’4″. Austin Dunn tied for third in the pole vault with a vault of 10’0. Chase Werner placed third in the 3200 with a personal best time of 10:37.93. 

Werner, along with Ethan Bly, Kohen Holcomb and Jack Gunn took second in the 4×800 relay with a time of 8:34.44. 

The Marshall girls had several first-place finishes and outstanding performances as well on Monday. 

Marshall girls faired very well in the field events. In addition to Purrington who won the high jump, Marshall had first-place finishers in the pole vault, long jump and shot put. 

Autumn Deutz took first in pole vault with a winning vault of 10-00. Chioma Onyeaghala won the long jump with a jump of 16-05. 

Paige Gillingham had a terrific day in the throwing events as she won the shot put with a throw of 33-8 and took second in the discus with a throw of 88-4.

 Ally Sample led a Tiger top-three sweep of the 1600-meter run. Sample ran a 5:12.80 to win the race. Fellow senior Anna Kuecker finished in second with a personal best time of 5:31.10. Marshall eighth grader Landry Graven also ran a personal best time of 5:35.70 to finish just behind Kuecker in third. 

Marshall girls took home first place in a very competitive 4×400 relay with a season-best time of 4:09.93. The relay team consisting of Peyton Boeck, Katelyn Leibfried, Avery Schneekloth and Taleigha Bigler beat second place St. Peter by less than two seconds and was 5.27 seconds ahead of third place Tri-City United. 

Boeck, Leibfried and Schneekloth also ran in the open 400-meter dash and finished in second, third and fourth place. Boeck finished in second with a season-best time of 1:03.34. Leibfried finished just behind her teammate in third with a personal best time of 1:03.57. Schneekloth finished just outside of the top three with a time of 1:05.13 which was a personal best for the freshman. 

Bigler also finished top three in another event on the day as she placed third in a highly competitive 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.68. 

The Marshall relay team consisting of Chioma Onyeaghala, Aysia Miles, Alexi Schneider and Averi Schneider took second in 4×100 with a time of 53.12. The race went down to the wire as the Marshall girls were just .22 seconds out of first place. 

The Tigers also competed on Saturday at a track and field meet in Fargo, N.D. Marshall sent five girls and four boys to the meet, which featured 24 athletes in each event from schools in Minnesota and the Dakotas.

Ally Sample placed first in 3200 with a season-best time of 11:11.26. Sample won the race by 28 seconds over second place Madelyn Miller from Brainerd. Katelyn Leibfried placed fifth in the race with a personal best time of 11.51. 

Josh Leibfried placed second in the 1600 with a personal best time of 4:26.83. Sam Deutz also set a new personal best in the 1600, as he placed seventh with a time of 4:32.44. The Marshall duo took the lead for most of the race. Deutz took an early lead in the race before Leibfried took the lead over. Leibfried held onto the lead until the final 100 meters when Perham’s Bjorn Anderson outkicked him to the finish. 

Autumn Deutz and Chioma Onyeaghala both took third place in their respective field events. Deutz cleared 10-6 in the pole vault to earn her third place. Onyeaghala’s long jump of 17′-0.75 landed the junior in third place. 

Marshall will next compete on Friday in at Hamline University in St. Paul at 3 p.m.