MARSHALL — Long distance has been the strength of the Marshall track and field team. The Tigers sent both their boys and girls cross country teams to the state championship meet back in the fall and, with many runners from those teams competing again in the spring, not many teams can compare to Marshall’s long-distance crew.

Senior Allyson Sample leads the girls team this year. As a junior, Sample ran as fast as 10:59.69 in the 3200 meters to place third at the Class AA state meet and as fast as 5:10.10 in the 1600 meters. She also helped Marshall to claim the state title in the 4×800-meter relay, running a time of 9:22.37 alongside senior Miracle Tucker, junior Anna Kuecker and freshman Taleigha Bigler.

Bigler, now a sophomore, is expected to be a big part of the Tigers’ middle-distance crew. She ran a 2:19.00 800 meters in the Class AA championship last year to claim sixth. She was one of two freshmen to qualify for the state finals in the event and was the second-highest placing underclassman behind Faribault sophomore Brooklyn Becker, who took fourth.

In terms of field events, Paige Gillingham qualified for the state tournament as a sophomore last year and her sister, Brooke Gillingham, fell just shy. Both Gillinghams are throwers, with Paige claiming sixth place in the state meet in the shot put at a personal-best 37-04.25. Brooke took third in the discus at the Section Championships, throwing a personal-best 104-1.

On the boys side, Marshall has another strong middle distance crew.

While the Tigers didn’t send anyone to state last year, the 4×400-meter squad looked strong, taking third at sections at 3:28.74. While that group graduated Chidi Nwakama, the other three runners — Alex Franson, Josh Leibfried and Keagen Anderson — are all returning as juniors. The Tigers’ 4×800 relay team also took fourth at 8:08.22, comprised of Leibfried, Anderson and freshmen Sam Deutz and Mykel Paulsen.

Leibfried broke the 10-minute barrier in the 3200 meters last year, peaking at 9:55.75. In his first meet of this season, he nearly already set a PR at 4:30.93 in the 1600 meters.

Anderson and Holcomb have both been consistent in the 800 meters for the Tigers, peaking out at 2:12 and 2:15 respectively.

The Tigers will get back on the track in St. Peter on Monday.