Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall distance runner Allyson Sample (third from left) takes her place on the podium after receiving a medal for her fourth-place finish in the girls 3200-meter run at the Class AA track and field championships at St. Michael-Albertville on Friday.

ST. MICHAEL — Marshall senior Allyson Sample continued to make school history at the first day of the Class AA track and field championships at St. Michael-Albertville High School on Friday. Sample was one of two Tigers competing in an individual final on Friday and she made the most of her last individual race as a Tiger, setting the girls school record in the 3200-meter run while taking home some hardware in the process.

“I was pretty nervous but having done it last year, I was kind of excited to see what I could do,” Sample said after the race. “I knew there were a couple of girls out there who would be fighting for a state record [Isabelle Schmitz and Isabel Mahoney], so then one of the girls that I raced with at sections, Macy Hanson [of Fairmont], I race with her all the time, so it was really fun. We were hoping to PR together and we did.”

Schmitz won the event while setting the Class AA record of 10:24.14 while Mahoney finished second at 10:32.49. It then came down to a battle between Hanson and Sample for third place down the final stretch.

“I was just trying to survive, I didn’t even know they were right there, to be honest,” Sample said with a laugh.

In the end, Hanson edged out Sample by a fraction of a second, finishing third at 10:53.04 while Sample was right behind her with a school-record time of 10:53.36.

“She’s been such a solid performer for the girls team for several years. It’s her senior year, she knows it was her last two-mile with the Marshall Tigers and she was really emotional before,” Marshall girls head coach Marie Sample said, adding that Allyson was aiming to break 10:50 during the race and nearly attained that goal. “She said, ‘I had given it everything I had. That’s what I do is give everything I have every time I’m out there.’ And she crossed the finish line with nothing left. She was kind of emotional about it but really happy that it went so well… It was kind of sinking in that this was her last two-mile as a Marshall Tiger but I told her, ‘Hey, it’s been a good run and you’re ready to fly.”

In a day dedicated primarily to preliminary events, Marshall eighth grader Brooklyn Purrington was the only other Tiger competing in a final. In her first trip to state, she put together a quality performance on the high jump, reaching a height of 4-11.00 to place 22 out of 32 participants.

With most of the final events today, Marshall sophomore Taleigha Bigler set herself up for a busy Saturday. Already slated to compete in the 4×800-meter relay alongside Allyson Sample, Katelyn Leibfried and Anna Kuecker, Bigler qualified for two more events on Friday. She ran a time of 2:17.61 in the 800 meters, the third-fastest individual time across the heat, to reach the finals in that event and anchored the 4×400-meter relay with Peyton Boeck, Leibfried and Avery Schneekloth to a time of 4:02.41, good for seventh place and a finals qualification.

“She’s got two relays that she’s going to try to anchor and her teammates are going to rally around her. They’re going to run hard and they’re going to try to hopefully have our team in it before we hand off to her,” coach Sample said. “That’s going to be a lot for her for sure, Katelyn’s been kind of backing up too with the four-by-four and the four-by-eight as well, but these kids are hard workers and they’re veterans. Some of the distance kids are coming off a state championship so they know how to win and they know how to run for each other. It’s kind of a perfect storm.”

On the boys side, Alex Franson was the long individual to run a qualifying preliminary time on the day. He put together a time of 50.40 in the 400 meters to place fifth in the preliminary, qualifying for the final today. He also anchored the boys 4×400-meter relay, which also included Keagen Anderson, Josh Leibfried and Ethan Bly, to a time of 4:02.41, the second-fastest time in the preliminary.

Also competing for a state medal today Jack Meier will represent the Tigers in the high jump and Autumn Deutz will represent the team in the pole vault.

Aidan Schuerman ran the 300-meter hurdles for Marshall, placing 11th in the preliminaries with a time of 40.85.

With jumpers, sprinters and distance runners all competing in state championship events today, the Tigers have shown some solid versatility within their program.

Coach Sample said that when she first started as Marshall’s head coach 13 years ago, she looked across the school record books and focused on marks that she felt her kids could improve upon fast. Among her first focuses was the girls 4×800-meter relay record of 11:20; the Tigers have qualified for the state meet every year except one since then and set a state record in last year’s state meet to claim first place.

With that in hand, she said the team then started looking to diversify its skillsets beyond her specialty — long distance — and she credits the team’s recent success in other areas to the work and dedication of the team’s entire coaching staff, from the throwing and jumping coaches to the sprinting and distance coaches.

“There’s something going on in all the areas, both the boys and girls side, and it’s contagious,” coach Sample said. “Success breeds success. They see somebody else can do it and they’re like, ‘Well I want to do that.'”

Today’s Class AA finals will start at 9 a.m. with the girls 4×800-meter relay. Coach Sample said the team is hoping for a repeat of last year, in which Mankato East bested the Tigers in the section meet but Marshall got the last laugh by claiming the state championship.

RESULTS

Girls 3200m final: 4-Allyson Sample (Marshall), 10:53.36. Boys 400m prelim: 5-Alex Franson (Marshall), 50.40 (Q). Boys 300m hurdles prelim: 11-Aidan Schuerman (Marshall), 40.85. Girls 800m prelim: 3-Taleigha Bigler (Marshall), 2:17.61 (Q). Girls 4x400m prelim: 7-Marshall (Peyton Boeck, Katelyn Liebfried, Avery Schneekloth, Taleigha Bigler), 4:02.41 (Q). Boys 4x400m prelim: 2-Marshall (Keagen Anderson, Josh Leibfried, Ethan Bly, Alex Franson), 3:26.69 (Q). Girls high jump final: 22-Brooklyn Purrington (Marshall), 4-11.00.