Marquardt earns second medal at state meet
Published 8:33 am Monday, June 8, 2009
The wind and rain were nothing compared to what Albert Lea senior Ethan Marquardt was facing during the 1,600-meter race Saturday at the Class 2A state track and field meet.
Running into a headwind and dealing with runners cutting him off Marquardt’s old hamstring injury flared up on him in the final 300 meters as he battled out the final spot on the podium down the home stretch with Eagan’s Cole Toepfer hot on his trail.
“About 300 meters out my hamstrings just froze up so I didn’t have any speed left,” Marquardt said. “I was hoping to get it. When I finished I knew I was close.”
Marquardt held him off and delivered a ninth-place finish with a time of 4 minutes, 24.82 seconds to earn his second medal in his first trip to the state meet after placing seventh in the 3,200 Friday. Marquardt edged out Toepfer by a little more than half a second.
“I’m still pretty happy I got a medal,” Marquardt said. “I was ranked 12th, I got ninth — that’s pretty good.”
The race was close between the Nos. 4 through 9 spots with three seconds being the overall difference.
“When you’re running with people at the state meet everyone is used to winning and everyone could win so it’s just a battle,” Albert Lea boys’ track head coach Lisa Deyak said. “There’s lots of aggressive racing from the start to the end. He did a good job of handling it.”
Coon Rapids junior Blayne Dulian won the event with a time of 4:16.56. Roseville’s John Holt placed second with a time of 4:17.79.
In Marquardt’s final race he exhibited the qualities that played such a central role in helping him achieve what he has in his career.
“He is a very special athlete,” Deyak said. “The truth of the matter is that he’s a sprinter who’s not afraid of working hard. He’s got great speed and he does the training that’s necessary to compete in the mile and two mile.”
Deyak added that he will be missed next season on the squad, but his work ethic has worked to inspire others on the team.
“He’s definitely an inspiration to the other people on our team,” Deyak said. “They see how hard he works at our practices and they see him when he races in the mile or the two-mile.”
Marquardt admitted he was experiencing some late season fatigue, saying sections took a lot out of him but he still cut four seconds off his seed time. He said he was relieved that the season was over and ready to rest.
“I’m glad I made it here,” Marquardt. “It took a lot of hard work. I’m pretty sure if I wouldn’t have had this injury a long time ago I would have done a lot better.”
Albert Lea’s Chrissy Monson had a tough time in the 1,600 Saturday as she finished 13th in the event with a time of 5:19.85. Monson had a seed time of 5:14.49, but nothing went according to the seed times in the race.
Cassy Opitz, of Eden Prairie, ran a sub-5 minute mile and had a time of 4:59.53 to win the race as she cut nine seconds off her seed time.
Emma Bates, of Elk River, had the most surprising finish. Bates had the slowest seed time, but shaved 18 seconds to finish third.