PR long jump lands Kuehl at state meet
A personal record long jump of 21 feet, 4 inches has qualified MFL MarMac senior Parker Kuehl for the state track and field meet. (Photos by Audrey Posten)
Carter Lightfoot reached a height of 5 feet, 10 inches for seventh in the high jump at the district meet.
Carter Streicher set personal records of 16.32 and 58.39 seconds in the 110- and 400-meter hurdles, placing a respective fourth and sixth. He was also part of MFL MarMac's fourth-place shuttle hurdle relay.
Bryce Jones takes off as teammate Carter Stoddard prepares to hand him the baton in the 4x200 relay.
By Audrey Posten | Times-Register
MFL MarMac senior Parker Kuehl is capping off his final high school track and field season with a trip to the state meet.
Kuehl hit a personal record 21 feet, 4 inches in the long jump at the district meet at Crestwood on May 15. It was the third best distance at the meet—behind the 21 feet, 7.5 inches from Oelwein’s Caleb DeTemmerman and Brady Burkhart, who were automatic qualifiers—but one of the 24 best in the state in Class 2A.
“The thing about qualifying for state that some people don’t understand is that you have automatic qualifiers and then others get in because they are the next best eight across the state. Parker was third, which meant he would have to be one of those eight,” said MFL MarMac boys track and field coach Tracy Decker. “We were sweating it out waiting to see if he was in for sure after we found out there was one district that was taking five of those eight spots away. I am happy for Parker and proud of him and the rest of the team for a good showing at districts. We had some of our best performances in events we had chances to qualify in.”
Kuehl said qualifying for state “feels good.” It will be his second time in Des Moines after qualifying in a relay as a sophomore.
“I had a good experience my sophomore year with a great group of guys, but it feels good to be going again in a different event I’ve worked really hard in,” he shared.
Kuehl only started long jumping last year, competing just one or two times before winning the Upper Iowa Conference meet. He was originally focused on high jump, but assistant coach Karter Decker convinced him to switch.
Unsure what clicked so well for him in the event, Kuehl said it helps “playing other sports and using my athletic ability from other sports.”
In fact, Kuehl is a spring dual sport athlete, splitting time between soccer and track and field. He acknowledged it can be challenging to attend both practices each night, and he missed some track meets this season due to conflicting soccer matches the same nights.
“It takes a lot of effort, but it makes you better. Track helps soccer and soccer helps track,” he said.
Kuehl consistently jumped around 20 feet for most of this season, and landed his previous personal best of just over 21 feet at Clayton Ridge a couple weeks ago—a mark that put him in the top 20 in Class 2A.
“We knew, if he did it once, he could do it again,” T. Decker said.
Kuehl was motivated at districts by a runner-up finish at this year’s conference meet, at which he didn’t reach 20 feet.
“I knew, coming in, I could jump farther,” he stated.
Some of that confidence was attributed to assistant coach K. Decker, who worked with Kuehl about not taking extra steps before reaching the board, assuring he was at max speed when jumping—and tacking on extra inches to the landing.
Achieving a state qualifying mark wasn’t easy, though. Conditions at Cresco included wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour at times.
“It is hard to judge where you are going to be on the board when you don’t know if or when there will be a big gust of wind,” T. Decker explained.
Kuehl also had his final jumps after running a leg of MFL MarMac’s 800-meter sprint medley relay. He took a 10-minute break to prepare.
“I was worried because my jumps before that were not as good,” he said, “but I had some left in me.”
Now, Kuehl hopes there’s even more left in the tank for the state meet, where he’ll compete on Thursday, May 22. He hadn’t thought too much about goals last week, but pinpointed 22 feet as a good mark to strive for as he continues to hone his jump takeoff and landing.
“I’m most excited for the experience,” Kuehl said, “but I haven’t reached my full potential yet.”
Several other MFL MarMac events were on the cusp of qualifying for state at last week’s district meet.
The shuttle hurdle relay consisting of Tucker Ruff, Carter Stoddard, Bryce Jones and Carter Streicher placed fourth with a time of 1:06, around three seconds back of meet winner Osage.
Streicher set personal records of 16.32 and 58.39 seconds in the 110- and 400-meter hurdles, placing a respective fourth and sixth. Ruff was 12th in both races.
Carter Lightfoot finished third in the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.87 seconds, several seconds back of Quinn Street of Osage. Teammate Dante Thornton crossed the line 19th.
Anthony Bunting had a personal best 12.34 seconds in the 100-meter dash, in which he placed 11th, while Kuehl secured seventh in the 200 on a time of 23.86 seconds. Rylan Schroeder was 14th in that event.
The distance races included respective 20th and 21st place results for Blake Schutte and Hunter Bogdonovich in the 800-meter run, while Adian Reynolds placed 15th in the 1500.
The Bulldog team of Bunting, Jones, Kuehl and Lightfoot took sixth in the sprint medley relay, then Stoddard, Jones, Schroeder and Bunting were ninth in the 4x200.
In the other field events, Lightfoot reached a height of 5 feet, 10 inches for seventh in the high jump. Averey Thornton earned 21st in the discus and 20th in the shot put. Schutte finished 21st in the shot put.
