Nine Warrenton track and field athletes will compete in at least one event at this weekend’s sectional meet. 

Warrenton placed fourth or better in 12 events at last weekend’s Class 4, District 4 meet to qualify for this weekend’s Class 4, Sectional 2 meet. 

The Warriors were led by junior Wyatt Claiborne, who won the 3200-meter run. He placed second in the 1600-meter run and third in the 800-meter meter to qualify for the sectional meet. He also placed third in the 4x800-meter relay. Claiborne ran the event with Phillip Kackley, Bryan Guerrero and Deacon Forrest. 

“I think Wyatt Claiborne did an exceptional job by getting out in all four of his events,” Warrenton head track and field coach Mark Thomas said. “To go out and win the two mile and then place second in the mile and third in the 800, that’s a lot in one day even with the breaks that we had. He did an excellent job in coming out and competing in those conditions.”

Colton Brosenne, Avery Shaw and Forrest each qualified for sectionals in multiple events. Forrest also qualified for the sectional competition in the high jump. He placed third in the event with a mark of 1.7 meters. Shaw placed fourth in the shot put and discus competitions. She finished with a mark of 32.45 in the discus competition. She threw the shot 10.62 meters. Brosenne placed fourth in the long jump and triple jump. He finished with a mark of 12.7 meters in the triple jump and 6.08 meters in the long jump. 

Zach Bristol, Madelyn Marschel and Morgan Marschel each qualified for sectionals in one event. Bristol and Morgan Marschel both qualified for sectionals in the 400-meter dash. Marschel placed second and Bristol placed third in their competitions. Madelyn Marschel placed third in the 800-meter run. 

Brosenne competed in both events and Shaw competed in the discus on Monday. The events were finished Monday after delays on Saturday prevented the completion of the events over the weekend. 

“I think that affected everybody,” Thomas said. “That’s why they do it that way to make it fair and equitable for all. So everybody had the same conditions yesterday morning. Everybody had the morning atmosphere. It would have been nice to get a few more kids through in those events and I think those events did slightly suffer from not being able to compete on the same days as the district but like I said, it was fair for everybody.”

The Warriors also had to deal with multiple delays on Saturday. There was a delay of at least 90 minutes in the early afternoon and another delay of at least an hour later in the day. Thomas said their focus was trying to keep the athletes in the proper mindset. They also had to warm up multiple times for their events. Thomas did not think the delays impacted their performances too greatly, even though it was a different level of preparation. 

“I think a lot of them, they did a good job of staying focused when it was time to get back out and get warmed up,” Thomas said. “They turned it right back on and performed. We had a lot of kids that were right before those delays, they had the next event up. And they came out and they battled through it and did well in it. I thought they handled the adversity well.”

Thomas was looking forward to their practices this week, noting the practices before districts, sectionals and state are the best practices of the season because the athletes are motivated and their most focused of the season. They planned to hold a hard practice Tuesday getting in light work the rest of the week to get ready to compete for sectionals Saturday. 

Thomas thinks one major difference between the district and sectional competitions is the athletes feel they have a better shot to advance in the district competition. 

“It’s a little bit tougher at sectionals when you see there’s only going to be eight other runners in your event and you might be seeded seventh or eighth and only the top four go through to state,” Thomas said. “Some of them have to battle through that psych out and understand that anything can happen and you still have to go out and compete and work hard no matter where you’re seeded. That’s a struggle at times with kids but you just have to work through those things”

Thomas stressed he was happy with the performance of all Warrenton track and field athletes at last week’s district meet. 

“I was pleased with the amount of effort that we got out of those kids, especially with the weather conditions that we dealt with and having to move events,” Thomas said. “Just pleased with how they competed and how they focused back in. Everybody did a great job.” 

Warrenton is slated to compete in the Class 4, Sectional 2 meet Saturday at Mexico High School.