Kenyon-Wanamingo’s Mara Quam Leaps to State Long Jump Title

Kenyon-Wanamingo senior Mara Quam won the Class A long jump competition at the state track meet Friday at Hamline University.

Quam, who entered the event with the best qualifying distance, turned in her 18-foot-one-inch championship leap in the preliminary round. With best jump in prelims she got the last jump in each round of the finals and knew how her competitors were faring. Her victory was by a narrow margin, as second place was only a-quarter-of-an-inch behind her.

She said the title, "feels good. I did my best and I gave it my all...I could feel that it was a good jump." It Quam's second title, after winning the long jump as a sophomore. She added, "I can tell when I hit the board good. It's a wooden board, so it 'pops.' And then when I land, I can just feel it."

Quam does the triple jump Saturday at 3:30PM. She also runs 100 hurdle final at 4:20PM. KDHL's Gordy Kosfeld will be on hand for on-air updates on Quam and other area athletes. Knights' junior Tess Hokanson ran the 400 prelims on Friday, but did not advance to Saturday's finals.