A perennial champion and a rising newcomer provided the highlights for the Hillsboro Trojans at Thursday’s Central Kansas League meet in Lyons.

Senior Marah Franz tuned up for a run at another state pole vault championship by fending off four other 10-foot jumpers to win the event with a leap of 10 feet, 2 inches. It was the fourth consecutive CKL vaulting crown for Franz.

“Great competition brings out the best in some athletes and Marah Franz is one of those athletes,” coach Dennis Boldt said. “She wins the pole vault and sets and bettered her league record today.”

Boldt said Franz’s vaulting has benefited from sprint training, off-season practice, participation in other sports, and coachability.

“All of these things help mold a league champion,” he said.

On the other end of the spectrum, freshman Wes Shaw punctuated his inaugural high school season by winning the discus with a heave of 141-0, nearly 11 feet farther than his closest competitor. He also placed third in shot put and seventh in javelin.

“What a way to begin your high school career — league champion,” Boldt said. “He is a talented young man and is extremely motivated to succeed.”

Matthew Denholm scored the only other points for the boys with a fifth-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles, as the Trojans came in ninth out of 12 teams.

The girls’ 4x800 relay team of Brittany Schale, Savannah Unruh, Kennedy Klein, and Abby Sechrist shaved 10 seconds off its previous best performance to place fourth, and Sechrist set a personal best while taking fifth in the 800.

The girls weren’t able to muster any other medalists and placed last in the meet.

The Trojans will travel to Lyndon on Friday for 2A regional competition, with Franz and the 4x800 relay seeking return trips to the state meet in Wichita the following week.