Marks Hurdles Into History
May 2, 2022
Since 1986, Jenny Langis has held Susky’s long jump event record of 17 feet, 1 inch.
Now, 36 years later, junior Ryleigh Marks has beaten Langis’s record with a long jump of 17 feet, 2 inches against Gettysburg on April 26.
Not only has Marks broken the school’s long jump record, but she has also broken Karen Hoffstetter’s high hurdle record set in 1984 of 15.84 seconds with a new record of 15.09 seconds.
View this post on Instagram
“Breaking school records is an honor to do, but it wouldn’t have been possible without my coaches, family, and friends throughout my career,” said Marks.
Marks has been running track since she was 12 years old running year round.
Marks plans to continue running after high school; she doesn’t have any offers, but she trains hard.
“Training has a big impact on how I perform,” said Marks, “[competing] in the winter, spring, and summer seasons, I train every day whether it is on the track or in the gym.”
View this post on Instagram
For all of Marks’ high school track career, she has had track coach JC Lewis by her side through all she’s done.
“The sky’s the limit for Ryleigh,” said Lewis, “She works very hard all year round, and it is so awesome when your athletes are able to translate their hard work into success in the form of multiple school records [which] doesn’t happen very often.”
Lewis, along with many others, hopes and plans to see Marks compete in the postseason.
Running by Marks’ side since the middle school track season, senior Shelby Derkosh has seen an incredible change in Marks’ performance.
View this post on Instagram
“Ryleigh is all-around a really strong athlete in all of her events, but her strongest event is definitely her 100 meter hurdles,” said Derkosh, “I plan to see Ryleigh take over and break her own records and maybe even more records next year.”
Marks made it to states last year in her 100 meter high hurdles and plans to do that again bringing home a medal.