Marmet wins discus, leads West Holmes girls to fifth at conference meet

Mallory Marmet delivered the result that mattered most for West Holmes at the Ohio Cardinal Conference Championships: a discus title, a runner-up finish in the shot put and the league’s co-field athlete of the year honor.

The West Holmes junior won the discus with a personal-best throw of 125 feet, 9 inches and placed second in the shot put at 34 feet, 2 1/4 inches during the girls meet May 15 at Ashland University. Those points helped the Knights finish fifth in the conference with 55, behind Lexington’s 172, Ashland’s 165, Wooster’s 113 and Dover’s 79. Marmet shared the OCC’s 2026 girls co-field athlete of the year award with Dover’s Maddie Minnis.

For West Holmes, that combination of a conference title and a personal record carried more weight than a routine top-five finish. Marmet scored 18 points by herself, giving the Knights a clear anchor in the throws and showing that West Holmes could still produce high-end marks against the league’s strongest competition. Lexington won the girls team title, while Ashland’s Oaklynn Burns was named girls combined athlete of the year, Ashland’s Sadie Walter was girls runner of the year and Lexington’s Michael Moore was girls coach of the year.

The girls fifth-place finish also showed where West Holmes stands in the league’s recent history. The Knights were fourth in the OCC girls standings in 2025 with 101.5 points, and the program has won conference titles before, taking the girls track crown in 2012-13 and 2013-14. This year’s total did not match last season’s, but Marmet’s performance kept West Holmes in the middle of a deep conference field and gave the team a strong postseason marker as the schedule shifted to district competition.

That next step came quickly. West Holmes track and field had the OHSAA Division III District Meet set for St. Clairsville High School on Wednesday, May 20 and Saturday, May 23, with the conference meet serving as a final test before athletes chased qualifying marks. The school’s district preview said the teams were still improving in individual events and relays, and the OCC results backed that up.

Marmet was not the only West Holmes thrower to leave Ashland with momentum. Maddax Graham won the boys discus with a throw of 159 feet, 10 inches and added a fifth-place finish in the shot put at 50 feet, 2 inches. The night also featured season and personal bests across the program, giving West Holmes multiple athletes carrying useful form into the district meet at St. Clairsville.