Running and jumping aren’t enough for Mike Marshall. He wants to do more.

After a successful track and field career at Salem High School, the recently graduated senior is beginning to train for the next level, where he plans on competing in the decathlon for the University of New Hampshire Wildcats.

Marshall performed well on the track he’ll soon call home, winning the 110-meter hurdles and the long jump during the Meet of Champions in Durham to qualify for the New England Regionals in Burlington, Vt., where he came in sixth and 10th, respectively.

From his first day of practice with the Blue Devils – he was a sophomore at the time – Marshall proved to his coaches that he had the potential to be one of the leading competitors on the team.

“A lot of my success has been off of natural ability,” said Marshall. “I came into it and was three-stepping hurdles on my first day, and not a lot of people can do that.”

While athleticism carried him originally, Marshall’s competitive nature took him to a higher level. Long hours of training helped Marshall become one of the state’s top athletes.

His head coach, Jack Gati, said another key aspect to Marshall’s makeup is the way he seems to have his best meets on the largest stages.

The mentor wasn’t at all surprised by Marshall’s two first-place finishes at the Meet of Champions.

“Frankly, it was expected,” said Gati. “He rises to the level of competition. The bigger the event, the more his competitive juices get flowing. He competes, and he competes well. That’s his personality.”

During high-level competitions in any sport, athletes sometimes struggle with nerves and falter under pressure.

Gati said that was never a concern with Marshall.

“There are a lot of kids who think about it too much,” said Gati. “Some kids have the skills and for some reason they freeze or let other factors get into their head. Mike has the ability to block everything out and just do what he needs to do.”

Max Jacques was one of Marshall’s close friends on the track team, and the sophomore said it was easy to tell when Marshall hadn’t performed as well as he’d hoped during a previous meet.

“He hates losing, so when he would lose a race he would work twice as hard during practice the next day,” said Jacques. “He wanted to make sure he didn’t lose again.”

Marshall plans to study business administration while at UNH, and said to be successful in the decathlon he needs to improve his throwing in particular.

Gati said he believes Marshall can be successful at the college level but needs to hit the weight room to put on some muscle.

Jacques said next year’s track team faces a void due to Marshall’s departure.

“He’s such a good leader, and he is a giant part of our team scoring,” said Jacques. “We’ll definitely miss what he could do for our team.”