ALTAMONT — The start of each track and field season usually carries a bit of mystery, Iola High head coach Dana Daugharthy admitted.
“You never really know what you are going to have,” he said.
Turns out, Iola has much to be excited about in 2022.
Despite competing against some of the top athletes in southeast Kansas amid miserable weather conditions Thursday, Iola’s thinclads acquitted themselves quite well.
Iola’s boys brought home third place overall, while the girls, who for the most part were able to enter only one athlete in several events, still brought home several quality marks, Daugharthy said.
He notes the 2022 Mustang teams are likely the most talented batch of athletes he’s had in his seven-year career as IHS head coach.
“We have a mix of young talent and experienced athletes,” he said. “This will allow the older leaders to teach the younger athletes some tricks of the trade. This meet showed some of the potential.”
Leading the way was Iola’s Brett Willis, who picked up where he left off last season, by taking silver medals in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes and placing third in the long jump.
“The 100-meter time (11.2 seconds) was one of the best times he’s ever run,” Daugharthy said. “Considering the cold weather, I am very pleased with how he jumped.”
Iola’s 4×800-meter relay team of Jake Skahan, Kaster Trabuc, Eli Adams and Cole Moyer also took second, finishing in 9 minutes, 17.2 seconds.
“Our 4×800 team was a state qualifier last year, so this team had big shoes to fill,” Daugharthy said. “Eli is the only member of last year’s state team. The other three did a really nice job of filling their shoes.”
Adams followed that up with a personal best time of 2:15.68 in the 800, good for fourth, and already a full 2 seconds better than what he ran last season.
“Eli has great determination and really good speed for an 800 runner,” Daugharthy said. “I expect his time to drop as the weather gets better and he gets a little more conditioned.”
Justin McCullough’s personal-best discus throw of 120 feet, 8 inches, was good for fourth.
“This is a great start of the season for him,” Daugharthy said. “The good news is he has a lot more in the tank. With some fine-tuning, he can launch it a lot further.”
A pair of freshmen, Moyer and Cortland Carson, both opened their high school careers in fine fashion, each taking fifth in their respective events: Moyer in the 1600 meters; Carson in the 300-meter hurdles.
