WICHITA — Elka Billings was looking pretty down after her 15th place showing in the 4A state 800-meter finals on Saturday at Cessna Stadium, but the freshman’s frown quickly turned into a smile one question into her post-run interview.
“How does it feel to be one of two athletes in your entire high school to have the opportunity to run at the state meet?” “I’m really happy,” Billings said. “Although I wasn’t able to get any of the top places or anything, I am so happy I was able to come here with Elysia (Kunkler) and run at the state meet.”
That is what Kunkler and Billings did, as freshmen, they were the ones to carry the torch for their team and give Iola a presence at the state meet.
The atmosphere in Wichita was even more amazing than either freshman could have imagined when they qualified for the trip last week.
“I was really nervous and scared, but I was also excited at the same time,” Billings said. “I knew there was going to be a lot more people than usual, but this is a lot more than I thought.”
Kunkler just missed out on qualifying for the finals in the 100-meter hurdles in her first competition after arriving at the state meet on Friday.
“There was a lot of people when I got here (on Friday) so I was scared,” Kunkler said. “And then (on Saturday) when I showed up, there were like twice as many as there were the day before. It scared me so much because there were so many people here, but then knowing that it was on TV too and people in Iola were watching, I was really nervous.”
Kunkler ran a 13.22 to finish in 10th place in the event.
“It was awesome,” Kunkler said. “I am a freshman that came here in three events and I just hope I can do the same thing again next year and the year after that and the year after that. And maybe do better.”
On Saturday, Kunkler took 16th in both the 100-meter dash and the long jump.
For Kunkler, the experience just gives her more to build on for next season.
“I am really happy with how I did this year,” Kunkler said. “I improved in every event that I did and I’m hoping to improve even more.”
Both freshmen agreed that having the other one along to represent their school and their class really made the trip enjoyable.
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“It was really fun,” Kunkler said. “I got really close to Elka on this trip and it is a good way to make a new friend. We were close before, but we got closer coming here. It was just a lot of fun.”
