GARNETT — For all of Braden Plumlee’s exploits on the track — he won both the 1600 and 3200 meters at Thursday’s Pioneer League meet — it may have been the Iola High junior’s silver medal that was most impressive.
After edging classmate Kendall Jay at the finish line in the 1600, Plumlee then beat his nearest pursuer in the 3200 by nearly 20 seconds, a rout in track and field.
He had all of about 5 minutes to savor the gold, before IHS head coach Dana Daugharthy asked if he felt up to another race.
“I can go,” Plumlee responded.
With that, Plumlee returned to the starting line, to take the second leg of the final race of the day, the boys 4×400-meter relay.
He teamed with Chase Regehr, Jay and Nathan Sprague to take second, at 3 minutes, 44.9 seconds.
“They usually have the 2-mile (3200) at the beginning of the meet, but this time they had it at the end,” Plumlee said. “I felt a little winded coming down my final 200 stretch. But I was able to catch the Prairie View runner and run a sub 60. I’m pretty proud of my time.”
The medals paved the way for the Mustang thinclads to take fifth in the final standings with 72 points. Wellsville took the team title with 115.50 points, followed by Prairie View in second with 97.5, Santa Fe Trail in third at 94 and Osawatomie in fourth at 87.
Sparked by Plumlee and Chase Regehr, the middle distance runners ruled the day for the Mustangs.
In addition to Plumlee’s two golds, Iola’s 4×800-meter relay team of Chase and Cole Regehr, Blake Haar and Nathan Sprague roared to an easy win, beating Anderson County by a whopping 22 seconds.
Chase Regehr then followed up with a silver medal in the 800-meter run.
“To come out with a win in the 4×800 without our main group of guys (Daugharthy rested Plumlee and Jay and allowed Haar and Sprague to anchor the team),” I’m pretty happy with it,” Chase Regehr said. “I’m very proud of Braden and Kendall. We couldn’t do what we did in the 4×400 without them.”
The runners battled a brisk north wind, that “felt like hitting a brick wall” on the track, Plumlee said.
“I felt it at my back going down the backstretch,” Regehr said. “I didn’t notice it as much as I figured I would when I was running into it.”
Other highlights for the Mustang track team included Nathan Sprague’s second-place finish in the 400 meters, finishing in 54.3 seconds.
