CHANUTE — The competition was a bit tougher than expected, but Iola High’s junior varsity track and field teams still shined in their respective events. ON THE BOYS’ side, Iola’s 4×800-meter realy team of Jacob Cooper, Blaine Klubek, Travis Hermstein and Jonathan Tidd took third place with a mark of 10:17.
Leading the way for Iola was the Fillies’ Valaree Burtnett, who claimed the silver medal in the pole vault and bronze in the high jump.
Burtnett’s pole vault mark of 7 feet was the same height as the winning mark set by a Chanute varsity competitor, Coach Marv Smith said. Burtnett took the silver because of a tie-breaker.
Several varsity athletes competed in the JV meet because other meets had been rained out earlier this season, Smith said.
Burtnett’s mark of 4 feet, 4 inches was good for third in the high jump.
Also taking bronze for the Fillies were Jessica Oakley in the discus (77 feet); Shannon Vogel in the 3200-meter run at 16 minutes, 29 seconds; and Olivia Bannister in the pole vault, clearing 6 feet.
Alexis Hobbs finished fourth in the javelin at 74’9”. Iola’s 4×100-meter relay team of Klair Vogel, Burtnett, Bannister and Shannon Vogel also finished fourth at 59.5 seconds.
Bannister took fifth in the long jump at 13’5”. Klair Vogel won her 100-meter dash heat at 14.5 seconds, which was good for eighth best overall. The 100 featured eight heats, Smith said.
“Jessica’s discus throw was a very good mark,” Smith said. “The girls got to throw directly into the wind. The boys had to throw into a strong cross wind.
Jesse Zimmerman struggled in the discus, throwing 88’8”, good for seventh.
“That mark was about 25 feet off of his best,” Smith said, attributing the shorter distance to the wind. “If you got the lip up at all, the wind would turn it over and it would fall like an anchor. The javelin was the same problem.”
Zimmerman had no such issues in the shot put. His personal-best throw of 34’9” brought home eighth place.
Cooper finished seventh in the 800-meter run at 2:29.7.
The Fillies took home fifth place iwth 41 points. Fort Scott won the girls competition with 117 points, followed by Paola in second with 80.
While only taking a handful of boys to the meet, Iola claimed 13th place with 11 points. Fort Scott won the boys side with 103 points, followed by Paola with 84 and Oklahoma Union with 60.
“This was a huge meet,” Smith said, noting the boys shot put alone had 56 throwers. Thirty-four more ran the 1600 meters. “We even had about 20 running the 3200.”
Iola’s varsity squad travels to Independence Friday.
The next action for the JV thinclads is April 23 at Fort Scott.
IHS JV track team fares well
