GARNETT — Iola High’s cross country runners mixed three parts triumph and one part heartbreak on a glorious Saturday afternoon. ON THE FLIP SIDE, Iola’s Abigail Taylor — who ran her 4K route in an unofficial school record of 16:53 — narrowly missed out on qualifying for state.
Iola’s boys, battling through a season plagued by injury, took home a state-qualifying team performance at the Class 4A regional meet at the Garnett Country Club grounds.
Led by the triumvirate of Tyler Powelson, Trent Latta and Jeremy Spears, the Mustangs placed three of the top seven individuals en route to a third-place team finish. Fifteen teams competed for the three slots to qualify for state.
Because of the top-three finish, the entire squad qualifies for the Class 4A State Cross Country Meet Saturday in Wamego.
“This was one of my happiest cross country moments,” veteran Iola coach Marv Smith said. “Six weeks ago, it appeared we had no chance to qualify a team.”
Powelson charged up the final quarter-mile-long hill on the picturesque terrain to claim second place overall of 98 runners. Powelson — who earned the Pioneer League championship a week earlier — completed the 5K course in 18 minutes, 8 seconds.
Latta finished fifth at 18:23, two seconds ahead of Spears at 18:25.
All three were classified as all-regional runners for their performances.
After running most of the race at the cusp of the top 10 runners, and automatically qualifying for state, Taylor, a freshman, was nipped at the line by a Pittsburg runner by one-tenth of a second, pushing her back to 11th.
Smith learned after the results were posted that Taylor also was sixth among runners who weren’t part of qualifying teams (the top five runners outside the non-qualifying teams also qualify for state).
“I was close to tears for Abigail,” Smith said. “She did everything she could to hold that (qualifying) spot. It was a very tough field of girls, as next week’s state meet will show. Abigail has a lot to be proud of, but our disappointment is real.”
Katren Reinbolt of Fort Scott is the Class 4A regional champion with a mark of 15:32.
WITH TWO of Iola’s leading runners sidelined for the year with injuries, and Spears battling a knee injury through the second half of the year, qualifying for state was an afterthought for much of the season, Smith admitted.
But the ascension of Michael Wilson and Blaine Klubek in varsity meets late in the regular season offered a glimmer of hope for the Mustangs in calculating team scores, Smith said.
But even then, the injury bug bit again. Latta suffered from back spasms prior to the regional meet, while Spears continued to tip-toe through practices — no pun intended — for fear of aggravating his knee.
“Powelson is the only runner who went through the season unscathed,” Smith said.
On Saturday, Powelson, led briefly through the first 200 meters before settling in second place behind eventual regional champion Ethan Hartzell of Baldwin.
Latta and Spears were seconds behind. All three IHS runners are juniors.
Wilson and Klubek “were swallowed up at the start” and had to contend with traffic throughout the race.
“It was more than a mile before Zach (St. Clair) started to make contact with Michael and Blaine. (Jacob) Cooper tried to make up too much ground too quickly and it cost him a lot of time during his final mile.”
Wilson, meanwhile, powered past several runners as they approached the finish, taking 44th at 20:16.
Klubek was 52nd at 20:28; St. Clair 58th at 20:40 and Cooper, 93rd at 23:05.
As a team, the Mustangs registered 110 points, behind Baldwin’s 66 points and Ottawa with 90. That said, their team time was only 6 seconds behind Ottawa. Iola boys ran in a total of 1:35:41 compared to Ottawa’s at 1:35:35.
Hartzell, a junior at Baldwin, won the race in 17:12.
Iola will run seven runners at the state meet, although the Mustangs will have three alternates on the roster as well. All are underclassmen.
“The best thing about qualifying 10 underclassmen is the state experience and the desire to ‘do it again,’” Smith said. “What a great reward for a very deserving group of athletes.”
AN ASIDE: While Taylor’s time was the fastest ever for a Fillies’ cross country runner, it is not considered an “official” school record, Smith said.
Some courses may be more difficult than others, while some may not have been measured to exactly 4,000 meters.
“However, we have only been running the 4K distances for two years, and Abigail had a better time than Christy Cheung or Alisa Miller, who had our previous best marks,” Smith said.
Mustang runners qualify for state meet
