Mustangs qualify for state cross country meet

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Sports

October 26, 2015 - 12:00 AM

GARNETT — For the first time since 2012, the Mustangs will compete at the state cross country meet as a team.
Iola High School’s varsity boys squad finished in second place during Saturday’s 4A Regional Cross Country Meet in Garnett. As one of the top-three  regional teams, the Mustangs will advance to the state meet on Saturday in Wamego.
“This is a fitting reward for a group of very hard working boys,” coach Marv Smith said. “They are a very close-knit team who are more interested in how we do as a team, yet realize that their contribution is vital.”
Iola placed all five of its scoring runners within the race’s top 20. With a score of 56, the Mustangs had plenty of wiggle room between them and Paola, which finished with a team score of 106.
Girard won the meet with a score of 21, placing all five of its scoring runners in the top 10.
“When we received our regional assignments, we knew that there were five teams that had the best chances to get the top three places,” Smith said. “We felt like it would take a score of 80 or lower to make the cut and on paper, that is about where we appeared to be … We finished 24 points below what I had projected ‘just to qualify’ and our guys knew they do not give a plaque to the third qualifier.”
Braden Plumlee once again led the pack for Iola. With a fifth-place overall finish, the senior earned one of the 10 medals handed out after the race.
Kendall Jay, the Mustangs’ No. 2 runner, also qualified for an individual medal after a 10th place finish.
All five of Iola’s scoring runners earned an All-Regional tag with Plumlee and Jay being named to the First Team while the other three were named to the Second Team.
Plumlee made a 2:23 improvement from his last race in Garnett on Sept. 3, which was the season’s first.
Jay also improved from his last time out at Garnett, finishing 1:58 better.
Cole Regehr, Iola’s No. 5 runner, finished 2:06 better. The Mustangs’ other three runners ran the Garnett course for the first time this year after missing out on the one nearly two months ago.
“I was a little concerned that we might slip back a little from the great race we had a week earlier in winning the league,” Smith said. “Didn’t happen. This one was a notch better.”

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