FORT SCOTT — A wet course and gloomy conditions couldn’t slow Iola’s cross country team on Thursday in Fort Scott.
With one of their top runners — Kendall Jay — sidelined due to a doctor’s appointment, the Mustangs needed someone to step up and rise to the occasion to help the team finish near the top of the team standings.
They got that big performance from sophomore standout Cole Regehr.
Regehr ran a 19:51 and finished 9th overall and first among Iola competitors. After finishing third amongst his teammates last Thursday in Garnett, Thursday’s race was a big statement for a runner Iola coach Marv Smith is expecting a lot out of this season.
“Best race of Cole’s short career,” Smith said.
Despite the rain and slippery course, Regehr was able to save his best performance for the end of the race.
“His last one mile was very good as he moved from 15th to 9th,” Smith said.
With Regehr crossing the finish line, he kicked off a herd of Mustangs to finish. Senior Isaiah Fawson finished just 13 seconds behind Regehr in 10th place.
Fawson’s classmate Braden Plumlee was right on his heels, finishing just six seconds later with a time of 20:10 and earning 11th place.
Elijah Fawson rounded out the Mustang medalists. Fawson normally serves as Iola’s No. 5 runner, but was elevated to the No. 4 spot with Jay missing.
He rose to the occasion with a big finish to earn 13th place with a 20:16.
“Elijah passed five or six in the last half mile,” Smith said.
Royce Smith was the final Iola runner to record a score that counted toward the team score. He finished in 19th place despite having trouble with his footing several times.
“The course was sloppy by the time the last two races began with the last 100 yards being a mud pit,” Coach Smith said. “Royce slipped and fell twice during the race, once within the last 400 yards.”
Those slips proved fatal for the Mustangs in the team race. Royce Smith finished just behind a Labette County runner.
If those two runners had been reversed, it would have given Iola the team win on the strength of a tiebreaker as Iola’s sixth runner Bryce Andres finished well in front of Labette County’s No. 6. Andres was 21st with a time of 21:11.
