Taylor strikes gold (again and again) for Fillies

INDEPENDENCE — Abigail Taylor is making the remarkable seem routine.
The Iola High freshman already has earned several top awards on the track for her distance running.
She outdid herself Friday, earning two gold medals and narrowly missing a third.
It was how she won her second gold in the 3200 meters that deserves special mention.
Head coach Marv Smith explained:
“Abigail was scheduled to run on the 4×400-meter relay team,” Smith said, but Iola had to drop the event because of personnel shortages (more on that later).
“So, when we dropped it, she asked if she could run the 3200,” Smith said.
Doing so was easier said than done because Taylor also was scheduled to compete in the 800-meter run.
That meant Taylor had to run the 3200 roughly 15 minutes after completing her 800.
Smith tried to dissuade Taylor from the attempt.
“She said, ‘Well, if I feel ready, is it OK to run to get us some more points,’” Smith said. “I said, ‘I don’t think you’re going to feel ready!’”
Taylor felt more than ready.
After narrowly missing gold in the 800 — her time of 2 minutes, 32.9 seconds was three-tenths of a second out of first place — Taylor came back to win the 3200 with a time of 13:15.
And that was after winning the 1600-meter run in 5:38.3 earlier in the afternoon.
Alas, Iola’s third-place finish at the Independence Invitational was hardly a one-girl show.
Several other Fillies brought home top finishes as Iola racked up 94 points as a team despite losing four members due to a jazz band event, one due to IHS play rehearsals, one due to an art festival, two because of jobs and another due to a club volleyball event.
Breanna Stout brought home a silver and bronze medal, taking second in the javelin with a throw of 100 feet, 2 inches. She narrowly missed out on a 115-foot throw but was called for a foul on the throw.
She also settled for third in the pole vault at 9 feet. An aside is the winner also only cleared 9 feet, but Stout took third in a tie breaker based on the number of misses in the competition. Stout’s high jump mark of 4’6” was good for fifth.
Darci Collins took silver in the shot put with her throw of 34’6”. Her throw of 82’8” was good for fifth in the discus.
Ashley Campbell finished third in the high jump, clearing 4’10” and third in the 400-meter dash at 1:04.5. She also took fourth in the 200-meter dash at 27.4 seconds.
Cassie Delich was a two-time bronze medalist. She was leading in the 300-meter hurdles before having trouble with the sixth hurdle and settling for third at 55 seconds. She also finished third in the 100-meter hurdles at 18.4 seconds. She took sixth in the 200 at 27.9 seconds.
The Fillies had to drop both the 4×400 and 4×800-meter relay squads because of lack of personnel.
Iola pieced together a 4×100-meter relay team despite being without Emery Driskel (club volleyball), Olivia Bannister (jazz band) and Valaree Burtnett (injury).
In their stead, the quartet of Campbell, Stout, Delich and Klair Vogel finished third at 54.8 seconds.
Jessica Oakley threw the discus 80 feet, good for sixth place.
“Coach (Pat) Lonergan was pleased with his throwers,” Smith said. “Jessica is only a freshman and is improving rapidly. Breanna is picking up the javelin quickly.
“I am anxious to have a meet with the full squads,” Smith said. “It won’t happen next week because we have kids in the play cast of ‘Grease.’”