FORT SCOTT — The Iola High School Mustang cross country team dominated at the Fort Scott Invitational for their second meet of the season.
Varsity
The varsity cross country team came in first place overall with 29 points.
“I’m always impressed with this team and how they are able to push themselves as well as their teammates to get their best performance,” said Iola head coach Brit Daugharthy. “What a great night to be a Mustang.”
Jesse Taylor took home first place in the varsity race, finishing the two-mile race in 18:48.
“Taylor had a strong start and maintained his lead all the way to the finish, earning him his first win of the season,” said Daugharthy.
Cole Moyer came in fourth with a time of 19:27, followed by Kaster Trabuc with a time of 19:29 for sixth place overall.
“Moyer had a great finish and passed multiple competitors during the last 100 meters of the race. Trabuc helped pack in the top three runners on our team,” said Daugharthy. “Trabuc also had a strong finish, there were three competitors fighting for 5th-7th place. Trabuc was able to push through and earn his 6th-place finish.”
Mustang Travis Wanker finished with a time of 21:14 for 20th place overall while Brennan Coffield came in 26th with a time of 21:45. Alejandro Escalante ran a time of 23:24 to come in 31st.
“Wanker has come so far from last season and will be able to attain his goal of a PR in the near future. Coffield had another personal best of the season,” said Daugharthy.
“Coffield has been doing a great job of closing the gap between him and his teammates for a better overall team score,” Daugharthy said. “He is such a team player and is willing to push himself for the better of his team. Escalante had been battling some slight sickness this week, but came out ready to compete and help out his team.”
Junior Varsity
Jaden Silvey was the lone JV Mustang runner to compete at Fort Scott. It was his first 5k race of his career. He finished the race in 28th place with a time of 29:35.
During the race, the runners took a wrong turn with the lead cart too far ahead. This caused the front of the pack to fall behind and end up in the back of the herd to claw their way back.
“What a wild race this was. The lead cart had been too far ahead and as the boys began the first part of their race, they made a wrong turn. Whoever was leading the pack then was at the end of the pack and had to fight their way back,” said Daugharthy.
