FREDONIA — For Iola High’s track and field team, a trip to Fredonia Thursday bodes well for the rest of the 2024 season.
The Mustang athletes ventured to Fredonia for the JSC Fredonia Relays, one of the signature events of the high school track season in southeast Kansas.
The competition was beneficial for multiple reasons, not the least of which was because Iola, and Humboldt, for that matter, will return to Fredonia May 17 for the Class 3A Regionals, where top finishes will book a trip to the state track meet the following week.
“The competition we saw there is going to closely resemble the regional meet as well,” Iola head coach David Daugharthy noted.
So while the weather was not ideal — cold, windy conditions persisted throughout — Iola’s varsity athletes had their best meet of the season, Daugharthy noted.
Among the highlights:
Iola’s Keegan Hill had the best meet of his decorated freshman campaign, winning the 3200 meters, placing third in the 1600 meters and narrowly missing out on gold in the high jump.
Hill cleared 5 feet, 6 inches, in the high jump, equaling the winning height, but was relegated to second because of misses at lower heights. Nevertheless, it was good enough for his first ever medal in the event.
“Right now, Keegan is making a claim to be in the fight for qualifying for state in three events,” Daugharthy said.
Hill’s 1600 time of 4 minutes, 58 seconds, marked his first time this year to break the 5-minute barrier. He completed the 3200, despite not having much competition at the lead, “so his time (10:57.21) wasn’t exactly what we were hoping for,” Daugharthy said. “Regardless, he ran hard and deserved the victory. With competition, I expect him to be very competitive.”
Maddox Riley took fourth in the 110-meter hurdles at 17.59 seconds, an important number because he broke the 18-second threshold for the first time since he suffered an ankle injury earlier this season. “Look for his time to drop more as he recovers,” Daugharthy said.
Fellow hurdler Cortland Carson also had a strong night, breaking his personal record in the 110-meter hurdles twice, the first time in the prelims and second in the finals, in finishing sixth at 17.73 seconds. Carson also took fourth in the 300-meter hurdles, finishing in 46.08 seconds.
Cole Moyer set a personal-best mark in the 1600, taking fifth at 5:06 and fourth in the 800 meters at 2:19.
“I expect Cole to continue to improve the rest of the season and make a run at state in both events,” Daugharthy said.
Iola’s 4×400-meter relay team — Carson, Moyer, Griffin Westervelt and Sam Sturgeon — brought home a sixth-place medal.
