It was a story of heartbreak and jubilation for the Iola cross country team on Saturday.
Jubilation because for the third straight year, the Mustang runners are headed to state as a team. Heartbreak because just two points separated the Fillie runners from joining them.
The lone Fillie runner to make the cut was junior Elka Billings who finished sixth with a time of 20:42.
“Her track season and summer swim teamwork has really paid off for her,” head coach Marv Smith said. “This is a great reward for her.”
Rachel Bycroft (21:42) finished 15th, Kelsey Morrison (22:05) finished 17th, Lorie Carpenter (23:01) finished 34th, Marta Gonzalez (23:35) finished 43rd, Madisyn Holloway (23:38) finished 48th and Audrey Coltrane (24:00) finished 54th.
The good news is that the girls are without a senior this year so the entire team will potentially be back next season.
Meanwhile, the boys may not have been world beaters with their places or times but their team mentality boosted them to a third-place finish.
“We did what we do best —get toward the front and run as a pack of wolves,” Smith said. “No one placed in the top 10, but we placed our five scoring runners between 13 and 29 on the team score. The wind was a big factor in the race and in the times.”
Jack Adams was the top Iola runner finishing 15th with a time of 17:46 followed by Cole Regehr (18:18) who finished 23rd, Eli Fawson (18:24) finished 26th, Bret Plumlee (18:39) finished 28th and Nathan Louk (18:40) finished 29th.
Riley Jay (19:45) finished 54th and Bryce Andres (20:14) finished 65th.
Billings will run first thing on Saturday at the Wamego Country Club at 10 a.m. while the Iola boys will run at 11:45 a.m.
Yates Center
The Yates Center boys met their goal of taking first, but taking it by a 30-point lead was sure to beat all expectations. Burlington came in second.
Wildcat junior Hadley Splechter continued to be a force with which to be reckoned, taking the top spot with a time of 16:06.27, one minute and six seconds faster than the second-place finisher.
Senior Jordan Smith finished third with a time of 17:48.09, senior Colin Bedell (18:06.96) finished sixth and senior Kobe Forsyth (18:39.78) finished 11th.
Asher Sievers (19:05.49) finished 16th, Austin Moffett (19:07.64) finished 17th and Braydon Gaulding (21:26.89) finished 41st.
The Wildcat boys will run in the state meet on Saturday at the Wamego Country Club at 10:35.
The Wildcat girls ended up placing sixth overall as a team with Jaylee Catron leading the way with a 13th place finish (23:20.39). Catron missed out on qualifying for state by just four places.
Marmaton Valley
The Wildcat girls walked away with a fourth-place finish at the regional meet at Wichita-East High School.
Shelbi Yoho was the lone qualifier for Marmaton Valley as she snuck in to grab the 10th spot with a time of 24:22.66.
As a team, the Lady Wildcats put up a fifth-place finish. Yoho will run in the state meet on Saturday at the Wamego Country Club at 11:10 a.m.
Humboldt
The Cubs ran at the 3A Central Heights regional and while they didn’t get anyone qualified to run at the state meet, they still continued to show improvement up until the end of the season. Four of the eight runners ran faster times at the regional meet than they did at the Central Heights Invitational a few weeks ago.
Senior Josh Vanatta was the top runner for the Humboldt boys finishing 34th with a time of 19:50.
Sophomore Alex Melendez finished 29th with a time of 25:07 which was a personal record and the fastest she has run since her freshman year at regionals.
PHOTO: Junior Wildcat Hadley Splechter runs in the regional cross country meet at John Redmond Reservoir in Burlington on Saturday. Splecher finished first overall in the 2A boys race and more than one minute ahead of the second-place finisher. REGISTER/TIMOTHY EVERSON
PHOTO: Sophomore Fillie Elka Billings runs in the regional meet in Burlington on Saturday. Billings was the lone runner from the IHS girls team to qualify for state after finishing sixth. REGISTER/TIMOTHY EVERSON
