FREDONIA — Adam Kauth’s return to the track was a successful one Friday.
The Iola High Senior, hobbled by an ankle injury for the first month of the 2014 track and field season, brought home a pair of top-four finishes in his hurdles races at the Fredonia Relays.
“We didn’t know what to expect,” Mustang head coach Marv Smith said. “Monday was the frist day he had gone over a hurdle, and we considered having him use a standing start.”
However, the unique starting position proved too troublesome, so Smith had Kauth wrap his ankle extra tight to see how it would respond.
It responded quite well.
Kauth brought home a silver medal in the 110-meter high hurldes and fourth in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles.
“In our unbiased eyes, we thought Adam had taken third right at the tape of the 300,” Smith said.
Tyler Powelson continued his sterling senior campaign. He ran a season’s-best 4 minutes, 4:45.98 in winning the 1600 meters, while taking second in a hotly contested 800-meter run.
There, he finished just behind Yates Center standout Drake Busteed, and just ahead of Humboldt’s Andrew Keazer.
As has become custom this season, Iola again was limited in its participation.
Senior distance runner Jeremy Spears pulled out of the 3200-meter run because of allergies, while freshman Braden Plumlee battled an ailing knee. Meanwhile freshman Chase Regehr was slowed with a turf toe, Smith said. Turf toe is a soreness underneath the ball of the toe so it hurts, especially, to push off.
Plumlee and Regehr teamed with Tyler McIntosh and Brian Hu to take bronze in the 4×800 relay.
“We considered not using Regehr, but with no Spears, he had to run,” Smith said. “He wound up with the best split time.”
Iola’s Michael Wilson tied for the best mark of the day in the pole vault, clearing 11 feet, 6 inches. But he was relegated to third because of the number of misses.
ON THE GIRLS’ side, Iola’s Emery Driskel brought home third in the 100 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles, while Darci Collins placed fourth in the shot put.
Abigail Taylor likely would have medaled in the 1600, Smith said, but she was kept out in order to compete in both the 3200 meters and the 4×800 relay.
