Allen Community College was the site for Iola Highs only home cross country meet of the season. With the home field advantage the Mustangs and Fillies didnt disappoint.
The varsity boys and girls cruised to first-place finishes with Rachel Bycroft leading the Fillies and Jack Adams the Mustangs at the Doc Stiles Invitational.
Nevada may have had the fastest overall runner in the varsity girls division, but Iola placed five runners in the top 15. Bycroft raced her way to a third-place finish with a time of 22:51. Josie Plumlee came in fourth (23:25), Kelsey Morrison 12th (24:41), Elanie Sturgeon 13th (24:49), and Ella Taylor 14th (25:03). The Fillies had two more runners that medaled outside the Fillies front five. Audrey Coltrane finished 17th (25:44), and Averie Sharon placed 21st (26:21).
For the Mustangs, all six runners finished in the top 15. Jack Adams was unable to keep his streak of placing first individually, but had a strong second-place showing with a time of 18:20. Riley Jay came in second (19:10), Elijah Fawson sixth (19:19), Kaster Trabuc seventh (19:26), Nathan Louk eighth (19:33), and Jesse Taylor 13th (19:59).
Head coach Marv Smith described the performance as business as usual.
No team scores were kept for the 4K junior varsity races. Seven runners competed for Iola in the JV division, with Callie Murcko posting the top Fillie finish coming in 10th (21:48). Elania Stiffler was the next fastest Fillie, finishing 17th (23:14), followed by Jorja Murcko 19th (23:31), Madi Robertson 24th (25:03), Elsie Fleming 25th (25:08), Kaylin Klubek 33rd, and Skyler Walden 35th (30:41).
The JV boys were still without Brett Morrison, Eli Adams and Drake DeLaTorre. Colin Long led the JV Mustangs finishing 21st (18:33). Luke Wicoff followed in 27th (18:58), Travis Wanker (19:01), Grant Luedke 34th (19:31), and Eli Smith 45th (22:24).
Races for the seventh-grade division were one mile in length. Only two girls competed for the Ponies, with Alyssa Williams finishing 15th (7:55), and Madeline Wanker placing 25th (9:52). The boys had the gold and bronze medalists, with Cole Myer taking first (5:46), and Brigg Shannon third (6:12). Also competing were Ethan Riebel in 24th (7:39), Alejandro Escalante 29th (8:15), Roper Curry 32nd (8:59), and Robert Warren 34th (9:22).
For the eighth-grade division, the race was measured at two miles. The girls had five participants with Keira Fawson placing the highest with a time of 16:30 to come in eighth. Cara Porter came in 11th (16:57), Abigail Meiwes 12th (17:35), Rebekah Coltrane (17:59), and Jilian Ward (19:34).
In the eighth-grade boys division, JJ Rutoh posted a fourth-place finish with a time of 12:22. Others competing were Jackson Ulrich in 23rd (15:54), and Sam Sturgeon in 26th (19:16).
