DOC STILES INVITATIONAL

Iola High School hosted the 39th Annual Doc Stiles Invitational on Tuesday afternoon at Allen Community College.
“This is the type of meet that will test you,” coach Marv Smith said of the race, which featured 25 area schools.
But the Mustangs and Fillies responded well to the midseason challenge. The varsity boys finished in second place as a team while both varsity girls finished in the top 10.
Yates Center’s varsity boys, who accumulated a team score of 47, finished just two points ahead of Iola to win the race. Although the Mustangs’ No. 4 and No. 5 runners finished ahead of the Wildcats’ last two runners, Yates Center made up for it by placing its other three runners in the top four — including first and second place.
Hadley Splechter and Brett Holloway finished No. 1 and No. 2 overall, respectively. Splechter recorded a time of 17:39.32 while Holloway wasn’t too far behind with a 17:41.44.
Humboldt’s Joe Kline broke up a trio of Wildcats from finishing in the top three with a time of 17:51.79.
Still, Smith said he was well pleased with Iola’s performance.
“We ran really well,” Smith said. “We faded again in the last half-mile. We just have to  make a little improvement in our conditioning in the second half of the season.”
The 36th-year cross country coach added his varsity boys did a good job jumping out of the gate, but that quick start and competitive pace may have let the Mustangs run out of gas in the final stretch.
Braden Plumlee, who finished eighth overall and first for Iola with a 5k time of 18:37.12, paced the Mustangs from start to finish and helped others like Kendall Jay remain competitive.
Jay, who came in ninth place, finished just six seconds behind Plumlee and has established himself as a solid No. 2 runner for the Mustangs.
Iola finished 18 points ahead of third-place Humboldt.
As for the varsity girls, the Fillies don’t have enough runners to qualify for a team score. But Megan Klubek and Abigail Taylor recorded strong individual scores, placing ninth and 10th, respectively.
Klubek finished her 5k in 22:49.13 while Taylor came in at 23:05.16.
“They’re really good for each other because whatever Megan is doing, Abigail is going to give 100 percent to be right there with her,” Smith said. “And both girls are real competitive.”
Averi Wilson of Anderson County finished first overall in the varsity girls race with a time of 19:38.99, which helped the Bulldogs finish second as a team.
Fort Scott placed first — beating Anderson County by just one point — with all five of its runners finishing in the top 20. Coffeyville finished in third place, but trailed far behind the top two schools.
Fort Scott recorded 30 points, Anderson County had 31 and Coffeyville had 66.
In the JV races, Aubri Piccini of Pittsburg won the girls’ 5k with a 24:21.21. Gavin Smith of Fort Scott won the boys’ 5k with a 20:29.67.
Iola’s Olivia Taylor earned a fifth-place finish with a 25:24.48. Taylor was the Fillies only JV girls competitor. On the boys’ side, Jonathan Rodewald finished 22nd overall and Jackson Cone came in 35th.
Finally, the middle school runners closed out the meet with the seventh graders running a mile while the eighth graders ran a two-mile race.
Iola’s Nathan Louk, Jack Adams and Riley Jay finished 1-2-3 overall in the seventh-grade boys race. Louk recorded a 6:12 mile time, and Adams was seven seconds behind while Jay was 12 seconds behind Adams.
Averie Sharon and Kailey Schinstock led the seventh-grade girls for Iola by finishing second and fourth overall, respectively.
In the eighth-grade two-mile race, Calvin Delich (12:17) and Elysia Kunkler were Iola’s top runners for the boys and girls, respectively. Each runner placed second overall.
Smith said his middle schoolers’ ultra-competitive attitude in practice helped them dominate their respective races on Tuesday.
“They don’t understand that they’re not supposed to be doing what the varsity is doing in practice,” Smith said. “But they keep up.”
Some of the area’s most elite runners were held out of the Doc Stiles Invitational because of the upcoming Rim Rock Farm Classic in Lawrence on Saturday.
Smith said it’s difficult for runners to record two solid races in the same week so he expected some competitors to miss Tuesday’s event. But he added the meet was an overall success because of Iola’s own accomplishments and the number of schools that attended.
Smith said he wanted to thank Allen Community College for hosting the meet and Red Devils cross country coach Vince DeGrado for helping to organize the event.