FORT SCOTT — With coaches handing out cups of water to pour over their heads, Iola High’s cross country runners and others endured Thursday afternoon’s humid conditions and high temperatures at Fort Scott High’s Invitational.
The Mustangs claimed second in varsity and junior varsity races. The Fillies again ran just two in the varsity girls’ race.
“We had several who struggled with the conditions. We handed cups of water to pour over their heads during the race,” said Marvin Smith, Iola High’s head coach.
“We had several athletes who had significantly better races than the week before and some dropped off from last week. So much of the races depended on the effects of heat and humidity.
“We ran rather conservatively due to the heat,” he said about the Mustang varsity.
Labette County won the varsity boys’ team title with 23 points. Iola was second with 33 points, followed by Prairie View with 97 points and Frontenac with 104 points. There were 17 schools at the meet.
Jeremy Spears ran No. 1 for the Mustang varsity, claiming the third-place medal in 19 minutes, 1 second for the 5K race. Trent Latta picked up a medal finishing fourth in 19:14, followed by Tyler Powelson in sixth at 19:51.
“Kohl Endicott was 14th when he came past me with a half mile to go and I implored him to hang on to his spot because he was about spent,” Smith said. “He went around the lake and came out of the trees in 10th place. Kohl had a very good race.”
Endicott was the fourth Mustang to earn a medal, taking 10th in 20:04. Blaine Klubec was 19th in 21:20 followed by Michael Wilson in 20th at 21:24 and Gerardo Rojas in 40th at 24:47.
Smith said he was happy with Klubek’s race since the coaches had Klubek miss practices for almost two weeks to get over leg problems. Smith said Klubek and Wilson ran together for most of Thursday’s race.
Abigail Taylor, who had been under the weather this week, was again Iola’s top girl runner in the varsity race. Taylor, who had trouble with the weather conditions, ran the 4K race slower than a week ago but still earned the sixth-place medal in 18:46.
Jo Lohman captured the final medal spot in the girls’ varsity race. Lohman finished 15th in 20:30.
In the junior varsity girls’ race, Shannon Vogel placed 20th in 23:48 followed by Klair Vogel in 33rd in 29:36 and Courtney Smith in 34th at 29:50.
The Mustang JV scored 64 points to take second behind Labette County, which had 54 points. Oswego’s varsity was third with 104 points.
Three Iola runners captured medals in the junior varsity race led by Levi Baker in fourth, running the race in 17:23. Travis Hermstein placed seventh in 17:31 and Jonathan Tidd was 15th in 18:12. Jacob Cooper was close in 18th in 18:19 and Bryan Mueller placed 20th in 18:26.
