Iola Middle School’s Haidyn Desmarteau was a true golden girl Tuesday, etching her name into the school record books in the process.
The Mustang eighth-grader racked up four gold medals, winning the 100- and 200-meter dashes, the long jump and anchoring Iola’s 4×100-meter relay team to victory alongside teammates Kinzley Fountain, Camryn Wille and Hannah Thompson.
She was hardly the only luminary to shine on a cool but otherwise picturesque day at the Terry Lower Invitational.
The extravaganza drew more than 900 athletes from 17 schools across southeast Kansas to Iola’s Riverside Park.
Desmarteau ended her day with a bang, finishing the 200 in a blistering 27.27 seconds, beating the old record of 27.65 seconds set by Ashley Campbell in 2011.
Cora Boren set a new school record in the 3200 while taking second with a time of 15:08.52.
As a squad, Iola’s girls took second, just behind meet champion Girard, which scored 101 compared to Iola’s 90.
Also golden for Iola was eighth-grader Mariah Mathis, who won the 800 meters, the seventh-grade boys 4×100 relay team of Parker Pfaff, Jaxen Mueller, Cade Curry and Milo Franklin; and the eighth-grade girls 4×200-meter relay team of Thompson, Folk, Kashyn Curry and Wille.
Humboldt and Marmaton Valley athletes also acquitted themselves quite well in one of the largest and toughest middle school meets in the state.
For the Lady Cubs, Tinley Ermel was tops in the seventh-grade girls 100-meter hurdles, Hadlee Allen was golden in the seventh-grade girls high jump, Jadey Ellis topped all comers in the eighth grade girls turbo javelin throw, and Allen and Ermel ran the first two legs on the gold medal-winning 4×100 relay team alongside Mylan Sterling and Kyndal Mathes. Allen’s high jump mark of 4 feet, 4 inches tied a school record, head coach Jeremy Weilert reported.
Mason Miller picked up gold in the high jump for the eighth-grade Humboldt boys.
Marmaton Valley’s Clara Ferguson took home the win in the eighth-grade girls shot put, while Brayden Endicott and Jaren Curl just missed out on a first-place finish in the 1600-meter run, finishing second and third, respectively.
Local results follow.
Seventh grade boys
Team scores: 1 (tie). Royster and Burlington, 85; 3. Iola, 78.5; 8. Marmaton Valley, 28.5; 16. Humboldt, 4
100 meters — 4. Milo Franklin, Iola, 13.44; 7. Parker Pfaff, Iola, 13.6; 10. Jaxen Mueller, Iola, 13.68; 21. Mason Gunderman, Humboldt, 14.55; 24. Tate Thomas, 14.88; 25. Jaxon Gunderman, 14.88; 29. Anthony Sander, MV, 15.47; 32. Ryler Stone, MV, 15.7
200 meters — 2. Mueller, 27.29; 5. Franklin, 27.44; 18. Deegan Megenity, Humboldt, 31.30; 19. Caleb Jankovich-Setter, Iola, 31.54; 25. Stone, 33.92; 26. Zayne Endicott, MV, 34.08
400 meters — 5. Franklin, 1:05.49; 8. Chance Conley, Iola, 1:08.01; 17. Austin Campbell, Iola, 1:15.04; 19. Ryker Platt, Humboldt, 1:15.97; 21. Megenity, 1:16.44
