FREDONIA — The Iola and Humboldt High track teams finished strong at the Fredonia Relays on Friday.
Iola High’s Eli Adams took first place in the 800-meter run and Humboldt’s Maddox Johnson medaled in the javelin throw, discus and shot put.
Overall, the Humboldt boys came in eighth place while Iola’s boys came in ninth place. On the girls side, Iola took 12th place as a team and Humboldt placed 13th. Field-Kinley High took first place as a team on both the boys and girls side.
Iola
Adams secured the top spot in the 800 meters with a time of 2:09. He also ran a leg in the 4×800 relay which had a season-best time of 9:12.76. Adams’ teammates were Jesse Taylor, Travis Wanker and Cole Moyer.
“Eli ran a very smart race. He was letting another runner set the pace the first lap and a half, and then he completely dusted him on the last 200,” Iola head coach Dana Daugharthy said. “He ran that race to win it and he is running incredibly well right now.”
Taylor finished in third place in the 3200-meter run with a season-best time of 10:47.71.
“Jesse ran a very good race. He is able to run a very consistent race, and I think he is getting ready to start dropping some time,” said Daugharthy. “Every year that he runs the 3200 he seems to always start dropping times in the middle of the season. His best race always seems to be at the end of the season and he is at a really good time right now.”
Wanker placed sixth in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 2 inches.
“Travis just started high jumping this year, and he looks like he has picked up the event very well,” Daugharthy said. “He is close to getting 5-4, so hopefully he can get this next week.”
Gavin Jones earned a season-best time of 56.27 seconds in the boys 400 meters. He also ran a 56-second leg of the 4×400 meter relay.
“Gavin has grit, and it shows in the 400,” said Daugharthy. “He really knows how to push through the pain. In a couple weeks, I think he is going to be able to run a very competitive time at the league track meet.”
Jaydon Morrison threw the discus a personal-best distance of 123’ 1”. He also sent the shot put a personal-high 40’ 8”.
“Jaydon PR’d in two of his three throws at this meet. The discus mark is one that he has been trying to get all season,” Daugharthy explained. “He has been throwing 120 in practice but had yet to hit it in the meet. This is well deserved because Jaydon takes coaching extremely well. He will continue to get better and he could have a shot at qualifying for state in both of these events.”
Cortland Carson got a season-best time of 47.50 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles.
