CHANUTE — Iola High was able to shake off the dust as the Mustangs hit the track Friday at Chanute’s Thad Clements Invitational.
The competition marked the first meet for Iola in more than a week and a half, after the Mustangs’ two previous scheduled meets were canceled due to rain.
“As a coach, I could tell the kids were hungry and ready to compete,” Mustang head coach David Daugharthy said.
Sure enough, Iola racked up another armload of season- and personal-best marks.
“We are hitting our stride down the homestretch of the season,” Daugharthy said. “We’re looking forward to seeing what the rest of the season holds.”
Leading the way was freshman Keegan HIll, who took second in the 1600-meter run with a personal-best time of 4 minutes, 55 seconds.
Hill also ran a 2:11 split in the opening leg of Iola’s 4×800-meter relay, and tied his personal best with a high jump of 5 feet, 6 inches, good for sixth.
The only fly in the ointment was Hill’s scratch out of the 3200 because of a lingering injury.
“Hopefully, he is able to fully recover and be ready for a state run,” Daugharthy said.
Teammate Cortland Carson took fourth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.9 seconds, continuing his season-long trend of setting new benchmarks in both hurdles races. Carson has shaved time on six of his seven meets this season.
Carson took fifth in the 300-meter hurdles at 44.39 seconds, more than 3 seconds off of his time from 2023.
“We have been changing some things in the 300, and this was his first time implementing the new strategy,” Daugharthy said. “With more races, I believe he will drop even more time. In both hurdle events, Cortland has dedicated himself to excellence, and the results are showing.”
Jaydon Morrison threw a season-best 137’8” to take seventh in the javelin. Rio Lohman also ran a season-best 17.39 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, in her bid to return to state.
Sophomore Maddox Riley ran his best 110-meter hurdles race in over a month at 17.23 seconds.
Freshman Lynsie Fehr ran a personal-best 1600 at 6 minutes, 38 seconds, a full 20 seconds faster than her previous best. “She ran an amazing race,” Daugharthy said. “She passed three runners in the last 200 meters.”
