The Iola High School Mustang track and field athletes put their skills to the test for the first time in 2025 after participating in Thursday’s Paola Invitational.
The boys 400-meter relay team of Corland Carson, Kevon Loving, Konner Larney and Griffin Westervel secured a first-place finish in the meet that featured larger schools from the Kansas City metro area.
“It was really exciting to see the boys compete so well against league teams,” said Brit Daugharthy, Iola assistant coach. “Looking at the league, it’s nice to know we’re kind of ahead right now. I am really proud of everyone. We were bummed we didn’t get to compete last week in Labette.”
The boys finished ninth overall as a team.
Carson also played a role in the third-place 4×800 team’s success, which also featured runners Jakobie Hill, Cole Moyer and Kale Godfrey. In the 4×100, Gavin Jones, Loving, Larney and Westervelt took seventh. Individually, Carson also took seventh in the 310-hurdles.
The girls, who took 11th overall as a team, had some strong individual performances.
“It’s really encouraging. We always want to be data-driven and look at the times and the distances,” Daugharthy said. “When you don’t have the times, you start to doubt yourself. But today confirms how hard our kids are working. It’s so fun. I love the positive atmosphere we have.”
In the 300 hurdles, senior Mahailie Genoble took third with a personal best of 49.92. Junior Bethany Miller finished eighth in the shot put. When Miller struggled in the discus, Laney Oswald stepped up after barely missing the top 10 with a 12th-place finish. 
The Mustangs hope to put a few more athletes on the podium next Thursday, when they potentially face a few more teams in their conference for the Anderson County Invitational. Until then, the Mustangs will continue practicing, improving their times and distances until they can peak at just the right time in the postseason. 
“Hand offs (in relays) are one thing to look at, but it’s just a lot of fine tuning,” Daugharthy said. “Once we see all of these great starts, we know we’re in a good place. It’s time to do a little fine-tuning.”
