OSAWATOMIE — The Iola High School cross country team took second place as a team at the Pioneer League competition in Osawatomie on Thursday.
The Mustangs broke seven personal records among the varsity and junior varsity athletes. The high schoolers competed in the 5K races and the middle-schoolers ran the 2-mile distance.
Jesse Taylor led the varsity Mustangs, coming in fourth place with a time of 17:56. The finish earned Taylor an All-League medal. Iola’s Cole Moyer finished in sixth place with a mark of 18:44.
“The varsity boys came out super competitive and ready to go,” said Iola head coach Brittany Daugharthy. “Jesse Taylor came prepared for tonight and started off strong and hung on to his 4th-place spot throughout the race.
“Cole Moyer was feeling back to his usual self after being a little under the weather the past couple of weeks and worked hard,” she said.
Travis Wanker ran his best race of his high school career and finished with a time of 19:36, good for 11th place and the All-League second team.
“He (Wanker) has been very focused on getting his time down in the 19-minute range, and he did it,” Daugharthy said. “Travis has been very focused and determined on his goal and I am so proud of what he has accomplished so far this season.”
Mustang Kaster Trabuc had a physically tough race, crossing the finish line in obvious pain. Trabuc finished his 5K in 20:17 to take 15th overall and All-League second team.
“Tonight’s race was a hard one due to a nasty side stitch that hung on throughout his race. I could not be more proud of how hard he pushed himself through all the pain he was feeling,” said Daugharthy.
Brennan Coffield came in 21st place with a time of 20:58 while Alejandro Escalante trailed not too far behind for a 21:47 finish to take 25th place. Mustang Jayden Silvey also came in 28th place with a time of 21:54 while Ricky Rowe came across the finish line with a time of 23:44, good for 40th place overall.
“I am so proud of all of our runners. They work so hard and push each other to be their best. Tonight’s race shows their effort and hard work on the course and in the results,” said Daugharthy. “They put in the work early and now we’re reaping the benefits.”
The Iola eighth-graders were represented by Lysnie Fehr and Josh Wanker. Fehr earned an All-League medal with a time of 14:55, good for fifth place. Wanker came across with a personal record time of 16:12 for 13th place overall.
“These guys just come out and compete and they never cease to amaze me with what they’re able to do,” said Daugharthy. “They pushed through and we’ve done some hard workouts and they took them on like a challenge and it paid off today.”
Mosiah Fawson and Cameron Palmer ran in the eighth grade race for Iola. Fawson ran his season-best time of 13:45 to take fifth place while Palmer ran a time of 16:23 for 10th place overall and an All-League medal.
The Iola Middle School cross country team is now done for the season. The high school Mustangs will compete at regionals in Chanute next Saturday at 9 a.m.
