Iola track split up on Thursday and dealt with the cold and blustery wind in both Wichita and Garnett.
Some of the varsity and the junior varsity traveled to Anderson County to compete in their invitational while the rest of the varsity traveled west to Wichita for the Pre-State Challenge at Cessna Stadium.
In Wichita, the Mustangs and Fillies competed in the 4A-6A division, meaning that they were going up against the biggest and best athletes at the meet.
Junior Elysia Kunkler led Iola by making history by being the first Mustang or Filly to compete in the pentathlon. Not only did she compete, but she finished third including winning the long jump with a distance of 161.
Kunkler didnt really have an opportunity to practice much for events like the high jump or shot put but it was the 800 that proved to be the clincher to her placing.
A runner from Cheney nearly closed the gap and passed her but in the backstretch of the race, Kunkler was able to hold her off to place third in the race. If the girl from Cheney had passed her, she wouldnt have medaled but her time of 2:58.10 was enough to earn her bronze.
In the other events, Kunkler ran the high hurdles in 17.34, jumped a 44 in the high jump and threw the shot put for 222.
Other competitors in the meet included IJ Badders who took 11th in the triple jump with a distance of 362 which was a personal record. He also ran a personal record time of 12.32 in the 100-meter dash.
Jack Adams placed 13th in the 3200 with a time of 10:48.07 despite the terrible conditions. He was one of the few underclassmen in the race. Riley Jay ran the 1600 and didnt place but he did set a personal record of 5:10.97.
Lastly, the 4×800 team of Cole Reher, Jay, Adams and Tavon Bass ran a 9:22.73 which was a season-best for them by six seconds.
Meanwhile, back in Garnett, the rest of the varsity and junior varsity Mustangs and Fillies took eighth and seventh overall. Other teams were competing with their full varsity squads while Iola was competing with a split squad.
The girls 4×800 team of Josie Plumlee, Averie Sharon, Rachel Bycroft and Elanie Sturgeon took third overall with a time of 12:15.91.
Bycroft took third in the 3200 with a time of 13:51.25. Plumlee took fifth in the 1600 with a time of 6:29.54 and Sharon took fifth in the 3200 with a time of 13:53.57 which was a season-best for her. She narrowly (by five one-hundredths of a second) missed out on a fourth-place finish.
Ella Taylor placed in three events starting with a fourth-place finish in the pole vault with a jump of 70. She also took fifth in the triple jump with a distance of 303.5 and seventh in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.67.
Sturgeon placed fifth in the 400 with a time of 1:15.90 and Christine Helman took third in the discus with a throw of 1028. She also took fifth in the shot (301) and narrowly missed out on the top 10 in the javelin.
