ALTAMONT With the wind blowing strong out of the south and the always-present threat of rain looming, the Iola Mustang and Filly track and field team opened the 2019 season at Labette County on Thursday.
While Iola didnt dominate, they were still able to get multiple placers on both the girls and boys sides to go along with four varsity first-place finishes. The varsity girls placed sixth overall and the boys placed 12th.
The first meet of the season is always a little bit of an unknown, head coach Dana Daugharthy said. Many athletes are trying new events or are completely new to track and field. You hope that these events at the beginning of the season can help pay dividends in their main events at the end of the season. The first meet can feel almost like a kid opening presents on Christmas morning. You know you have presents, you are just not sure what they are going to be.
Leading the way for the Mustangs and Fillies was junior Elysia Kunkler. Kunkler finished first in all four of her events including the 100-meter dash (13.6), the 200 (28.6), the long jump (172.5) and the high hurdles (17.3).
Due to the wind, Kunkler didnt come close to setting any personal records despite the overall dominant performance.
Other placers included the 4×800 team of Rachel Bycroft, Audrey Coltrane, Elanie Sturgeon and Averie Sharon who ended up fourth with a time of 12.16. The meet was the first for Bycroft and Sturgeon and it was the first varsity look for Coltrane and Sharon.
The girls 4×100 team also placed fourth overall with a time of 55.87. The team consisted of Kassy Shelby, Hannah Gardner, Hannah Hall and Sturgeon.
Shelby also placed fifth in the 400 with a time of 1:08.4 which was almost three seconds faster than the time that she put up to start the 2018 season.
Sharon ran the 3200 and finished sixth with a time of 14.34.
For the boys, it was Jack Adams who led the way with a third-place finish in the 3200 with a time of 11:00. Despite the wind, Adams came close to getting a personal record.
Cole Regehr started his final track season with a fourth-place finish in the 800 (2:16.50).
Mat Karr was one of the few Iola throwers to make some noise after placing fourth in the discus with a throw of 1282, which was a personal record by 10 feet. He also set a personal record in shot put but he did not place.
Lastly, the 4×800 team of Regehr, Riley Jay, Tavon Bass and Jack Adams placed fifth with a time of 9:28.7. It was a very close race and the first-place finishers ended up crossing the finish line just seven seconds ahead of them.
The junior varsity also competed in the meet and had several standout performances including Ella Taylor who finished first in pole vault (70) which tied a personal record, second in triple jump, 2811.25 and third in the 300-meter hurdles (56.9).
The 4×800 team of Callie Murcko, Jessica Tidd, Jorja Murcko and Taelyn Maley finished third with a time of 13:53.
The junior varsity boys had three top-three finishers led by Kolten LaCrone who placed in all three of his events including a first-place finish in the discus with a throw of 10110.5. He also placed second in the javelin with a throw of 118. He wrapped it all up with a sixth-place finish in the shot put.
