CHANUTE — The Iola High JV track team stacked up in the Chanute Invitational on Monday afternoon.
Iola took first place in two events and placed in the top 10 in 14 events. The meet was then called short due to rain and lightning in the area.
Alejandro Escalante finished in fifth place with a season-best time in the 1600 meters of 6:14.62.
“Alejandro has had a really solid start to the season,” said Iola head coach Dana Daugharthy. “He dropped almost 30 seconds off what he ran last week. He is a really hard worker, so I am not surprised at all. He also is only about 10 seconds off of his personal record.”
Samuel Sturgeon came in sixth place in both the 100-meter dash with a personal-record time of 12.19 seconds and a 400-meter dash finish of 1:02.73, also good for a personal record.
“This is Sam’s first meet of the year,” Daugharthy said. “I knew he had gotten faster, but I didn’t know by how much. He shaved a full second off of his 100 meters personal record and 2 seconds off of his 400 meters PR. He has a really high potential for this season.”
Brett Heinrick placed third in the 800-meter run with a personal-best time of 2:43.48.
“Brett ran very well in this open 800,” said Daugharthy. “He has a great attitude and works very hard in practice.”
Griffin Westervelt finished the 100-meter dash with a personal-record time of 12.70 seconds.
“Griffin has been progressively getting faster and faster,” Daugharthy continued. “He set his personal record at the last JV meet, and he is continuing to improve his mark.”
Alex Smail secured a personal-record time of 13.82 seconds in the 100 meter dash.
“I have been very impressed with Alex this season,” Daugharthy said. “He seems to have progressed very well from his freshman to sophomore year. I think he has a lot of potential as a young athlete.”
Raiden Kern set a personal-record time of 14.21 seconds in the 100 meter dash.
“This is Raiden’s first year of sprinting, and it is showing that if you practice something, you will get better,” said Daugharthy. “He has been getting faster from meet to meet. This is proof that if you want to get faster, do track.”
Bethany Miller won first place in the 300 meter hurdles with a personal-record throw of 31’ 1”. She also came in third place in the 100 meter hurdles.
