PARSONS — Very cool temperatures and a north breeze greeted runners at Big Hill Reservoir Thursday and, of course, the big hills as they competed in the Parsons High Invitational.
“The weather was very good for runners. We had a great race, placing six in the top 21 places,” said Marvin Smith, Iola High head cross country coach, about the Iola High Mustang varsity team.
“We have done very little hill running and this course has some tough hills,” he said.
Runners from Iola, Marmaton Valley, Humboldt and Crest competed in the races. The varsity boys ran a 5K course, while the varsity girls and both junior varsity races were 4 kilometers.
The Mustangs captured the team medals for third place in the varsity division. They scored 48 points. Chanute won the team title with 41 points and Labette County was second with 45. There were 20 schools in the field.
Roman Yocham led the Mustangs with a fifth-place individual finish in 18 minutes, 6 seconds. Trent Latta, despite lots of congestion from a cold, took eighth in 18:33 and Jeremy Spears was 11th in 18:42.
There were 15 individual medals awarded in the races.
Marmaton Valley High’s Zach Louk captured fourth place in the varsity race. He ran the course in 17:59. Crest High’s Dustin Davis-Jones took the 13th-place medal in 19:01.
Iola’s Christian Kauth finished 18th in 19:21. Tyler Powelson placed 20th in 19:28, followed by Bryan Miller in 21st in 19:35. Jordan Strickler, who is still bothered by shin splints in both legs, ran 34th in 20:25.
Humboldt High’s Michael Davis placed 45th in 21:53 as the Cubs’ top varsity runner. Nick Keazer was 47th in 21:59 and Kendall West took 52nd in 22:53.
Iola’s Fillies did not deliver a team score in the varsity race. Jennica Rausch was unable to finish because of congestion. Chanute won the team title with 48 points and Anderson County edged out Independence for second with 66 points to 68.
The Fillies were led by Sydney Owens, who turned in a 13th-place medal performance. She ran the 4K in 18:10. Kelsey Larson was 48th in 21:39 and Briann Burris took 51st in 23:14.
None of the other area teams ran anyone in the varsity girls’ race.
Marmaton Valley, Crest, Humboldt and Uniontown join Iola on Tuesday for the annual IHS Doc Stiles Invitational. It begins at 4 p.m. in Riverside Park.
The Mustang junior varsity finished second — three points back — of Labette County, which had 51 points. Chanute scored 99 points and finished third.
Michael Wilson paced the Mustang JV with a seventh-place finish in 15:53. Kohl Endicott was 10th in 16:04 and Blaine Klubek placed 12th in 16:12. Bryan Mueller was 21st in 16:58.
Others placing for Iola were: 26. Jacob Cooper, 17:11, 36. Jason Tidd, 17:38, 41. Tyler Shelby, 17:52, 44. Jonathan Tidd, 17:56, 45. Jarrett Mosbrucker, 17:56, 46. Tyler Holloway, 17:57, 61. Levi Baker, 18:43, 68. Arion Kunkler, 19:01, 87, Kaleb Beckham, 24:17.
“Michael has established himself as our number one junior varsity runner. Kohl and Blaine, both freshmen, are very close to him,” Smith said.
Marmaton Valley’s Chance Stevenson earned the second-place medal in the junior varsity race in 15:25. Garrett Booth was 32nd in 17:27.
Humboldt’s Dylan Greve ran 23rd in 17:07 with Kile Martin in 55th place in 18:21. Logan Yokum placed 71st in 19:08 and Jimmy Mangold was 8th in 23:51.
The Iola girls finished third in the junior varsity race with 52 points. Frontenac was first with 32 and Independence was second with 38 points.
Jo Lohman ran the 4K in 18:57 to take second place. Right on her heels was Marmaton Valley’s Ashtynn Louk for third in 18:59.
Iola’s April Elder placed 27th in 22:22 followed by Shannon Vogel in 30th in 22:45. Lauren Hunt was 36th in 24:15, Carrie Mock took 39th in 26:20 and Courtney Smith ran 40th in 26:35.
Crest’s Brooklyn Gray-LaCross finished 35th in 24:14. Humboldt’s Kristin Todd was 37th in 25:03 and Kelsey Carmer was 38th in 25:05.
In an unofficial one-mile race for seventh-grade runners, Humboldt’s Payden Durand finished in 9:07 and Johnny Hole in 9:43.
Mustangs lead area runners in Parsons’ cross country meet
