PARSONS — In spite of a lightning storm that called the track and field meet short, the energy Thursday was “really good,” said Iola head coach Dana Daugharthy.
Iola opened its season at the Labette County Invitational in Altamont among a large field of competitors.
Daugharthy liked what he saw.
“The overall energy was really good. We have several new members on the team, so a big part of the first meet is just the experience. There was some nervousness, for sure, but the leadership by the upperclassmen was very good,” he said.
No team scores were given because of the early ending.
In the boys 4×800 meter relay, Iola took seventh place with a time of 10:37.50. Travis Wanker, Eli Adams, Alejandro Escalante and Brett Heinrich rounded out the relay pack. 
In the girls 100 meter hurdles, Rio Lohman took sixth place with a time of 19.50 seconds.
For the boys 110 meter hurdles, Cortland Carson took eighth place at 19.90 seconds while Kyler Mittlemeier took 12th place at 20.86 seconds.
Karingten Hall was the lone Mustang girl to compete in the girls 100 meters, grabbing sixth place with a time of 14.05 seconds. Gage Skahan also went for the boys in the 100 meter dash and finished in 20th with a time of 13.45 seconds.
“The competition at this meet is great for our varsity athletes,” Daugharthy said. “Whenever you have tough competition, it forces you to compete with everything that we have.”
In the boys 1600 meters, Jesse Taylor took third place with a time of 5:11.90. 
