Just two points were the difference between tears and elation Saturday afternoon in a field outside of Ottawa.
For the Iola girls cross country team, it meant tears. For the third year in a row, the Fillies were edged out of a team spot at state after taking fourth place two points behind the qualifying third-place.
The Billings sisters Junior Elka and freshman Ursula both finished in the top 10, qualifying them for state.
For the Iola boys, two points separated second place El Dorado (a team that placed first and second individually) from their first regional championship since 1994.
Thats the way the daunting hills of the course fell for both teams as Iola was split down the middle between joy and pain.
The race nearly started with tragedy though for the boys as senior leader Cole Regehr slipped at the starting line and nearly fell before clinging onto teammate Jack Adams to regain his footing,
The entire team stayed in the front half of the pack with Adams, Regehr and Bret Plumlee leading the way as theyve done all season.
In the end, five of Iolas runners landed in the top 18 with the top three landing top-10 finishes.
Adams took first with a time of 18:02.
Exceptional time on this course, head coach Marv Smith said. I have no doubt that this was Jacks best race of the year and he still had speed after the big hill.
Plumlee edged out Regehr by a lean at the finish line taking sixth while the fellow senior took seventh at a time of 18:46.
Trenton Varney finished 14th with a time of 19:23 followed by an 18th place finish from Riley Jay (19:55).
Elijah Fawson finished 21st (20:06) and Tavon Bass finished 26th (20:30).
Our team strength all year has been depth and running as a pack, Smith said. The goal is always to reach the teammate ahead of you and thats how we were able to pull off a win today.
Iola got dealt a tough hand in being sent north to Ottawa instead of south to the Chanute regional. Four of the top six teams in the state on the girls side were in Ottawa including top dog Baldwin who took seven of the top 14 places Saturday on the way to their regional championship.
