Powelson overcomes illness to win 1600

Tyler Powelson wasn’t going to let an illness stop him from a pair of impressive races Friday.
The Iola High junior was hoping for a pair of strong finishes in the 1600- and 3200-meter runs at the Class 4A Regional Meet before a nasty respiratory infection struck this week.
“I could barely breathe,” he said.
Until he stepped on the track.
Powelson led from start to finish to win the 1600 regional title in 4 minutes, 37.72 seconds, barely a second off his personal record.
“It felt a little better out there running,” Powelson said.
“He was determined not only to ‘punch his ticket’ but to win a gold medal,” Iola head coach Marv Smith said.
Smith was unsure what to expect from Powelson the rest of the night. He pulled him from Powelson’s other specialty, the 800-meter run, but not because of illness.
“We have five of the state’s top 11 half-milers in our regional,” Smith said.
The 800 field was so loaded, Paola’s Luke Wilson, a 2012 state medalist, finished in 2 minutes flat, and did not qualify.
Smith’s plan was to focus on the 3200 to give Powelson a chance at a second event at state, “but that was before the breathing problems surfaced,” Smith said. “I doubted he could run the eight laps, but Tyler didn’t.”
Powelson stayed glued to the front pack of runners in the 3200, finally coming in fourth within a few strides of winning his second event.
“I’m convinced Tyler would have won that race under different circumstances,” Smith said.
Powelson is convinced he can run faster in Wichita.
“It’s going to be an entirely different environment,” he said, with faster runners.
That bodes well for Powelson, who has won his last several 1600s without being threatened, including Friday.
“It’s hard to go faster if you don’t have anybody pushing you,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll have that at state.”

POWELSON is Iola’s only male qualifier for state this year.
Junior Michael Wilson and senior Eli Grover both had near misses.
Wilson finished fifth in the pole vault, even after clearing 12 feet, while Grover set a personal best in the discus with a throw of 132 feet, 11 inches.
Grover’s throw was good for fourth, even through the final round. But another competitor showed up at the last minute and tossed the discus 138 feet, pushing Grover to fifth and out of state.
“It was still a great meet for Eli,” Smith said. “To get a score in a 16-team meet with a personal best throw should be enough of a reward, but…”
Wilson, meanwhile, can take solace in fact that the top four finishers at regionals — including the defending state champion — are all seniors.
Adam Kauth also set a personal mark in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.58 seconds, putting him in sixth. He qualified for the 110-meter finals but was disqualified for a false start.
Jacob Harrison ran the 400-meter dash in 53.38 seconds, about a second slower than his regional mark a year ago and before a hairline fracture in his foot kept Harrison in the season opener kept him sidelined much of the spring.
Tyler McIntosh competed in the long jump and triple jump for the first time since early in the season because of a hamstring injury.
“He could feel some soreness, but he wanted to jump,” Smith said.
With those injuries, plus Jeremy Spears’ illness Friday, Smith declined to enter any Mustang relay teams.
The Mustangs finished 12th at regionals with 19 points. Coffeyville earned the regional championship with 94 points.
Boys
400-meter dash: 7. Jacob Harrison, 53.38
1600-meter run: 1. Tyler Powelson, 4:37.72
3200-meter run: 4. Powelson, 10:20.37
110-meter hurdles: Adam Kauth, 16.46 (DQ in finals)
300-meter hurdles: 6. Kauth, 42.8
Pole vault: 5. Michael Wilson, 12’
Long jump: 11. Tyler McIntosh, 18’9”
Triple jump: 15. McIntosh, 38’3”
Shot put: 13. Eli Grover, 40’2”
Discus: 5. Grover, 132’11”