Carpe diem.
Seize the day.
It is time.
Iola High’s fall sports programs have reached the end of the road. Today and Friday, Iola High will close a long chapter in athletic history.
The Fillies’ volleyball team is at Fort Scott tonight in its final matches in Southeast Kansas League play. They take on Fort Scott and Chanute.
This afternoon Iola High’s cross country runners host their last SEK League cross country meet. Races begin at 4 o’clock at Riverside Park.
Two weeks ago, Iola High’s girls competed in their final SEK League tennis tournament.
On Friday, Mustang football will be in Fort Scott for its last SEK game. It’s also a Class 4A district game.
Iola was one of the eight founding members of the SEK, which was established in its current form in 1927. Before that there were at least two other leagues that used the name Southeast Kansas League and had some of the members in common with the SEK of today.
According to SEK League records kept by the late Jack Harris of the Parsons Sun and now in the safekeeping of Scott Nuzum of the Fort Scott Tribune, the Mustangs and Fillies have several sports’ championships under their belts.
Let’s start with fall sports.
Iola won volleyball championships through an SEK tournament in 1986 and 1987. Without a league tournament in place any more, the Fillies won SEK volleyball championships in 1999 and 2005. Iola has never won a girls’ tennis team championship nor a boys’ team league championship.
In football, Iola tied with Parsons for the SEK title in 1942 and won it outright in 1947. The SEK split into Upper and Lower Divisions and the Mustangs tied with Chanute and Labette County for the Lower Division title in 1985, won the Lower Division outright in 1986 and tied for the title with Parsons in 1988.
Iola’s boys won SEK cross country championships in 1970, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1990, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2008. The Fillies won SEK titles in 1980, 1984 and 1985.
Basketball: the Mustangs were the SEK champions in 1948-49, 1975-76 (tied with Pittsburg); the Fillies tied with Independence in 1975-76, tied with Fort Scott and Labette County in 1999-2000, won it outright in 2002-2003 and tied with Fort Scott in 2004-2005.
Track: the Mustangs won a title in 1914, 1968, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1992, 1993 and 1994; the Fillies claimed SEK titles in 1977, 1980, 1985, 1986, 1999, 2000 and 2006.
