WICHITA — A handful of local track and field athletes were tapped Friday to partake in one of the premiere competitions of the season, Wichita State University’s Prestate Challenge.
There, the thin clads were pitted against some of the top performers of the state, regardless of school size.
Iola High’s athletes, for example, were in the Class 4A-6A group, which meant competing against schools from Wichita, Hutchinson and the like, head coach Dana Daugharthy noted.
The experience carried a two-fold benefit, Daugharthy noted. For one thing, it gave the local athletes a true measure of how well they compare against their contemporaries from other parts of the state; and just as importantly, it gives them a glimpse of what the season-ending event of the year, the State Meet, will be like at WSU’s campus.
“The facilities at Wichita State are great, but it can be a little overwhelming competing in an extremely competitive environment,” Daugharthy said.
And with miserable cold, wet and windy conditions, just finishing some events was an achievement.
“And all of them did very well,” Daugharthy said.
Iola’s standouts on the day included Jack Adams, who competed for the first time in his career in the 200-meter steeplechase, “because it sounded fun,” Daugharthy said.
Adams took fourth in the steeplechase, and beat Jeremy Spears’s old school record by 2 seconds in the process. Adams also ran a season-best time to take eighth in the 3200-meter run, a time that gives him the top 3200-meter time in Iola’s region.
Brett Willis finished fourth in the 100-meter dash with a personal-best time of 11.19 seconds. and fifth in the long jump. “I have taken several jumpers out to Cessna Stadium, and it always seems like they under-perform,” Daugharthy said. “I think it’s because coaches are not allowed to be right next to their athletes. He really jumped well in this difficult environment and performed very well compared to his peers.”
Jack Adams also teamed with Riley Jay, Eli Adams and Jesse Taylor to take fourth in the 4×800-meter relay, which places them second in the region and fifth in all of the state.
Evan Casner took eighth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 17.5 seconds that bodes well for the rest of the season. “This was an absolutely great race for Evan,” Daugharthy said. “He looked pretty smooth running those hurdles, and it paid off with a season best time.”
Taylor took 11th in the 3200 with a season-best time, which ranks him second in region and 12th in all of 4A.
Jay also set a personal record in the1600 meters. “This puts him in really good shape to be able to compete at league and regionals,” Daugharthy said.
ATHLETES FROM Humboldt and Crest High Schools also fared well against some of the toughest competition they’ll see this season from Class 1A-3A.
Humboldt’s Drake Harrington and Drew Wilhite took top-three finishes in the 400- and 800-meter runs, respectively, while Maddox Johnson took fifth in the discus.
