Roman Yocham and Trevor Summers gave race spectators a great performance here Tuesday.
Running the 2010 Iola High Doc Stiles Invitational cross country meet at Riverside Park, Yocham of Iola High and Summers of Chanute High were stride for stride throughout the 5K course. Yocham led most of the way.
Once or twice Summers would get a few strides ahead but Yocham, the defending varsity race champion, pushed back in front.
Down the stretch, it was neck-and-neck. Yocham edged Summers out at the finish line by six seconds.
Yocham won the race in 16 minutes, 45 seconds. Summers posted a time of 16:51. A Nevada, Mo., runner was third in 17:27.
Marmaton Valley High’s Zack Louk took fourth in 17:28 followed by Crest High’s Dustin Davis-Jones in fifth at 17:52.
“Roman took the lead from the start but the Chanute runner pushed him throughout,” said Marvin Smith, Iola High head coach.
“I don’t get to see much of the races at our meet. But for the most part, it appeared our kids were running hard and did well in all three of the boys’ races.”
Smith said Trent Latta was hampered by knee problems and Christian Kauth “just ran out of gas.”
Latta finished eighth in 18:31. Dylan Lower grabbed the 19th-place medal in 19:09 and Tyler Powelson was 22nd in 19:17.
Kauth came across in 28th place in 19:43. Bryan Miller took 36th and Jordan Strickler was 37th, respecitvely, in 20:08 and 20:11.
Chanute earned the team championship with 52 points. The Mustangs were second with 78 and Pittsburg took third with 120 points.
Humboldt High’s Cubs ended up sixth with 206 points. Reece Criger led the way for the Cubs with a 14th-place medal in 18:51.
Jacob Jones placed 24th in 19:22 to pick up a medal. Nick Keaser was 49th in 21:24, Kile Martin placed 59th in 23:53 and Logan Yokum was 61st in 24:51.
Crest’s Trevor Holman earned the 20th-place medal in 19:10. Yates Center’s Paul Stockebrand placed 43rd in 20:41.
Chanute also won the boys’ junior varsity race title with 78 points. Iola placed third with 153 points.
But it was Marmaton Valley High’s Ryan Smith taking the junior varsity 5K individual title. He ran the race in 19:00. Carlos Gonzales was ninth in 20:40 and Marcus Miller picked up the 14th-place medal in 21:29.
Crest High’s Chris Brallier was fifth in 19:59 with teammate David Womelsdorf in seventh at 20:23. Jory Ramsey placed 41st in 24:25.
Iola’s top junior varsity runner was Josh Klubek in 10th at 20:50. Jason Tidd placed 27th and Matt Cunningham was 28th, respectively, in 22:55 and 22:58.
Iola’s Drew Smith placed 36th in 24:08 and Yates Center’s Sam Aguirre was 37th in 24:12. Chris Michaels, Iola, was 52nd in 28:21.
Five of the 15 individual medals awarded in the freshman boys’ race went to Iola runners. The Mustangs won the team title with 31 points.
Michael Armstrong ran the 4K course in 17 minutes with Jeremy Spears in second at 17:11. Michael Wilson was sixth in 17:44.
Arian Kunkler placed ninth in 18:09 and Bryan Mueller took 14th in 18:31.
Others placing for Iola were Levi Baker in 20th at 20:43, Cody Conner in 24th at 22:12 and Devon Simpson in 25th at 28:59.
Marmaton Valley’s Chance Stevenson took fifth in 17:42. Humboldt’s Michael Davis placed 18th in 20:00 and Crest’s Craig Brallier was 19th in 20:21.
Yocham claims second straight Doc Stiles win
