Wren inducted into hall of fame

Iola alumni, Troy Wren, was inducted into the Tarkio College Hall of Fame for track and cross-country Sept. 8.

His journey started with a 3-mile run to and from his dad’s mechanic shop in Iola. “I blame my dad for getting me into this sport,” said Wren. “I always wanted to go to my dad’s shop in town, but he would never drive me. He would say that I slept too late and took too long for him to drive me down to town, so my solution was to just start running.”

As Wren ran down the highway to and from Iola, many faculty members noticed the talent he had. Later, Mr. Dyer created a high school cross-country team specifically for Troy and he would become the first Iola student to make state in cross-country with the help of Coach Jim Vinson.

Walking into the University of Texas stadium for the state cross-country meet was a game-changer for Wren and was one of his favorite memories from cross-country. “Walking into the stadium and looking up to see it full of people watching us race was something that I won’t forget.”

After graduating from Iola, Wren attended Blinn Junior College where he met some of the best teammates he ever ran with. “My teammates from Blinn taught me and pushed me harder to make me better,” explained Wren. “They taught me many different techniques to help me improve my skills.”

After Blinn, Wren said he was done. But after running at the National Cross Country meet in Kansas City for Blinn College, one of his last races running for Blinn, he got a call from a recruiter from Tarkio College in Tarkio, Missouri. They offered him a 3-year full-ride scholarship to run for them. They made sure he would be able to graduate as well.

Before giving them an answer, Wren said the coach had to convince his dad to let him go to Missouri. A day later, Wren’s father gave his permission to allow Wren to go to Tarkio College, and the rest is history.

While at Tarkio, Wren achieved many different awards. In 1988, he earned all-conference, all-district, and was a national qualifier. He also placed 147 out of 342 runners with a time of 26:59 at the 1988 NAIA National Cross Country Championships.

Wren encourages students to get out of Iola and see the world. He says without going to Tarkio, he would have missed out on numerous experiences. He would have missed going to different states for meets, making new friends, and making memories he will never forget are all things he would have never experienced if he had stayed in Iola.

He wants students to know that there is more than just Iola out there and that taking chances can lead to some of the best memories.