Lady Cat track sees improvement

By Andy Brown
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Updated: April 20, 2015

Louisburg junior McKinley Mathews clears the bar in the pole vault Thursday at the Anderson County Invitational in Garnett. Mathews was second in the event after she cleared 8 feet, 6 inches.

GARNETT – The Louisburg girls track and field team took another step forward Thursday at the Anderson County Invitational.

The Lady Cats won an event and finished in the top three in six others as they racked up 84.5 points to take third – their highest finish of the season. Louisburg got several of those points on the track.

Louisburg continued to fare well in the sprints and did so thanks to two freshmen.

Freshman Mikayla Quinn won her second straight 400-meter dash in a season best time of 1 minute and 4 seconds. Fellow freshman Bailey Belcher nearly won the 100-meter dash as she ran a time of 12.7 seconds to take second in a neck-and-neck finish with Paola’s Rylie Edwards.

“I felt the girls on the track did a great job,” Louisburg girls coach Greg Darrington said. “Mikayla and Bailey are doing good things in the sprints. I am very excited to see how they progress the rest of the year.”

The Lady Cats also scored several points on the track as junior McKinley Mathews had a strong performance in the pole vault. Mathews cleared 8 feet, 6 inches to take second overall, while freshman Isabelle Holtzen was sixth with a personal best 7-6.

“McKinley is doing well in the pole vault and feel she has a chance to qualify for state as long as she keeps working hard and making improvements,” Darrington said. “Isabelle did a great job competing and getting team points.”

Another freshman got the Lady Cats several points in the jumps. Haley Earl had her best meet of the season as she took third in the triple jump with a mark of 31-5 and was fourth in the long jump with a mark of 14-8.

Freshman Haley Earl lands in the pit following her attempt in the triple jump Thursday. Earl was third in the event and fourth in the long jump.

Belcher went on to take fifth in the long jump (14-6.5) and eighth in the high jump (4-8). Chloe Renner was sixth in the triple jump (31-1)

Louisburg also scored points in two throwing events. Ellie Katzer came in fifth in the discus with a toss of 85-5 and Paige Buffington was seventh in the javelin at 76-2.

The Lady Cats’ relay teams also fared well with two third-place finishes and a fourth. The 4×100-meter relay of Hanna Becker, Belcher, Megan Lemke and Ashley Ruder was third in 52.9 seconds.

Makenzie Kallevig, Lemke, Quinn and Ruder ran a time of 4:25 in the 4×400, while Lauren Becker, Liz Hildreth, Holtzen and Savannah Reinhart came in third in 11:08.

“The 4×400 girls have done a great job improving each week,” Darrington said. “Ruder, Kallevig, Quinn and Lemke have been working very hard this year. I feel our 4×800 team is making strides to compete and qualify this year for state. Our team keeps improving each week and I am proud of them.”

Madelynn Yalowitz competed well in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 13:51 and finished in fourth, which is a season best. Holtzen finished ninth in the 800 run (2:46) to also score some points.

In the sprints, Kallevig finished fifth overall in the 400 dash in 1:06 and Lemke led the Lady Cats in the 200 dash in sixth with a time of 28.2 seconds.