Reece gets state cross country experience

Louisburg High School sophomore Wyatt Reece (right) competed in his first state cross country meet last Saturday in Wamego. Reece was 71st in 18:43 and learned a lot from his first meet.

WAMEGO – Before Wyatt Reece stepped up to the starting line, he was calm and collected for his first state cross country race.

Once he got to the line, everything seemed to change.

Nerves started to creep in as he wondered how it was all going to turn out. Once the gun went off, however, Reece put those aside and took off on the Wamego Country Club course.

When it was all said and done, Reece finished 71^st overall out of 107 runners on Saturday with a time of 18 minutes and 43 seconds at the Class 4A state meet. It was a good first experience at state for the Louisburg High School sophomore.

“After the gun went off it was just another meet,” Wyatt said. “There were no nerves, just me, the course and my competitors. My race was ok, the first mile was very fast, probably the fastest of the year.

“The course is very difficult, there is no flats just ups and downs. The hardest part is all the sharp turns and the gradual up hills, one of the easiest hills for me were the steepest ones.”

He got good reviews from Louisburg coach John Reece, who also happens to be Wyatt’s father.

“It was awesome to watch him line up and compete at state,” coach Reece said. “It brought back memories of old when I ran at state. He ran a good race for the first time on a hard course. He was breaking down his race on the way home on where he felt he could have improved position or pushed harder. He is very critical of his races and processes through them.”

Now that his race is complete, Wyatt is looking forward to what is ahead – whether it is in cross country or the upcoming track season.

“Of course I give all the glory to God and hope that he will keep me moving forward through next year,” Wyatt said. “I want to go back to state next year and continue my high school running career at the high level it was this year.”

Coach Reece is a little anxious as well to see what his son can in his final two years of high school along with the rest of his team.

“He will take his experience from state and use it next year,” coach Reece said. “He is looking forward to track season and wants to qualify individually in an event as well as getting the 4×800 team back to state track.

“The cross country boys and girls teams had a great season and made great gains. The future could be very bright for our team.”

The Frontier League was also represented well as Spring Hill junior finished second in the individual race with a time of 16:18. Baldwin won the state championship with 47 points and De Soto was runner-up with 79 points.

On the girls’ side, Baldwin’s Addie Dick was fifth in 19:40 and the Bulldogs also won the state championship with 45 points.