LHS girls cross country finishes third at Wellsville

By Andy Brown
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Updated: September 20, 2016

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Junior Isabelle Holtzen (left) sprints past a Spring Hill runner near the finish line as she gets some encouragement from Louisburg head coach John Reece on Thursday in Wellsville. Holtzen and the Lady Cats finished third in the team standings.

WELLSVILLE – It was another meet and another slew of medals for the Louisburg cross country team Thursday.

The Wildcat runners competed at the Wellsville Invitational and members of both the boys and girls teams finished toward the top of the pack. The Louisburg girls finished third in the team standings and three earned individual medals.

Louisburg also captured two individual medals on the boys side as it left Wellsville with plenty of hardware.

The Lady Cats finished with 70 points for their third place finish as Fort Scott won the meet with 45 points and Eudora was second with 53.

Louisburg got another good performance from freshman Trinity Moore as she had her third consecutive top 10 finish of the season as she came in fourth in 22 minute and 5 seconds to earn a medal.

Junior Isabelle Holtzen was just outside the top 10 as she took 11^th in 23:20 and senior teammate Madelynn Yalowitz came in 18^th in 23:37 as both garnered a medal.

Sophomores Shaylor Whitham (27^th), Kaitlyn Lewer (31^st), junior Reilly Alexander (41^st) and senior Kaitlyn Gaza (47^th) also competed for the Lady Cats.

“The competition was fierce for the girls,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “I knew Eudora was going to be strong, but I was surprised by Fort Scott. They have a great team this year. I felt like we had to earn the third place team medals, but it was not easy and a few places either direction could have totally changed the team outcomes. It is nice to see the girls continue to get individual medals at the meets. They are running strong.”

Louisburg junior Wyatt Reece runs away from a pair of runners toward the finish line Thursday in Wellsville.

Wyatt Reece came through with one of his better races on the season as he finished fourth to lead the boys team in 18:31. The Wildcat junior passed two runners in the final 200 meters to leap into the top five.

“Wyatt raced well,” coach Reece said. “He said he felt like he ran the turns well in the beginning which gave him a good position as the race played out. It would not be my plan for him to wait to run people down at the end but to put them away earlier in the race. He does have a great finish which looks like he saved something for the end, but it is just how he can finish even when tired. I am always telling the runners you can still run fast even when you are tired, and he can.”

Fellow junior Tim Smith also came through with medal-winning performance as he came in ninth in 18:53. Senior Austin Raetzel also competed for the Wildcats and took 54^th overall.

The Wellsville course provided a different change of pace from the week prior when the Wildcats ventured to hill-filled Eisenhower Road Course in Ottawa. The Wellsville course didn’t have the hills, but featured a lot of twists and turns to keep the runners on their toes.

“Every course has its challenges,” Reece said. “Wellsville is different than Ottawa but it has multiple tight turns which can be tricky and the minimal change in terrain means there is no time to relax on a down hill. But of course the temperature had to get back to its normal hotness, so that was different as well.”

The Wildcats also experienced some success on the junior varsity level, especially on the girls side. Freshman Emily Williams won the JV girls race in 26:26, while sophomore Alex Miller and freshman Natalie George came in third and seventh, respectively.

Louisburg returns to action Thursday when it travels to the Prairie View Invitational. The meet is set to begin at 4 p.m.