Four Wildcat runners earn honors at league meet

By Andy Brown
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Updated: October 19, 2016

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg junior Wyatt Reece ran a personal-best time of 17 minutes and 8 seconds to take third at the Frontier League Championships on Thursday at the Baldwin City Golf Course. It was the second-fastest time in school history.

BALDWIN CITY – One by one, Wyatt Reece passed every runner in the field Thursday at the Baldwin City Golf Course.

Well, all but two that is.

Reece ran a season best time of 17 minutes and 8 seconds and picked the right moment to do it. The Louisburg junior finished third at the Frontier League Championships, and in the process, recorded the second-fastest time in school history.

His third place finish also earned him first team all-league honors

“I ran at Baldwin as a freshmen for league and I really like the course,” Reece said. “I like uphill running a lot more and it has that, but it is nothing that is super steep and you can relax a little bit. It is a fast course as it is, the weather was perfect and everything just seemed to click.”

The Baldwin course was also kind to a few other Louisburg runners as the Wildcats earned four all-league spots overall. Along with Reece, junior Tim Smith was named second team all-league after he finished eighth in 17:45.

Those honors continued onto the girls team as the Wildcats earned two all-league spots.

After missing two weeks with an injury, freshman Trinity Moore returned to lead the Louisburg girls in 11^th overall in 21:23 and was good enough to get second team all-league. Sophomore Kaitlyn Lewer continued to show improvement as well as she was 21^st in 22:03 and was named an all-league honorable mention.

Louisburg runners (from left) Tim Smith, Trinity Moore and Kaitlyn Lewer all earned Frontier League honors last Thursday in Baldwin. Smith finished eighth in the boys race, while Moore and Lewer finished 11th and 21st, respectively.

“It was great to have Trinity back in the mix,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “She makes our team even stronger. The girls all ran great and most ran their best times for the season. Our tough league only makes us better.”

Senior Madelynn Yalowitz just missed all-league honors as she took 26^th in 22:25. Junior Isabelle Holtzen was next on the team in 29^th in 22:40 and sophomore Alex Miller ran a time of 23:15 to finish 35^th.

Freshman Emily Williams (23:28) and junior Reilly Alexander (24:01) came in 38^th and 44^th, respectively. Sophomore Shaylor Whitham was 50^th in 24:20.

Freshman Natalie George (58^th), senior Lily Cook (60^th), senior Mara Justesen (61^st), senior Bryn O’Meara (62^nd), senior Liz Hildreth (63^rd), junior Lilly Mick (64^th), freshman Piper Mills (67^th), freshman Elizabeth Kratochvil (71^st), senior Hailey Crowder (72^nd), junior Haley Earl (73^rd), junior Janae Kuhlman (74^th) and senior Grace Rolofson (75^th) also competed for Louisburg.

As a team, the Louisburg girls took fifth with 123 points. Baldwin won the league title with 33 points and Eudora was second with 51. Eudora’s Riley Hiebert won the individual league crown with a time of 19:20.

The Wildcat boys finished sixth in the team standings with 142 points and was the first time they had put together a varsity team all season. De Soto won the league title with 37 points and Spring Hill was second with 51. Spring Hill’s Dylan Brenneman won the individual title in 16:09.

Senior Austin Raetzel was third on the Louisburg team as he took 51^st overall in 20:15. Freshman Evan Murphy (66^th), sophomore Bryce Kuhlman (67^th), sophomore Jackson Staab (70^th), freshman Keith Estle (74^th), junior Garrett Mills (76^th), sophomore Gareth Baus (83^rd) and junior Parker Perentis (84^th) rounded out the Wildcat team.

Louisburg will now compete in the race it has been waiting for all season. The Wildcats will travel to Burlington on Saturday for the Class 4A regional race.

The top three teams earn a spot in the state meet next week in Wamego, along with the top five individuals that aren’t on a qualifying team. The girls race will begin at 10 a.m. and the boys will follow at approximately 10:30.

“We are super excited for regionals and we hope to be state bound with two boys and the girls team,” coach Reece said. “I want them to leave it all on the course and end the season with their heads held high no matter the outcome. “This has to be the best group I have had the privilege to coach.”