Urban, Williams win titles at Frontier League meet

By Andy Brown
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Updated: May 17, 2017

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg junior Kaitlyn Urban lands in the sand pit during an attempt in the triple jump last Thursday at the Frontier League track meet in Eudora. Urban set a new personal record of 33 feet, 7 inches to win the competition.

EUDORA – In what was their final tune-up before regionals, the Louisburg High School track and field teams came away with a pair of champions during the Frontier League meet last Thursday.

Junior Kaitlyn Urban and sophomore Chris Williams each won a league title in their respective events to lead the Wildcat track teams at Eudora High School.

Urban set a new personal record for the third consecutive week in the triple jump. She won the event with a mark of 33 feet, 7 inches and picked up the first place in the event for the second time in three weeks.

“I feel that Kaitlyn is really starting to peak at the right time and she will need to perform at her best this week to have a chance for the state meet,” Louisburg girls coach Greg Darrington said.

Williams put together a rare performance for the Wildcats as competed in both the 400-meter dash and 800-meter run. The events are only 30 minutes apart, but Williams finished in the top three of both races.

Williams captured the league title in the 400 dash with a time of 51.59 seconds and then turned around and finished third in the 800 run in 2 minutes and 5.46 seconds.

“I thought Chris was outstanding,” Louisburg boys coach Gary Griffin said. “We are going to run him in the same two races at regionals and see what happens.”

Louisburg sophomore Chris Williams sprints to the finish line in the 400-meter dash Thursday in Eudora.

The Wildcats didn’t fare as well in the league standings.

The Louisburg girls finished fifth with 48 points and Paola won the league team title with 204 points. Baldwin was second with 146.

On the boys side, the Wildcats took seventh with 54 points. Paola won the boys crown with 140 points and Spring Hill came in second with 93.

Junior Wyatt Reece put together a season-best performance for the Wildcats in the 1,600-meter run, while the 4×800-meter relay did the same.

Reece ran personal-best time of 4:37 to finish second in the 1,600, but had to pull out of the 3,200-meter run due to a foot injury.

The 4×800 team of Tanner Belcher, Ben Hupp, Jacob Benne and Williams also ran to a runner-up finish and a new personal best time of 8:32. Both the 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams took fifth overall.

Blue Caplinger (left) takes a handoff from teammate Jackson Ewalt on Thursday during the 4×100-meter relay.

Hupp and Belcher also scored points in individual events. Hupp finished fourth in the 300-meter hurdles in 43.48 seconds and Belcher was sixth in the 800 run in 2:11.

In the field events, senior T.J. Dover finished third in the discus to lead all the Wildcat throwers. Dover recorded a toss of 138-7 as he was just a foot behind second place.

Junior Frankie Hurst cleared 11-8 in the pole vault to finish sixth and freshman Trent Martin got over the bar at 11-2 to come in seventh. Junior Kris Light was seventh in the high jump after he cleared 5-6.

Senior Ellie Katzer launches an attempt in the discus Thursday during the Frontier League meet in Eudora. She took seventh with a season-best throw of 99-10.

On the girls side, senior Chloe Renner scored points in two events for the Lady Cats. Renner finished second to Urban in the triple jump with a mark of 32-10 and later took fifth in the long jump at 15-0. Freshman teammate Sydni Keagle was seventh in the long jump at 14-9.75.

In the pole vault, junior Isabelle Holtzen cleared 8-4 to take fifth overall, while Eileen Benne and Haley Cain tied for sixth in the high jump at 4-7. Senior Ellie Katzer also scored points in the discus as she finished seventh with a season-best throw of 99-10.

On the track, the 4×100-meter relay of Kaitlyn Gaza, Urban, Cain and Jordon Leach came in third with a time of 53.71 seconds. The 4×800 and 4×400 relays came in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Keagle led the Lady Cats in the hurdles as she took fourth in the 100-meter hurdles in a time 17.26 seconds and Cain came in fifth in the 300 hurdles with a time of 54.01.

Louisburg returns to the track Friday for what could be the final time for many of the athletes. The Wildcats will compete in the Class 4A regional meet in Paola and the top four finishes in each event earns a spot in the state tournament.

Field events will begin at 11 a.m. and running events will follow at 1 p.m.

In other results:

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