Moore, Johnson earn medals at Frontier League meet

Louisburg junior Trinity Moore gets off to a good start last Thursday during the Frontier League Invitational in Baldwin City. Moore finished third overall and earned first team all-league honors.

 

BALDWIN CITY – The Louisburg High School girls cross country team made history a season ago when Trinity Moore became the first Wildcat runner to win a Frontier League title.

Now back at the same course a year later, the Lady Cats once again made a name for themselves.

For the first time in school history, the Louisburg girls had two runners finish in the top five of the Frontier League Invitational. Moore, a junior, finished third and freshman Reese Johnson was fifth last Thursday at the Baldwin City Golf Course.

Both runners earned first team all-league honors with their performance and sit among the best in what is a talented Frontier League field.

“It was awesome to have both Trinity and Reese be recognized as first team all-league,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “It is a tough league and to be recognized all-league is a feat in itself.”

Moore, who finished atop the Frontier League last season, eclipsed her time from a year ago to finish third in 19 minutes and 57 seconds. Moore battled Paola’s Darian Hudgeons most of the race, but came up just short as Hudgeons took second in 19:54.

Eudora’s Riley Hiebert won the girls race in 19:31, but Moore competed hard despite being out of practice with a foot injury in the days leading up to the race.

“Trinity ran a great race for being a little banged up,” Reece said. “She ran 15 seconds faster than last year and the competition was even better than last year. That is the reality of cross country and how every race is different.”

In her first varsity season, Johnson has run her way toward the top of the Frontier League. She finished fifth in 20:17 and started near the front of the pack from the beginning and didn’t let up.

“Nothing surprises me with Reese,” coach Reece said. “She is a competitive kid who goes for it every time. She has figured out the sport and the sky is the limit as she gets stronger and gains even more experience.”

As for the rest of the Lady Cats, Louisburg finished fifth in the team standings with 106 points. Baldwin won the league crown with 37 points and Eudora was second with 63.

Junior Carlee Gassman finished third on the Louisburg team and was 35^th overall in 22:29. Senior Shaylor Whitham (22:53) and freshman Delaney Wright (22:55) took 39^th and 40^th, respectively. Junior Emily Williams was 68^th in 25:17.

On the boys side, junior Anthony Davis led Louisburg in 32^nd to finish in 19:18 and sophomore Cade Holtzen was right behind him with a time of 19:19 and took 33^rd.

Junior Evan Murphy came in 39^th in 19:38 to finish third on the Wildcat team. Sophomore Carson Houchen (20:07) and freshman Ben McKain (20:09) took 51^st and 52, respectively.

Senior Gareth Baus took 67^th overall in 20:59, while sophomore Tyler Detherage (21:33) and senior Jackson Staab (22:33) finished 79^th and 87^th.

The junior varsity runners ran in a combined race with the varsity and freshman Malee Rutherford was the top Louisburg girls JV finisher as she took 65^th in 25 minutes.

Louisburg will now prep for what will be the final race of the season for some. The Wildcats will compete in the Class 4A regional race in Ottawa, which begins at 11 a.m., on Saturday at the Eisenhower Road Course. The course features several steep hills and provides several challenges for the runners.

The Lady Cats will try to qualify for state as a team for the second straight season after finishing third at regionals a year ago.

“We hope to qualify the girls team for state again,” Reece said. “The goal is to be top three at regionals, which will be a tough go. There is an outside chance that we could qualify a boy too as Anthony has really improved this year. The course will be tamed by our runners and we will conquer all because we will be mental in the middle and finish strong.”