Wildcats win 8 events to secure top spot at Prairie View Invite

By Andy Brown
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Updated: May 1, 2019

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg junior Carter Anglin finished third overall in the discus Thursday at the Prairie View Invitational.

LA CYGNE – On one of the more windy days of the season, the Louisburg boys track and field team was still able to put together some of its best performances of the year.

The Wildcats recorded several personal bests Thursday during the Prairie View Invitational and blew away the competition. Louisburg captured its second consecutive team title as they racked up 164 points and won by nearly 100 points. Central Heights was second with 65.

Louisburg won eight events on the day, including five on the track. The Wildcats won three field events in which each of them had a personal record.

“We came out did what we were supposed to do,” Louisburg coach Andy Wright said. “I knew our athletes had been working and was not surprised to see a few personal records, even with the conditions.”

Senior Blue Caplinger had a big day in the sprints as he won two individual events and was a part of two gold-medal winning relays.

Caplinger won the 100-meter dash in 11.30 seconds and edged senior teammate Brandon Cooper, who was second in 11.31. Sophomore Justin Collins was third in 11.44.

In the 200 dash, Caplinger edged Louisburg sophomore Ben Wiedenmannn in 23.25 seconds to win gold. Wiedenmann was second in 23.50.

The Wildcat 4×100 and 4×400-meter relays couldn’t be stopped as the 4×100 team of Wiedenmann, Collins, Caplinger and Cooper took first in 44.19 seconds. Caplinger, Wiedenmann, Collins and Chris Williams ran a 3:38 to win the 4×400.

Williams, a senior, also won the 400-meter dash in 53.86 and edged Drexel’s Aaron Woods by .01 seconds.

“I thought all of the kids handled the competition solidly and ran their races,” Wright said. “It was great to have personal records across the board in the 100, and to win out in the sprints. It was a total team effort and I am excited about the next part of our season.”

Louisburg also struck gold in the field events as three athletes earned personal records on their way to a first-place finish.

**Louisburg senior Kiefer Tucker medaled in both the shot put and discus Thursday. He won the discus with a personal best throw.**

Senior Kiefer Tucker had a strong day in the discus with a personal best throw of 153 feet and .75 inches and won his first discus competition of the season. Teammates Carter Anglin (124-5.75) and Brayden White (117-10.75) took third and fifth, respectively.

Tucker also scored points in the shot put as he was third with a toss of 41-9.5 and White was fifth at 40-2.

“Kiefer has been focusing on discus at practice and it really showed at Prairie View,” Wright said. “Three out of the four throws were over his PR. This week with his confidence built up in discus he is going to focus a little more on shot and I think we will see the benefit from that focus at the next meet.”

Sophomore Luke Faulkner and junior Trent Martin battled it out for the top spot in the pole vault as both cleared 13 feet. However, it was Faulkner who took gold based on the number of misses as 13 feet was also a personal best for him.

“The great part of it is that Luke and Trent watch each other compete and are each other’s best fans, cheering and encouraging each other,” Wright said. “It was nice seeing Luke get away from 12-6 and move up to the 13-0 mark. He has been clearing 12-6 at every meet, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before he clears 13-0.”

The success for Louisburg continued in the javelin as sophomore Jay Scollin had his best throw of the season with a mark of 146-7 to win the event for the first time this season. Junior Michael Waldron was second at 143-9 and freshman A.J. Reed was sixth at 129-3.5.

“Jay has been down the last couple of meets, so it was great for his confidence to come out and compete, and PR in the process,” Wright said.

The Wildcats were also able to score a few points in the jumps as freshman Hayden Feikert was fourth at 17-11 and Martin was sixth at 17-5.5 in the long jump. In the triple jump, junior Indy Strumillo was fourth at 37-6.5 and sophomore Weston Guetterman took sixth with a mark of 35-2.5.

Back on the track, freshman Tom Koontz scored points for the Wildcats in both hurdle events. Koontz was runner-up in the 300-meter hurdles in 44.50 seconds and fourth in the 110 hurdles in 17.49.

Junior Anthony Davis earned a medal in the 1,600-meter run as he took third in 5:06. Freshman teammate Ryan Rogers was sixth in 5:26.

Louisburg will be back in action Friday when it travels to Wellsville for the Redbud Relays. The meet is set to begin at 3:30 p.m.

Other results are:

400 dash: Dylan Armstrong, 9^th, 59.39; Weston Guetterman, 10^th, 1:00

800 run: Anthony Davis, 9^th, 2:21; Ryan Rogers, 11^th, 2:25; Sawyer Richardson, 17^th, 2:37

1,600 run: Richardson, 10^th, 5:41

Long jump: Indy Strumillo, 10^th, 16-8