Moore, Johnson ready to lead LHS cross country back to state

Louisburg senior Trinity Moore (right) will try for her fourth consecutive state medal this season and she hopes to lead the Lady Cat cross country team back to state for the third straight year.

It was an historic finish for the
Louisburg cross country team last season and it is one many of the runners
haven’t forgotten.

For the second straight year, the
Wildcat girls team qualified for the state meet, while Trinity Moore and Reese
Johnson recorded top 10 finishes. It was the best postseason performance in
program history.

Louisburg wants to take it to the
next step in 2019.

Moore and Johnson are both
returning to help the Louisburg girls as they are one of the top teams in the
state. Kansas Milesplit recently ranked the Lady Cats as the fifth best team in
Class 4A.

“Last year was awesome and we met and
exceeded our goals,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “This year we look to
better ourselves again and the girls’ work ethic shows it. We have several
girls that will be challenging each other to be one of the top seven. The
runners that are there at the end of the season will have earned it. We might
not field a full seven runners for varsity races until later in the season as
we are still working towards getting into racing form.

Moore and Johnson have two of those spots
as they are two of the top returning runners in the state after their
performance last season.

Moore, who is a senior, will be vying for
her fourth consecutive state medal as she tries to improve on her fourth place
finish at state a year ago.

“I am extremely excited for what this
season has to bring for the team this year with new and young runners joining
the team,” Moore said. “I am also excited for myself, and my senior season, to
better my time and hopefully to make it to state with my team once again.

“This year I have many goals for myself.
I want to push myself to get a faster time each race and possibly break a 19
minute 5K. Hopefully I can qualify for state again with my team and bring home
a plaque this year.”

Johnson will be pushing Moore all season
as the Louisburg sophomore was on Moore’s heels at the state meet a year ago
and took sixth overall. Both runners helped the Lady Cats to a fifth place
finish at the Class 4A meet in Wamego.

Not only did the two runners push each
other last year, but they have also been competing with each other at practice
and in summer workouts. Both athletes hope all that competition will pay off as
the season goes along.

“Reese and I have constantly been
training with each other in workouts and long runs,” Moore said. “Training with
each other has made us go faster and hard in practice by giving each of us
someone to challenge the other. I think down the road it will help us to have
faster times individually, but also help lead the team to state again.”

Senior Carlee Gassman will also give
Louisburg a nice boost on the girls side as the team’s No. 3 runner, while
freshman Bree Gassman and junior Kennady Wilkerson complete the top five
runners.

“Trinity
and Reese are both bringing it during workouts, along with Carlee, and are
really pushing themselves,” coach Reece said. “Trinity definitely put in the
time over the summer and is ready to race. Carlee and Reese worked in their
summer running when their schedule allowed and are not far behind Trin in the
ready to race category.

“Cross country is such a mental sport and they can accomplish great things this season with the right mindset. Our new assistant coach, Paul Restivo, does a great job working with all the runners in promoting a positive mind set to help them prepare to compete.”

The Wildcats also return several runners
on the boys side as well. Seniors Anthony Davis and Evan Murphy are back as the
teams’ top runners, along with juniors Cade Holtzen and Carson Houchen.

Ryan Rogers, Caden Bradshaw and Sawyer Richardson will also compete for the Wildcat varsity squad this season and Reece believes this group can do some good things as well.

“The boys are returning a lot of experience, along with some newcomers to the sport who have stepped in and are making positive gains within the team,” coach Reece said. “Anthony Davis is leading the group, but the other six runners are closing in and making progress. Much like the girls side there are a few right behind them that are going to push and make us strong.”

Louisburg opens its season at 3:15 today
when it travels to the Anderson County Invitational at the Garnett Country
Club. It is also a special day as the Wildcat middle school program will
compete in its first-ever race.

“Practice
is going well,” Reece said. “It has been a change with middle school cross
country starting and having 58 runners to work with and two coaches. The high
school runners are ready to roll and their eyes are set on the last three meets
and are working hard to do better than last year.”