Wildcats medal seven; boys and girls finish third at Wellsville

By Andy Brown
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: September 24, 2019

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg senior Anthony Davis leads a pack of runners down a straightaway Thursday during the Wellsville Invitational. Davis finished sixth overall.

WELLSVILLE – It was a successful day all around for the Louisburg cross country team as the Wildcats brought home a lot of hardware from the Wellsville Invitational.

Both the boys and girls teams finished third overall in the 11-team meet Thursday and combined to have seven individual medalists. It was the type of performance Louisburg cross country coach John Reece likes to see as his teams try to find their groove.

“It was a good day at Wellsville,” Reece said. “Both girls and boys teams ran well. It is a tough week as we ran Wamego the Saturday before and then raced on Thursday again. This sometimes leads to fewer time improvements and we look to compete more as a team and work together than to really go for a personal best. Both teams did just that. They worked together and their effort was rewarded.”

Senior Anthony Davis led the Wildcat boys with one of his better performances of the season as he took sixth overall with a time of 18 minutes and 24 seconds. Junior Carson Houchen followed suit as he took 15^th in 19:32 to also earn an individual medal.

Sophomore Ryan Rogers (19:46) and junior Cade Holtzen (19:47) also left Wellsville with medals as they finished 23^rd and 24^th, respectively.

Sawyer Richardson, a sophomore, ran a 20:28 to take 39^th overall. Senior Evan Murphy was 40^th in 20:30.

As a team, the Wildcats recorded 98 points to earn the third place team medal. Central Heights won the Wellsville title with 29 points and Burlington was second with 81.

“Anthony is on a mission this year,” Reece said of his senior leader. “He has been training great and is being rewarded through time improvement. He is setting the tone for the boys team and they are following his lead. Four medalists in the meet shows how hard and well they are working together, both in practices and in meets. They pack-up together and mow down the field as the move through the race.”

**Senior Carlee Gassman passes Prairie View’s Brooke Allen as they approach the finish line Thursday in Wellsville.**

Senior Trinity Moore also ran a strong race in what was a difficult field. Moore led the Lady Cats with a sixth place finish in 21:30 and Bishop Seabury freshman Oona Nelson was first in 20 minutes.

Fellow senior Carlee Gassman ran one of her better races of the season as she took 12^th in 22:06 and sophomore Reese Johnson was 14^th in 22:15 to round out the Louisburg medalists.

“Carlee is running well,” coach Reece said. “She has improved upon her personal record from last year and is training great. She is setting herself, and the team, up for big time success at the end of the season.”

Freshman Bree Gassman was fourth on the Louisburg team with a 24:51 to take 36^th and junior Kennady Wilkerson took 40^th in 25:29. Freshman Nova Ptacek (27:09) and sophomore Ruth Minster (27:16) rounded out the Louisburg team in 52^nd and 53^rd, respectively.

As a team, the Lady Cats recorded 78 points to take third overall. Central Heights took the top spot with 60 points and Fort Scott was second with 67.