Wildcats win Red Bud Classic; Wright breaks school, meet record

Louisburg junior Tom Koontz takes the handoff from Hayden Feikert in the 100-meter dash Friday in Wellsville.

WELLSVILLE — The Louisburg boys track and field team has won its fair share of meets, but maybe none as big as this one.

The Wildcats won the Red Bud Classic on Friday in Wellsville as they racked up 123 points and beat runner-up Eudora by 24 points. Louisburg finished first out of 15 teams – many that feature some of the best athletes in the area.

“We were ecstatic to win Wellsville with the quality of teams that were there,” Louisburg boys coach Andy Wright said. “We had several boys step up with the competition, and perform well.  Redbud is a tough meet with 15 schools and over half from the Frontier League. 

“We are just a team with depth. We don’t get it done with a lot of first places, but we packed in all of the other placings- second through sixth.  That depth adds up to a strong contender at any meet as a team, especially when you have multiple people placing several events.”

Senior Justin Collins led the Wildcats on the track as he finished first in the 100-meter dash in 11.23 seconds and also took second in the 400 dash in 51.55

Collins, along with Hayden Feikert, Tom Koontz and Ethan Ptacek, took third in the 4×100-meter relay in 44.75 seconds. Collins, Feikert, Koontz and Jaden Vohs went to also finish third in the 4×400 relay with a personal best of 3:30.76.

Feikert and Vohs were inserted in the relays due to the absence of senior Ben Wiedenmann, who was injured during the 100-meter dash.

“Hayden stepped up and ran the first leg in the 4×1 to help us with a top three finish, then Jaden did a great job stepping in the 4×4, which set a personal best time,” Wright said. “The relays continue to improve and put in hard work, and I can’t be prouder of them.”

In the field events, senior Luke Faulkner won the pole vault after he cleared 13 feet. Freshman teammate Caden Caplinger recorded a personal record of 12-6 to finish second.

Sophomore Nathan Vincent scored points in two events as he took third in the javelin with a throw of 161-7 and later was sixth in the discus with a personal best of 130-9. Senior Jay Scollin was sixth in the javelin at 153-7.

Back on the track, hurdlers Koontz and Mason Dobbins also scored big points for the Wildcats.

Koontz was third in the 110 hurdles in 15.26 seconds, while Dobbins was fourth at 15.52. Sophomore Nathan Apple was eighth at 16.29.

In the 300 hurdles, Koontz ran time of 41.14 to take second, while Dobbins was fourth at 42.25.

The Wildcats also fared well in the distance races where Vohs set personal records in the 800 and 1,600 runs. Vohs ran a 4:37 to take third in the 1,600 and recorded a time of 2:04 in the 800 to finish fifth.

Senior Carson Houchen also scored several points in distance. Houchen was fifth in the 1,600 at 4:44 and was fifth in the 3,200 run in 10:38.

The 4×800 relay of Hayden Ross, Cade Holtzen, Leo Martin and Ryan Rogers finished fifth in 8:56.

Also scoring points for the Wildcats on the track was Wiedenmann as he finished eighth in the 100 dash in 11.86. Ptacek took fifth in the 400 dash in 52.30.

The throwers relay of Layne Ryals, J.R. Rooney, Scollin and Vincent took second in 49.31.

In the field events, Dobbins took sixth in the high jump after clearing 5-8. Feikert was seventh in the long jump at 19-7.5 to round out the Wildcat point-getters.

Wright, McMullen lead Lady Cats

Delaney Wright won two events and set a new school record, while Corinna McMullen won the discus and set a new personal record Friday at the Red Bud Relays in Wellsville.

Wright broke her own school record in the long jump for the third straight week as she recorded a mark of 18 feet, 8 inches. She also went on to take first in the 400 dash in 59.81 seconds and second in the 200 in 26.31.

Not only did Wright break a school record, but she also shattered the Red Bud record by more than a foot. The previous record of 17-7.5 was set by Perry-Lecompton’s Heidi Yost in 1998.

The Louisburg junior was also presented the Dale Thomasson 400-meter Dash Award for winning the event.

McMullen shined in the discus as she recorded a personal best throw of 117-4 – which was almost 10 feet further than her previous best.

As team, the Lady Cats finished fourth with 64 points. Spring Hill and Paola tied for the Red Bud title with 130 points.

Freshman Emma Vohs also scored points on the track as she took seventh in the 400 dash in 1:03.

In the field events, senior Alyse Moore finished second in the javelin with a toss of 136-10. Teammate Davis Guetterman had a personal best throw of 116-2 to finish fifth.

Sophomore Emma Prettyman also scored points in the discus as she took seventh at 99-9.

Other results are: 

GIRLS

100 dash: Emma Vohs, 14th, 13.75; Andrea Gaza, 29th, 15.11

200 dash: Vohs, 9th, 28.21; Gaza, 30th, 31.29

1,600 run: Erin Apple, 16th, 6:06; Alexis French, 25th, 6:51

3,200 run: Apple, 11th, 13:33; French, 18th, 14:45

Shot Put: Emma Prettyman, 9th, 30-8.5; Alyse Moore, 12th, 29-0; Sydney Thornton, 30th, 21-11

Discus: Aiyana Penca, 21st, 86-0

Javelin: Katie Elpers, 12th, 90-2

BOYS

100 dash: Hayden Feikert, 21st, 12.24

200 dash: Dylan Armstrong, 12th, 24.20

400 dash: Armstrong, 15th, 56.59

800 run: Hayden Ross, 13th, 2:11; Cade Holtzen, 14th, 2:11

1,600 run: Ryan Rogers, 13th, 5:00

3,200 run: Leo Martin, 17th, 11:16

300 hurdles: Nathan Apple, 11th, 44.54

High jump: Isaiah Whitley, 21st, 5-4

Pole vault: Caleb Shaughnessy, 10th, 10-6
Long jump: Ethan Ptacek, 12th, 18-7; Whitley, 15th, 18-3.75

Shot put: J.R. Rooney, 11th, 42-4.5; Chase Pritchard, 20th, 38-5.5; Scott Thornton, 23rd, 33-10

Discus: Pritchard, 19th, 108-8; Layne Ryals, 22nd, 104-8

Javelin: Ryals, 18th, 120-11

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