Lady Cats medal in nine events at state; Wright leads way with three

Louisburg senior Delaney Wright captured three state medals last weekend in Wichita, including a state runner-up finish in the 400-meter dash.

WICHITA — Just like a year ago, Delaney Wright left Wichita with three medals following the Class 4A state meet Saturday.

It just wasn’t the ones she wanted.

Wright, who has been coming back from a severe injury for most of the season, finished as the state runner-up in the 400-meter dash, third place in the 200 dash and fifth in the long jump.

A season ago, Wright was the state champion in all three events, but couldn’t get the repeat she was hoping for.

“Going into state I knew I still wasn’t where I want to be due to my injury a couple months ago,” Wright said. “But I wanted to attack it still and give it all I had. I am blessed I was there to compete and earn three medals cause in the beginning I didn’t even know if I was going to compete my senior year.”

In all, the Lady Cats put together a strong state performance as they medaled in nine events and finished with 40 team points and took sixth overall. They were just eight points away from the third place spot, and a plaque.

“Once again the state qualifiers did an amazing job,” Louisburg girls coach John Reece said. “They all performed well and most beyond expectations. To leave the meet finishing in sixth place was outstanding. We left with lots of medals and great memories.”

The Lady Cats had seven athletes that found their way to medal stand as Wright made three trips and nearly won her fourth state championship.

Wright finished just behind Andale’s Maddie Schrandt in the 400 dash as she took second in 59.52. Later on Saturday, Wright fell to Schrandt and Andale’s Betsy Reichenberger in 26.61 seconds to finish third.

On Friday, Wright competed in the long jump and medaled fifth with a mark of 16 feet, 2.75 inches.

In all, Wright ended her Wildcat career with 10 state medals and three state championships as she moves on to join the Kansas State University track team next season.

“The last four years of track has been a journey, but I’m going to miss every part of it,” Wright said. “My teammates and coaches were the best and I couldn’t be where I am without them.”

Senior Corinna McMullen put together a memorable ending to her track career as she finished third in the discus for her second consecutive state medal. McMullen recorded a throw of 117-4 and finished behind Andale’s McKenzie Fairchild and Emery May, threw 130-1 and 121-1, respectively.

Last season, McMullen took fourth at state and was happy to see some improvement this time around. 

“Leaving state track with a third place medal felt so accomplishing and ended a great high school career,” McMullen said. “Going into state, I knew I wouldn’t be a state champ due to my size. But I told myself I would place higher than I did last year. I didn’t throw my best, but I also didn’t throw terrible. With throwing, small technique changes can cause big results — good or bad. 

“Overall I’m so happy with my performance even though I wanted to throw just a little farther. I’m so happy I had all my friends and family with my for my last high school event.”

On the track, junior Emma Lohse earned a state medal in her first year of competing on the track. After not qualifying for the finals of the 200 dash, Lohse more than made up for it in the 100.

Lohse qualified for the finals in the 100 dash Saturday and came away with a fourth place medal with time of 12.49 seconds. Lohse, along with Maya Pattison from Eudora and Reichenberger, finished just thousandths of a second apart from second to fourth place.

“It felt good to come home with a medal in the 100,” Lohse said. “Overall I thought I ran well, especially in the 100. Medaling this year was such a good feeling and I’m so excited for next year and will have higher expectations for state.”

In the pole vault, sophomore Maddy Carpenter-Ross continued her memorable season as she found the state podium for the first time. Carpenter-Ross finished in a four-way tie for second after she cleared 10 feet, but took the fifth place medal based on number of misses.

Carpenter-Ross had improved throughout the season as she started out at 8 feet, but eventually progressed to a personal best 10-6 she achieved at regionals.

“It was awesome and felt rewarding to medal at state because my personal records have gone up 2 feet throughout this season to enable me to be up on the podium,” Carpenter-Ross said.

The Lady Cats recorded a personal best in the javelin on a couple of good throws from Katie Elpers. The Louisburg sophomore had a PR in her first throw of the event with a toss of 115-3.

Elpers qualified for the finals and opened with another personal best throw of 122-1 to medal sixth overall.

“I was very surprised with how far I threw,” Elpers said. “It felt awesome being able to leave with a medal and i can’t wait to try to earn another one next year.”

The Lady Cats earned two more medals on the track as sophomore Maddy Rhamy opened the meet strong on Friday morning. Rhamy earned her first state medal with a time of 12:28.98 in the 3,200 meter run and finished seventh.

To get that medal, she broke her own school record that she set just the week before at regionals.

“Maddy earning her first state medal and breaking her own school record in the last meet shows how strong she is,” coach Reece said. “She just ran her race and the field came back to her and finishing seventh was great.”

Also in the distance races, sophomore Emma Vohs found the state podium in the 1,600-meter run. Vohs finished seventh in 5:42 after winning a regional title the week prior.

“I felt very proud to leave Wichita with a state medal,” Vohs said. “I knew this race was going to be the hardest I’ve seen all season with the best runners in 4A, so I knew I had to show up and run my race. 

“Overall, I feel like I could’ve ran better, I did not PR but coach told me my strategy for the race was what he was looking for me to do. I can’t wait to be back next year.”

Vohs, Lohse, Wright and Mackenzie Rooney just missed out on the finals in the 4×400-meter relay as it took 10th in 4:17.

Rooney, also competed in the 300 hurdles, she she finished 15th in 53.77 seconds. Lohse missed the finals of the 200 dash by one spot as she took ninth in 26.65 seconds.