Wildcats medal three at Wamego Invitational

Louisburg junior Maddy Rhamy led the Wildcats on Saturday at the Wamego Invitational as she finished 19th overall and was one of three Wildcats to leave with a medal.

WAMEGO — The Louisburg cross country teams found themselves in Wamego on Saturday morning — a place where they hope to be in a little more than a month from now.

The Wamego Country Club is the site of the Class 4A state meet and both Wildcats teams have their eyes on getting back there.

However, first they had a tune-up on the state course Saturday as the Wildcats competed at the Wamego Invitational. Some of the top teams across the state ventured to Wamego and several Wildcats more than held their own.

Maddy Rhamy, a junior, led the Wildcat girls as she earned medal with a 19th-place finish in 22 minutes and 6 seconds. 

The Lady Cats, who finished 13th overall, also earned another medal as junior Lola Edwards was 34th out of 102 runners in 22:40.

Senior Bree Gassman finished in 79th in 25:19, while another senior, Nova Ptacek took 82nd in 25:25. Junior Erin Apple finished 89th in 26:20.

“The girls ran well on Saturday,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “Maddy had a solid race finishing 19th and Lola was not far behind. Nova and Bree worked well together throughout the race and looked good at the end. Erin ran a strong race and the group continues to close the time gap between them. “

The Wildcat boys also earned a medal as sophomore Jerynce Brings Plenty finished 31st in 18 minutes and 15 seconds. As a team, Louisburg took 12th overall.

Junior Noah Cotter was 56th in 19:12, while seniors Leo Martin (19:29) and Ethan Ptacek (19:30) were 66th and 68th, respectively, out of 119 runners. Sophomore Ben Proctor took 94th in 20:46.

Senior Landan Henry was 100th in 21:18 and junior Max LaJoie was 107th in 21:44.

“Jerynce ran a great race as did the other boys.” Reece said. “They really ran a smart first mile and worked through the field as the race played out. Ben Proctor really stepped it up and was our No. 5 runner.  We were happy with their performance, but we have our work cut out for us depending on which regional we go to.”

Louisburg will try to improve those times even more Thursday when it competes in the Wellsville Invitational. Races are set to begin at 4 p.m.