Caplinger medals at Kansas Relays to lead Wildcats

Louisburg junior Caden Caplinger earned a medal Friday at the Kansas Relays with a seventh place finish in the pole vault.

LAWRENCE — Going up against the best competition they will see all season, several Louisburg track and and field athletes put their best foot forward last Friday and Saturday at the 100th running of the Kansas Relays.

The Wildcats even put one the medal stand.

Junior Caden Caplinger earned a Kansas Relays medal Friday as he finished seventh in the pole vault after he cleared 14 feet, 5.25 inches. Sophomore Cooper Wingfield just missed the podium by one spot as he was 10th at 13-11.25.

Caplinger, who is the defending Class 4A state champion in the event, nearly eclipsed his top mark from a year ago.

“KU Relays was the toughest competition that we will see all year,” Louisburg boys coach Andy Wright said. “KU is always a great experience. It gives the athletes a chance to compete at a state-like atmosphere.”

Senior hurdler Mason Dobbins also found some individual success. Although he didn’t make the finals in the 110-meter high hurdles, he ran a personal best time of 14.82 seconds and took 13th overall.

Fellow hurdler, Nathan Apple, also posted strong times in both races. He was 23rd in the 110 hurdles in 15.22 seconds. In the 300 hurdles, Apple won his heat in 42.26 seconds and also finished 23rd there as well.

The Wildcats put together a 4×100 relay and the team of Caplinger, Dobbins, Colyer Wingfield and Ashton Moore ran a time of 44.11 seconds. The quartet took 35th out of 81 teams.

On the girls side, in her first competition back from injury, Katie Elpers had a strong first showing in the javelin. The Louisburg junior recorded a throw of 117-2 to take 18th overall.

Senior Emma Lohse competed in the 100-meter dash and was 26th in 12.56 seconds. 

Lohse, along with Emma Vohs, Mackenzie Rooney and Suzanna Dansel, also competed in the sprint medley relay on Saturday. They finished 19th in 4:37.45. The same group also ran a 4×100 on Friday, but were disqualified on a lane violation.

“Kansas Relays was a learning experience,” Louisburg girls coach John Reece said. “We had to adjust our relays and unfortunately were disqualified in the 4×1, but posted a good time all things considered. The sprint medley relay did an awesome job. Lohse, Dansel, Rooney, Vohs had a great time and enjoyed the experience. They also got a new school record by default.”