Dobbins wins three events, leads Wildcats to team title at Paola

Louisburg seniors Mason Dobbins (right) and Nathan Apple finished 1-2 in the 110-meter hurdles last Thursday in Paola. Dobbins won three events as the Wildcats took the team title.

PAOLA — The Louisburg boys track and field team left a mark in every event Thursday during the Paola Invitational.

The Wildcats scored at least a point in every event as Louisburg cruised to the team title in the 8-team meet with 182 points. Spring Hill finished runner-up with 138.

“I am extremely pleased with how the team is progressing,” Louisburg coach Andy Wright said. “Our marks are not where we want to be, but they are coming together. They continue to put in the work every day at practice, and are seeing the results at meets. We just need to continue to improve each week.”

Senior Mason Dobbins led the charge for the Wildcats as he earned three golds on the day to go along with one runner-up finish.

Dobbins won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.46 seconds and also captured the high jump crown after clearing 6 feet. He later took second in the 200-meter dash in 23.20 seconds.

Caden Caplinger, Colyer Wingfield and Ashton Moore teamed up with Dobbins in the 4×100-meter relay and the Wildcats took first in 44.02 seconds.

The Wildcats scored several points in the hurdles thanks in part to Nathan Apple. The Louisburg senior won the 300 hurdles in a season-best time of 41.29 seconds and was second in the 110 hurdles in 15.69.

“Both Mason and Nathan have worked super hard all season,” Wright said. “Their times are not where they want to be, but they will keep working hard and will see results as we get into the season. The hurdlers have all been putting in the effort at practice, and I am excited about the results they are going to have.”

Louisburg also racked up a lot of points in the pole vault as the Wildcats had the top three finishers — and all three recorded a season best.

Caplinger won the pole vault after he cleared 14 feet, 6 inches. Sophomore Cooper Wingfield was right behind him at 14 feet and junior Jacob Brown was third at 11-6.

Caplinger also went on to finish second in the 100-meter dash in 11.38 seconds to medal in his third event of the day. 

“With the competition we have in our league and regionals, Caden and Cooper don’t have a choice but to get better,” Wright said. “They will see tough competition every week for the next 4 to 5 weeks. Both have been up to the challenge and have been improving every week. Cooper has improved by 3 or more feet this year already.”

Also in the sprints, junior Hunter Heinrich finished fourth in the 400 dash in 53.88 seconds, while Moore was sixth in the 100 in 11.88. Freshman Caleb Feldkamp was seventh in the 200 in 24.71 and eighth in the 400 in 57.90.

The Wildcat 4×400 relay of Blaise Vohs, Feldkamp, Colyer Wingfield and Heinrich were second overall in 3:40.

In the distance races, Vohs put together a top three finish in the 800 run in a season-best 2:11 and Colton Blue was seventh in 2:16.

Noah Cotter finished fifth in both the 1,600 (5:06) and 3,200 run (10:56) and senior Leo Martin was eighth in the 1,600 in 5:16. Martin, Vohs, Carter and Blue were fourth in the 4×800 relay in 8:59.

Seniors Nathan Vincent and J.R. Rooney led the throwers as they scored points in two events. 

Rooney was second in the shot put with a toss of 47-9 and was fifth in the discus at 115-2. Vincent took second in the discus with a throw of 125-8 and was third in the shot at 46-7.5.

Ben O’Bryan was sixth in the discus at 114-11 and junior Jaymes Melton was seventh in the shot put at 41-5.5. Senior Brecon Klugman was sixth in the javelin at 127-11 and sophomore Brayden Yoder was eighth at 126-10.

Cade Gassman took second in the high jump at 5-10. Elias Pugh (39-5.5) and Trey Myers (38-1.50) were sixth and eighth, respectively, in the triple jump, while Colyer Wingfield was seventh in the long jump at 19-6.75.

Louisburg is back in action Thursday when it travels to the Anderson County Invitational, while some varsity members will be traveling to the Kansas Relays in Lawrence beginning Friday.

Other results are: 

100 dash: J’Lee Collins, 10th, 12.09

200 dash: Collins, 10th, 24.47

400 dash: Cade Gassman, 9th, 58.18

Long jump: Elias Pugh, 12th, 18-10

Javelin: Miles Meek, 11th, 123-1

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