Louisburg boys win De Soto Invite for third straight victory

By Andy Brown
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Updated: May 4, 2023

Louisburg senior Isaiah Whitley finished fourth in the high jump Friday at De Soto. The Wildcats won the De Soto Invitational with 142 points.

DE SOTO — On a cool, rainy day for the De Soto Invitational, the Louisburg boys track and field team still found a way to keep its winning streak going.

The Wildcats won their third consecutive meet as Louisburg captured the De Soto Invitational title with 142 points Friday at De Soto High School. The Wildcats defeated runner-up Eudora by 25 points.

“I just asked them to compete,” Louisburg boys coach Andy Wright said. “This was the first meet this year, that it wasn’t ideal weather for some events, but everyone had to compete in the same conditions. This meet was all about learning mental toughness and competing in spite of the elements.”

The Louisburg girls also had several bright moments as they won a pair of events and took sixth out of 13 teams with 75 points. Piper won the meet with 117 points.

On the boys side, seniors Mason Dobbins and Nathan Vincent led the way with a pair of individual victories.

Vincent won the shot put with a toss of 46 feet, 9 inches and also won the discus at 139-5. He then proceeded to throw a season-best in the javelin to take second at 168-10.

As for Dobbins, he captured the title in the 110-meter high hurdles in 15.32 seconds and he also won the 200-meter dash in 22.97 seconds.

Dobbins was also a member of the 4×100 relay with Caden Caplinger, Colyer Wingfield and Ashton Moore, who finished first in 43.82 seconds.

“Mason is really competing in his events and doing a great job,” Wright said. “Nathan is starting to be a triple threat in throws. He has had solid throws all year in the shot and discus. With his second meet throwing javelin, he keeps improving every week, and will be peaking at the right time.”

Senior Nathan Apple had his best performance of the year in the 300 hurdles. Apple recorded a personal-best time of 40.88 seconds to win the event. He also took third in the 110 hurdles in 15.65.

“Nathan is running more aggressively in the first part of his race and that improvement is showing in his times,” Wright said. “That is how he was able to PR.”

On the girls side, junior Maddy Carpenter-Ross continued to find success in the pole vault as she won the event after clearing 10 feet.

The Lady Cat 4×100-meter relay was also able to track down gold as Mackenzie Rooney, Suzanna Dansel, Kendall Crossley and Emma Lohse won in 50.79 seconds. Lohse raced down the Piper anchor leg in the final stretch to nip the Pirates at the finish line.

“De Soto didn’t have the best conditions to have a track meet, but the girls did a good job,” Louisburg girls coach John Reece said. “All the relays have been improving steadily. It does not always show in time, but in effort.”

The Lady Cats also had their other relays earn points as well. The 4×800 relay of Delanie Tally, Erin Apple, Maddy Rhamy and Emma Vohs took fourth in 10:50, while the 4×400 of Rooney, Lohse, Vohs and Crossley was sixth in 4:25.

**Louisburg junior Katie Elpers was third in the javelin Friday at De Soto.**

Lohse and Dansel also scored points in the 100 and 200 dashes for Louisburg. Dansel took third in the 100 in 13.19 and Lohse was fifth in 13.26. In the 200, Lohse was fourth at 27.38 and Dansel took fifth in 27.82.

Also on the track, Vohs was seventh in the 800 run in 2:32, while Rhamy was 8th in the 3200 run in 13:20. Rooney took fourth in the 300 hurdles in 51.01.

In the throws, Emma Prettyman scored in all three events. Prettyman took fifth in the javelin (113-10) and sixth in the shot put (34-3) and discus (97-10).

Junior Katie Elpers took third in the javelin with a throw of 120-6, while freshman Kenna Lohse finished fifth in the discus with a season-best throw of 98-11.

On the boys side, sophomore Jerynce Brings Plenty put together a strong performance the 3,200-meter run. Brings Plenty recorded a personal-best time of 9:56 to finish runner-up. Junior Noah Cotter also scored points as he was sixth in 11:00.

“Breaking 10 minutes was a goal for Jerynce,” Wright said. “He is working hard every week to make sure he meets those goals.”

Senior Ethan Ptacek also had a solid meet after coming back from an injury. Ptacek took fourth in the 400 dash in 51.56 seconds, while junior Hunter Heinrich was fourth at 53.27.

Ptacek also joined Heinrich, Blaise Vohs and Wingfield to take third in the 4×400 relay in a season-best time of 3:29.79.

“It was nice to see Ethan on the track, with his second meet back he ran three solid races in the 100 ,400, and 4×4,” Wright said. “He is still a little out of shape, but I am looking forward to seeing where he will be in a few weeks at regionals.”