Brings Plenty wins Perry Invite, Wildcats medal nine

Louisburg junior Jerynce Brings Plenty won the Perry-Lecompton Invitational on Thursday in Topeka. His time was the second fastest in school history.

TOPEKA — Jerynce Brings Plenty has continued to make his way up the Louisburg High School cross country leaderboard all season, but on Thursday in Topeka, he made a big jump.

Brings Plenty ran a personal best time of 16 minutes and 35 seconds to win the Perry-Lecompton Invitational at Hummer Park. In the process, his finish was the second fastest time in school history.

“Jerynce ran great on Thursday,” Reece said. “He was in control of the race from the start. He made a move to break the lead pack up and never looked back. Jerynce was able to separate himself a bit later and held the lead for the rest of the race.”

Brings Plenty was one of nine medalists on the day for the Wildcats. The Louisburg girls captured five medals on their way to a third place team finish with 74 points, just three points behind Paola.

The Wildcat boys had four medalists and took fourth as a team.

Seniors Lola Edwards and Maddy Rhamy led the Wildcat girls as they each finished in the top 10. Edwards took seventh in 22:42 and Rhamy was 10th at 23:03.

“Lola has been running great,” Reece said. “She is a warrior and continues to improve and lead the team. Maddy is right there as well and we look for her to make big gains.”

Louisburg also had a pair of freshmen run their first varsity races and both came away with a medal. Freshmen Talen McMurray was 20th in 24:19 and Ella Bockelman took 25th in 24:50.

Senior Erin Apple rounded out the Wildcat medalists in 26th at 24:53.

“Talen and Ella really stepped it up when asked to run in the varsity race,” Reece said. “We have seen glimmers of what they can do and hope that their success will lead to more. 

“Now that our Homecoming Queen (Apple) is done with a busy week, we look for her to make a big move and take the freshman girls with her to close the gap between them and our front runners. Rowan (Yows) looks to be getting better from injury and will add even more to our team.”

On the boys side, senior Noah Cotter also finished in the top 10 along with Brings Plenty. Cotter was eighth in 17:41.

Freshmen Levi Cotter and Truman Ellison also came home with medals. Cotter was 26th in 19:55, while Ellison was 29th with a time of 19:59.

Junior Ben Proctor (21:40) and freshman Spencer Mattison (22:12) rounded out the Wildcat roster in 44th and 49th, respectively.

“The boys team continues to improve but we have a ways to go yet,” Reece said. “Hopefully all will come together at regionals and we make a bid for state as a team.”

Louisburg has one final regular season meet left and that is this Thursday when the Wildcats host the Louisburg Invitational. Races are set to begin at 4 p.m. at Lewis-Young Park.