Wildcat track fares well in first meet of season at Ottawa

OTTAWA — It may have just been the first meet of the season, but both of the Louisburg track and field teams had a strong showing Thursday at the Ottawa Relays. 

The Louisburg boys finished second in the team standings with 134.5 points and won two events. The Wildcat girls also won a pair of events, but finished third overall with 90 points in the 11-team meet.

Louisburg had 13 top three finishes in the boys division and it was a good start for the Wildcats as they build toward the postseason.

“I thought we had a good start to the season,” Wright said. “It’s early, and we are building track shape and strength, so most everyone only completed in one or two events. It was the first varsity meet for some of our guys, and I thought they all competed well.”

The Wildcats dominated the pole vault competition as Caden Caplinger won after clearing 14 feet. Junior Cooper Wingfield was right behind him in second at 13-6 and junior Jacob Brown was third at 12 feet.

Louisburg also scored a lot of points in the jumps and throws.

Senior Ben O’Bryan scored points in both the shot and discus. O’Bryan was third in the discus with a throw of 152 feet, 5 inches and was fourth in the shot with toss of 45-8. His senior teammate, Jaymes Melton, was sixth in the shot put at 43-8.

“We are expecting big things from Ben this year,” Wright said. “He has been throwing well in practices. I see him continuing to improve on his marks throughout the season.”

Also in the throws, Tasen Ellison took fifth in the javelin at 140-01 and Brayden Yoder was seventh at 139-4.

In the jumps, junior Gavin Lohse finished runner-up in the long jump with a mark of 19-9.75. Myles Vohs and Wyatt Holland took fourth and fifth, respectively, with a jumps of 18-6 and 18-4.5.

Sophomore Evan McKitrick scored well in both the triple and high jumps. McKitrick was third in the triple jump at 38-2.75 and third in the high jump after he cleared 5-10.

“We will continue to work with technique with Evan, as I see him keep improving throughout the season,” Wright said. “I am encouraged by the potential we are seeing with our jumpers.  We have some athletes that are working hard, and we look forward to them producing great marks as we move forward.”

On the track, the Wildcats fared well in the relays, especially in the 4×400. The team of Hunter Heinrich, Blaise Vohs, Colton Blue and Aidan Meyer won in 3:34.58.

Louisburg took second in the other two as Caplinger, Lohse, Heinrich and Ashton Moore ran a time of 44.68 in the 4×100. Blue, Jerynce Brings Plenty, Vohs and Noah Cotter ran a 8:37 in the 4×800.

In the sprints, Heinrich went on to take second in the 400-meter dash in 53.27 seconds and Emmett White was third in 53.61. Moore (11.73) and Lohse (11.74) took fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 100 dash, while Caleb Feldkamp (23.74) was eighth in the 200 dash.

Brings Plenty led the distance runners with a fourth pace finish in the 3,200 run in 10:34 and Cotter was sixth in 10:40. 

Jay McCaskill was eighth in the 300 hurdles in 47.14 and also scored points for the Wildcats.

On the girls side, senior Maddy Carpenter-Ross had one of two gold medal finishes for Louisburg. Carpenter-Ross won the pole vault after she cleared 11 feet

Another senior, Maddy Rhamy, captured the 3,200-meter title in 12:54 to lead Louisburg.

“As a team, we did a great job going up against some bigger schools,” Louisburg girls coach John Reece said. “All in all it was a great meet and we look to continue to improve and work together to get as many girls to the state meet.”

Louisburg fared well in the relays as the 4×100 group of Suzanna Dansel, Kendall Crossley, Emma Vohs and Addi Mallett took second in 53.26. The 4×400 relay of Adelyn Moore, Vohs, Presley Yows and Crossley took third in 4:29 and secured the third place overall team finish.

In the hurdles, freshman Caroline Apple was runner-up in the 100-meter hurdles in 18.96 and senior Kate Frederick was third in 19.11. Apple (53.46) and Frederick (57.74) took fourth and eighth, respectively, in the 300 hurdles.

Dansel helped Louisburg in the sprints as she took fifth in the 100 dash in 13.62 and Emma Vohs was fifth in the 200 dash in 29.67. Yows also took fifth in the 400 dash in 1:07.

Along with the win in the 3,200, Rhamy was fifth in the 1,600 run in 6:09 and senior Erin Apple was seventh in 6:56. Adelyn Moore was sixth in the 800 run in 2:43.

In the field events, Adelyn Moore finished third in the javelin with a toss of 102-6 and Katie Elpers was right behind her in fourth in 102-2. McKenna Lohse was fifth in the shot put with a toss of 31-2.5.

Louisburg is back in action this Thursday when it travels to the Paola Invitational. Events begin at 3:30 p.m.

Other results are:

GIRLS

800 run: Erin Apple, 9th, 3:03

Shot Put: Kinley Scott, 9th, 29-6; Maddie Yoder, 15th, 25-6

Discus: McKenna Lohse, 9th, 80-3; Cora Wulfkuhle, 13th, 70-0; Yoder, 18th, 60-10

Javelin: Lohse, 14th, 83-4

BOYS

200 dash: Emmett White, 11th, 23.85; Wyatt Holland, 18th, 25.04

400 dash: Aidan Meyer, 14th, 56.63

Shot put: Miles Meek, 11th, 40-.50

Discus: Johnny Hendrickson, 9th, 115-9; Jaymes Melton, 12th, 110-8

Javelin: Miles Meek, 11th, 121-4