Louisburg girls win 3 regional titles, qualifies for state in 8 events
EUDORA — The Louisburg girls track and field team brought home a lot of hardware from the Class 4A regional meet Thursday and will be well represented at state.
The Lady Cats earned three individual regional champions and qualified for state in eight events during the competition held at Eudora High School.
As a team, Louisburg finished fourth in the team standings with 70 points. Eudora won the regional title with 160, while Baldwin was regional runner-up with 76.5.
“Overall it was a good day for the girls track team,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “They competed well in all aspects of the meet.”
Louisburg senior Maddy Carpenter-Ross led things off as she became the team’s first state qualifier of the day as she won the regional title in the pole vault.
Carpenter-Ross cleared 11 feet, 6 inches to win the event by nearly a foot. She also kept her undefeated meet record alive as she heads back to state as the defending state champion.
“Maddy makes a difficult event look easy,” Reece said. “She is a technician and is never satisfied, which makes her hard to beat as she is going to bring everything she’s got each meet. I’m hoping for a great state meet for her and seeing her bring home the gold.”
The field event success continued as a pair of Louisburg throwers had their best day in the javelin.
Senior Katie Elpers recorded a personal best throw of 129-10 to win the competition and earned her first regional title.
Elpers won’t be the only Louisburg thrower going to state as freshman Adelyn Moore finished fourth with a throw of 125-4, which was a personal best. That toss came on her final attempt, which jumped her into fourth place and earned a state spot by an inch.
“Katie and Adelyn threw well on Thursday,” Reece said. “Both of them throwing a PR was the goal and then let good things happen and they did. Both qualifying for state is a testament to their hard work and Coach G (Alex Gentges) getting them there.”
On the track, Louisburg got another regional champion thanks to legs of four athletes.
The 4×100-meter relay of Kendall Crossley, Emma Vohs, Addi Mallett and Suzanna Dansel won the race going away with a time of 50.49 seconds.
“The 4×100 did an awesome job,” Reece said. “They continue to hit their handoffs and that is key to the success they have been having in the last few weeks.”
Crossley will be a busy person at state as she qualified in three events. Along with the 4×100 relay, Crossley will also compete in the 200- and 400-meter dashes.
The Louisburg sophomore was third in the 200 dash in 27.33 seconds and finished fourth in the 400 dash in 1:03.55.
“Even though she is nursing a foot issue, Kendall stepped up and ran great,” Reece said. “Qualifying in two individual events and a relay shows how tough she is. She will be ready for state.”
Dansel ran a strong race in the 100-meter dash as she took second in 12.77 seconds and will make first appearance at state in the event, after helping the 4×100 relay to a state medal last season as a freshman.
The Lady Cats will also send a second relay to state. The 4×800 relay of Vohs, Erin Apple, Maddy Rhamy and Moore took fourth with a personal best of 10:31.
Freshman Caroline Apple found success on the track and earned a spot at state in her first season. Apple finished fourth in the 300-meter hurdles in 17.45 seconds.
Louisburg will travel to Wichita for the Class 4A Kansas State Track and Field Championships that will start at 8 a.m. on Friday and will run through Saturday at Cessna Stadium. The top eight in each event will earn a state medal.
Other results are:
200 dash: Addi Mallett, 6th, 28.18
400 dash: Emma Vohs, 9th, 1:07; Presley Yows, 10th, 1:08
3,200 run: Maddy Rhamy, 5th, 12:37
100 hurdles: Caroline Apple, 5th, 17.45; Kate Frederick, 6th, 17.50
4×400 Relay: 5th, 4:22
High Jump: Apple, 8th, 4-8; Breck Nielsen, 9th, 4-8
Shot Put: McKenna Lohse, 5th, 35-7; Kinley Scott, 9th, 30-2.25; Maddie Yoder, 15th, 27-3
Discus: Lohse, 7th, 94-9; Cora Wulfkuhle, 15th, 79-0
Javelin: Lohse, 12th, 83-2