Wingfield wins regional title, Wildcats qualify for state in 9 events

EUDORA — The Louisburg boys track and field team might not have left with a plaque, but the Wildcats will be well-represented as this weekend’s state meet.

Louisburg qualified for state in nine different events during the Class 4A regional meet at Eudora High School and also had a regional champion. 

As a team, the Wildcats finished fourth in the team standings with 72 points. Bishop Miege won the regional title with 130 points and Eudora was second with 106.

“It was hard to tell from watching, because the level of competition was crazy good, but when I started hearing times and marks, almost everyone got a personal record or got close to their personal best,” Louisburg coach Andy Wright said. “The boys side of the regional was stacked with competition. Some years it just happens that way, but if you came out of that regional, there is a good chance of medaling at state.”

Louisburg junior Cooper Wingfield provided the Wildcats with their lone regional championship. Wingfield won the pole vault competition going away as he cleared 15 feet to take gold.

Wingfield’s teammate, junior Jacob Brown, was right behind him as he cleared 12 feet, 7 inches to finish as the regional runner-up.

“Cooper did well,” Wright said. “He had good attempts at his PR. I always like the way Eudora showcases pole vault by bringing in a raised runaway in the middle of the football field. It makes it fun for spectators as well. It also gives them a good taste at being in front of a large crowd.

“Cooper can be up there with the best at the state track meet. It’s going to take his best performance to win it, but I know he will give it his best.”

Junior Gavin Lohse qualified for state in two events thanks to a pair of fourth place finishes. 

Lohse snuck in the long jump as he took fourth with a mark of 21-3.25. He later qualified in the 100-meter dash as he finished fourth with a personal best of 11.26 seconds.

“I think the 100 was his best start yet, and it really helped him be able to get in there and qualify,” Wright said. “He was not ranked top four going in, but that is why you run the race, and he put one together when it mattered.”

Louisburg was also able to qualify a pair of relays and saved its best for last. The 4×400-meter relay of Hunter Heinrich, Aidan Meyer, Blaise Vohs and Emmett White ended the meet with a third place finish as it ran a personal best time of 3:28.

The Wildcats also qualified for state in the 4×800 relay and did so before the race even started. The team of Jerynce Brings Plenty, Colton Blue, Myles Vohs and Blaise Vohs took fourth in 9:34.

“The 4×8 did what they needed to do with only four teams at regionals,” Wright said. “Everyone that was in the 4×8 had more events to compete in and they were told to just finish the race. We were already in, and knew we needed to give our best in all events due to the level of competition there for boys. 

“In the 4×4, we knew, we had to run our best to get in, and they didn’t disappoint. They improved their time by over a second.”

Along with their strong performance in 4×400, Heinrich and Meyer also qualified in individual events. Heinrich took third in the 400-meter dash in 52.21 seconds and Meyer was fourth in a personal best of 52.30.

Also on the track, senior Noah Cotter qualified for state in the 3,200-meter run as he recorded a time of 10:29 and took fourth.

In the field events, senior Jaymes Melton, who has seen improvement throughout the year in the shot put, saw his hard work pay off. Melton took third with a throw of 47-9.25

“Jaymes has been improving every week, and has been working so hard,” Wright said. “It’s just great to see a kid like Jaymes have his hard work pay off and get him to the big stage.”

Also in the throws, senior Ben O’Bryan had a good day in the discus as he finished fourth with a throw of 140-2.

Now the Wildcats will prepare for the state meet in Wichita, which begins at 7:40 a.m. on Friday and will continue into Saturday. The top eight in each event will earn a state medal.

“We are excited to go see where we are at,” Wright said. “It’s always tough, but we will do our best and see who can rise to the occasion.”

Other results are: 

200 dash: Caleb Feldkamp, 5th, 23.09; Gage Feldkamp, 7th, 23.55; Josiah McCaskill, 15th, 24.58

400 dash: Emmett White, 10th, 53.19

800 run: Blaise Vohs, 5th, 2:04; Colton Blue, 8th, 2:06

1,600 run: Jerynce Brings Plenty, 6th, 4:34; Noah Cotter, 9th, 4:54

300 hurdles: Jay McCaskill, 12th, 47.34

4×100 Relay: 5th, 43.97

Long Jump: Myles Vohs, 5th, 21-1.50; Wyatt Holland, 10th, 19-1.75

Shot Put: Miles Meek, 8th, 42-2.25; Ben O’Bryan, 16th, 37-1.25

Discus: Jaymes Melton, 6th, 132-11; Johnny Hendrickson, 15th, 110-4

Javelin: Tasen Ellison, 5th, 158-5; Lane Cunningham, 9th, 150-11; Brayden Yoder, 11th, 144-3

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