Wildcat boys second at Wellsville; Lohse leads girls with gold in shot

WELLSVILLE — Both the Louisburg boys and girls track and field teams had to deal with the injury bug during the Red Bud Classic on May 8 at Wellsville High School.

Despite that, the Wildcats brought home their fair share share of hardware.

The Louisburg boys finished second in the team standings with 77 points as Paola won the team title with 128. The Wildcat girls took 10th with 42 points.

“There were a lot of significant improvements from most of our athletes,” Louisburg boys coach Andy Wright said. “Some underclassmen stepped up and filled in key spots. It helped us earn a point or two, and by doing so, helped us get second.”

Louisburg won three events on the day, including two on the boys side.

It started in the pole vault as Cooper Wingfield won the competition after he cleared 14-6. His teammate, Jacob Brown, set a personal best for the second straight week as he cleared 14 feet to take second. 

“Jacob had some great attempts and continues to improve each week,” Wright said. “The great thing about Jacob is he is not happy with this height. He wants to be over 15 by state.”

Senior Aidan Meyer continued his improvement on the track as he blew past the competition in the 400-meter dash in a new personal best time of 49.49 seconds. Senior Colton Blue also had a personal best time of 50.86 to finish fourth and Emmett White was sixth at 51.94.

Those three, along with Bryce Liddell, also set a new personal best in the 4×400-meter relay in 3:25.34 to finish second overall.

“Aidan continues to impress me every week,” Wright said. “It was a perfect night for him to set a PR. He told me last week that he wanted to break 50 seconds in the 400. His dedication during practice and the ideal conditions allowed him to achieve that goal.

“The 4×400 relay did a great job as a team as we achieved a PR by 2 seconds.”

Senior Jerynce Brings Plenty had a career-best performance in the 800-meter run as he took third in a new personal best time of 2:01.74, as he cut four seconds off his previous best mark. Ryan Barberich was seventh at 2:07.

In the 1,600 run, Brings Plenty finished fourth in a competitive field in 4:39.59.

In the long jump, senior Gavin Lohse took fourth with a mark of 20 feet, 8 inches and Myles Vohs was eighth at 20-0.

In the javelin, junior Tasen Ellison finished fourth to lead the Wildcats at 152-11.

Another junior, Michael Foote, set a new personal best in the shot put with a throw 45-4 to take sixth overall. 

The shot put also provided a memorable moment on the girls side.

Junior McKenna Lohse achieved a personal best in the shot put with a throw of 38-8.5, which earned her the gold medal and that toss is currently second in Class 4A.

“The girls did a good job at Wellsville,” Louisburg girls coach John Reece said. “We just need to get healthy. Kenna did awesome in shot. We are continuing to work on form and look to continue to improve.” 

On the track, junior Kendall Crossley scored big points in the 100 and 200 dashes. Crossley was second in the 100 in 13.04 and second in the 200 in 12.73.

Two Wildcats scored points in the 300 hurdles as Caroline Apple took fourth in 50.41 and Taylor Tidd was seventh in 53.66.

The 4×800-meter relay team of Breck Nielsen, Adalyn Moore, Annie Hornberger and Marissa Vallejo took third in 10:50. Moore also took seventh in the javelin in 107-4.

Louisburg is back in action on May 15 as the Wildcats travel to Bonner Springs for the Frontier League Invitational. Events begin at 3:30 p.m.