Cross Country Braves Heat, Girls Earn 7th, Boys Earn 13th at Wamego

Last week, the Louisburg cross country team had a meet Friday morning. The meet was originally scheduled for the afternoon, but due to the heat, it was moved to the morning.

It hardly seemed to affect the team.

The boys team ended up at 13th place, with Denver Schnelle getting the highest placing score for the boys team, running 18:02.21, ending at 22nd place. With great competition and a tough course, a top 25 placement is a success.

“I believe that I performed well on Friday,” Schnelle said. “My time improved by fifty seconds compared to the previous meet, and I think I have plenty of room to grow, seeing as I am still getting used to all of the hills that I don’t encounter in track.”

Schnelle also believed that the team performed admirably as well. “Our team had a solid performance,” Schnelle said. “Having three of our athletes place in the top fifty, when over 200 athletes participated, is exciting.”

The girls performed admirably as well, finishing at 7th. The top runner for the girls was Maddox McGhee, placing at 11th overall with a time of 21:13:18.

“The cross county meet on Friday went amazing,” McGhee said. “It was a beautiful day for racing. The whole team really put their best foot forward and we all performed to the best of our abilities.”

The cross country team is undoubtedly getting better, in the eyes of their athletes. “We doubled out individual medals this year compared to last year, showing that we’re all improving our skills everyday,” said McGhee.

The combined efforts of both teams resulted in a highly successful day on the course, giving the runners a preview of where they hope to finish their season.

“The meet went well, ” said head coach John Reece. “It is always a positive when you get to compete on the state course before making it to state.

Despite all of the changes and conditions, the team did well with all of the adversity. “It was a new course that brought some minor changes from last year,” said Reese. “Both teams performed better than last year, which was great to see. We brought home a total of six individual medals on the day.”

Looking ahead, the Wildcats will look to carry this momentum into their next meet that took place today in Wellsville. With a strong showing on the state course already under their belts, Louisburg is well-positioned as they head into the heart of their season.

– Will Leach