Cross Country Impresses Again
- Updated: October 21, 2026
The cross country team is looking to build off of an impressive two weeks to the season and propel them towards the postseason.
The Louisburg High School cross country team turned in a stellar performance at the Perry-Lecompton Invitational. Competing on October 2 at Cotton O’Neil Park in Topeka, Kansas, the Louisburg girls varsity team captured the overall win, while the boys team secured a strong 3rd place overall.
Sophomore Maddox McGhee led the way for the lady cats, taking 3rd place individually with a time of (20:53.9). With junior Hailey Shelton followed closely behind her taking 6th overall, with a time of (21:21.5). Maggie Martin placed 9th at (21:43.80). Valin Prothro (13) and Karissa Williamson (14) also had contributed to the team’s victory.
“The overall performance for the girls team was awesome, ” said sophomore runner Maddox McGhee. “We finished with a perfect score, which is having the first 5 runners all from your school. It was the first time we’ve ever been able to accomplish that, and we all pushed each other to be able to finish strong and make that accomplishment as a team.”
On the boys side, Sophomore Denver Schnelle had a 3rd place win, with a time of (17:37.1), followed by senior Spencer Mattison who earned a 6th finish with a (18:38.2) timing. Truman Ellison 10th place final, and August Meyer with a placing of 18th to cement the wildcats 3rd place podium finish.
“I found it hard to push myself without someone to run with,” said sophomore runner Denver Schnelle. “I broke off from the pack before the first mile, but the people in the front were too far ahead. I ended up running the rest of the race alone. I am still happy with my time and placement.”
The team was ecstatic over the results, and are hoping to use it as momentum moving forward. “We celebrated our victory and cheered each other on through our successes when we gathered together with our first place medals after the race,” said McGhee.
Then, they hosted a home meet at Lewis and Young park, bringing on six opposing schools to compete against. They performed well, despite tough weather. “As a team, we competed well in a challenging home meet,” said head coach John Reece. “This has been a crazy year with Mother Nature not wanting to be very nice.”
Even with the weather affecting the meet, both teams had solid performances, with three runners finishing in the top 10. For the boys, Denver Schnelle placed 6th and Truman Ellison finished 9th. On the girls’ side, Maddox McGhee had an outstanding performance, taking 1st place.
The cross country team had its league meet this week, which is one of its toughest meets of the season. “This week’s meet, our league meet, is our toughest meet next to state. We have some great teams and individual runners in our league.” Schnelle, the Athlete of the Week, ran well at the league meet, securing a second place finish. The team also finished second, which was outstanding, considering the teams there.
“We are working hard to be ready for regionals next week and if all goes well we could have both teams qualified for the State meet,” said Coach Reece.
The team looks to practice as hard as they can to hopefully look forward to qualifying as many people as possible for both teams.
– Mathias Wright, Will Leach
