Wildcats win seven events at Leavenworth Invite to begin season

By Andy Brown
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Updated: April 6, 2023

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg’s Ashton Moore takes the handoff from Colyer Wingfield in the final leg of the 4×100-meter relay Friday at the Leavenworth Invitational.

LEAVENWORTH — On what was a blustery day that saw winds creep up to 40 miles an hour, the Louisburg track team found a way to put together a strong performance Friday during its season opener at the Leavenworth Invitational.

The Wildcat boys finished second in the team standings with 148 points, just three points behind champion Grain Valley. They also won six individual titles.

On the girls side, the Lady Cats finished fourth with 78 points as they won one event. Mill Valley won the team crown with 156 points in the eight-team meet.

Jerynce Brings Plenty had a big meet for the Louisburg boys as he won a pair of distance races to lead the way for the Wildcats.

The Louisburg sophomore won the 1,600-meter run in 4 minutes and 37 seconds. He also captured the 3,200-meter crown in 10:04 as both were personal best times.

Louisburg also dominated both hurdle races as seniors Mason Dobbins and Nathan Apple each brought home gold. Dobbins won the 110-meter hurdles in 15.19 seconds and Apple was second in 15.73.

***Louisburg seniors Nathan Apple (left) and Mason Dobbins won the 300 and 110 hurdles, respectively, Friday at Leavenworth.***

In the 300 hurdles, Apple came through again for Louisburg as he won the event in 42.19 seconds.

The Wildcat boys 4×100-meter relay of Caden Caplinger, Dobbins, Colyer Wingfield and Ashton Moore won the event in 44.25 seconds. Later on in the night, Caplinger won his second gold as he captured the pole vault title after clearing 14 feet.

Caplinger also scored points for the Wildcats in the 100-meter dash as he recorded a time of 11.42 seconds to finish third overall, while Dobbins was fourth in the 200 dash in 23.04 seconds.

Also on the track, the 4×800-meter relay of Owen Marsh, Noah Cotter, Leo Martin and Blaise Vohs took third overall in 9:20. Cotter also scored points in the 3,200 run as he took sixth in 10:45.

The 4×400 relay of Hunter Heinrich, Wingfield, Cade Gassman and Caleb Feldkamp took seventh in 3:42.

In the field events, Gassman and Dobbins scored points in the high jump as the two Wildcats seniors tied for second as each cleared 6-0.

***Louisburg senior Nathan Vincent finished second in the shot put and discus Friday in Leavenworth.***

Sophomore Cooper Wingfield finished third in the pole vault after he cleared 13-6 and junior Jacob Brown was eighth at 10-6.

Colyer Wingfield took fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 38-11 and junior Elias Pugh was eighth at 37-4. Senior Isaiah Whitley was seventh in the long jump at 19-8.5.

Senior Nathan Vincent had a good debut in both the shot put and discus as he finished second in both. Vincent had a toss of 50-2 in the shot, which was a personal best, and had a 140-6 mark in the discus.

Senior J.R. Rooney was third in the shot with a toss of 48-9 — a personal best — while Ben O’Bryan was fourth in the discus with a mark of 125-2. Rooney was sixth in the discus at 124-1.

Prettyman leads Lady Cat track

Louisburg senior Emma Prettyman racked up points in all three throwing events to lead the Lady Cat team, including a strong performance in the discus.

Prettyman won the discus with a toss of 101-10. She also went on to finish third in the shot put with a mark of 34-8 and was third in the javelin at 107-10.

***Senior Emma Prettyman won the discus and took third in the shot put and javelin Friday in Leavenworth.***

Also in the field events, junior Maddy Carpenter-Ross was fourth in the pole vault after a clearance of 10 feet. Freshman Kenna Lohse took fifth in the shot put with a mark of 32-5.

On the track, sophomore Mackenzie Rooney finished runner-up in the 300 hurdles with a time of 52.57. Junior Kate Frederick finished sixth in both the 100 (20.52) and 300 hurdles (57.16)

In the sprints, senior Emma Lohse finished third in the 200 dash in 26.81 seconds and was fifth the 100 dash in 12.89. Freshman Suzanna Dansel finished sixth in the 200 (27.80) and eighth in the 100 (13.12).

The 4×100 relay of Rooney, Dansel, Lohse and Kendall Crossley took third in 50.40 seconds.

***Sophomore Mackenzie Rooney was second in the 300 hurdles Friday at Leavenworth.***

In the distance races, juniors Emma Vohs (13:27) and Maddy Rhamy (13:33) took fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 3,200 run. Vohs also finished sixth (2:33) in the 800 run.