Wildcat boys win home invitational, Lady Cats finish second

By Andy Brown
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Updated: April 26, 2023

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Senior Colyer Wingfield lands in the pit last Thursday during an attempt in the long jump. Wingfield won the triple jump, was second in the long jump and were both season-bests.

The Louisburg track and field teams got a chance to show off in front of its fans Thursday during the Louisburg Invitational and they didn’t disappoint.

For the second time this season, the Wildcat boys took first place in the team standings as they cruised to the title with 250 points and Wellsville was second with 139.

“Our home meet gives us a chance to showcase our talent.,” Louisburg boys coach Andy Wright said. “We had multiple PR’s and a couple of new faces getting back from injuries competing for the first time this year.”

As for the Lady Cats, they had a strong showing of their own. They finished second in the team race with 137 points and Spring Hill won the 6-team meet with 188.5 points.

“It was an excellent team effort and we were able to get the whole team involved in their home meet,” Louisburg girls coach John Reece said. “Finishing runner-up to Spring Hill is bittersweet as they are a 5A school, but the girls had a great home meet.”

Senior Mason Dobbins put a stamp on his home track career as he won four events and racked up 40 points for the Wildcats.

Dobbins won the 110-meter hurdles with a new personal best time of 14.69 seconds and later won the 200 dash in 22.67 seconds. He also cleared a season-best 6 feet, 2 inches to win the high jump.

He later joined Caden Caplinger, Colyer Wingfield and Ashton Moore to win the 4×100-meter relay in 43.89 seconds.

Senior Nathan Vincent also had a big day in the throws for the Wildcats, including his first appearance in the javelin after coming back from injury. A two-time state medalist in the event, Vincent won the javelin with a throw of 157-4.

Vincent took the shot put crown with a new personal best of 50-6.75. He also won the discus with a mark of 134-2.

“It was nice to see Nathan throw the javelin for the first time this year,” Wright said. “I know it is not the mark he wants, but it is start. It was also good to see him PR in the shot put.”

The pole vault also provided a pair of season bests for both Caplinger and Cooper Wingfield. Caplinger won the event after clearing 15 feet and Wingfield was second at 14-6. Jacob Brown tied a season-best of 11-6 to take fourth.

Wingfield put together a pair of top two finishes in the jump. The Louisburg senior won the triple jump with a best of 41-2 and was second in the long jump at 20-8.5.

Also in the jumps, senior Isaiah Whitley was third in the long jump at 19-11 and took fourth in the high jump at 5-8. Senior Cade Gassman was third in the high jump after clearing 6-0, while senior Trey Myers was third in the triple jump at 37-7.5. Senior Jase Hovey was sixth in the long jump at 19-2.

In the throws, senior J.R. Rooney was second in the shot put with a toss of 48-0.5 and Connor Lee was sixth at 39-9. Ben O’Bryan was sixth in the discus at 116-3, while Brecon Klugman was fifth in the javelin at 128-1.

***Louisburg sophomore Jerynce Brings Plenty leads a group of runners last Thursday during the 1,600 run.***

On the track, senior Nathan Apple won the 300 hurdles with a time of 42.05 seconds and was also second in the 100 hurdles at 15.27. Junior Kyler Biermann was fifth in the 300 hurdles in 50.46 and sixth the 110 hurdles at 19.78.

In the 100 dash, the Wildcats had three score points in the event. Caplinger was second to lead the way with a time of 11.43.

Senior Ethan Ptacek, in his first meet back from injury, was third in the 100 in 11.46 and Moore was fourth at 11.61. Gassman scored points in the 200 dash as he was sixth at 24.81.

Junior Hunter Heinrich won the 400-meter dash in 53.49 seconds, while freshman Blaise Vohs (54.73) and sophomore Emmett White (56.01) took second and fifth, respectively.

Sophomore Jerynce Brings Plenty captured the 800-meter title in 2:06 and also took second in the 1,600 run in 4:47. Junior Noah Cotter (5:04) and senior Leo Martin (5:14) took fourth and sixth, respectively, in the 1,600, while sophomore Colton Blue (2:17) was fifth the 800.

The Wildcats also swept the relays. Along with winning the 4×100, the team of Heinrich, Wingfield, Gassman and Vohs won the 4×400 in 3:35.

The 4×800 team of Brings Plenty, Vohs, Blue and Heinrich also took the gold in 8:31 and knocked 20 seconds off their previous best time.

***Louisburg junior Emma Vohs rounds the turn in the 400-meter dash last Thursday.***

On the girls side, senior Emma Lohse provided the Lady Cats with a lot of points herself. Lohse won the 100-meter dash in 12.52 seconds and later took the 200 in 26.35 seconds.

Lohse, along with Suzanna Dansel, Kendall Crossley and Mackenzie Rooney, won the 4×100 relay in 50.67 seconds.

Rooney also went on to take gold in the 300 hurdles in a personal best time of 49.75 seconds and was fifth in the 100 hurdles in 17.54. Dansel took third the 100 dash in 13.03 and was fourth in the 200 at 27.43.

Junior Emma Vohs went on to win the 400-meter dash in a time of 1:02.92. Vohs, along with Maddy Rhamy, Erin Apple and Nova Ptacek took third in the 4×800 relay in 11:09.

In the throws, junior Katie Elpers won the javelin with a toss of 110-1, while senior Emma Prettyman scored points in all three throws.

***Freshman Kenna Lohse winds up for a throw in the discus Thursday.***

Prettyman was second in the javelin at 108-7, second in the discus at 108-10 and third in the shot put at 33-10.5. Freshman Kenna Lohse also scored points in a pair of throwing events as she took fifth in the shot put at 32-5 and fifth in the javelin with a season-best throw of 103-2.

Junior Maddy Carpenter-Ross took second in the pole vault after she cleared 10 feet.

In the distance events, senior Delanie Tally had a strong effort in the 1,600 run and took second in 6:20, while fellow senior Ellie Davis was fourth at 6:32.

Rhamy was fourth in the 3,200 run at 13:41 and Erin Apple was fifth in the 800 at 2:51.

Other results are:

GIRLS

100 hurdles: Kate Frederick, 8th, 18.32

200 dash: Kendall Crossley, 9th, 29.18

300 hurdles: Frederick, 7th, 54.80

800 run: Ellie Davis, 7th, 3:01; Ashlyn Kuhlman, 9th, 3:17

1,600 run: Nova Ptacek, 7th, 6:41; Kuhlman, 8th, 6:43

Discus: Julia Dover, 21st, 56-1

High Jump: Annmarie Walton, 9th, 4-2

Javelin: Madison Hill, 17th, 74-0

Long Jump: Hill, 15th, 13-4.25; Walton, 21st, 12-6; Jocelyn Burk, 22nd, 12-1.5