Wildcat girls, boys finish second at home invitational

By Andy Brown
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Updated: April 25, 2018

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg junior Payton Shaffer gets off to a good start in the 4×800-meter relay Thursday during the Louisburg Invitational. Shaffer won the 800-meter run for the first time this season and the Lady Cats finished second as a team.

In their one chance to compete in front of their home fans, the Louisburg boys and girls track teams made the most of it.

Both the Wildcat teams took second in the team standings of the Louisburg Invitational on Thursday, behind champion Spring Hill, and won a combined 12 events.

Juniors Brandon Cooper and Chris Williams were responsible for six of those victories to lead the Wildcat boys. Cooper won the 100-meter dash in 11.39 seconds and later won the 200 dash in 23.46 seconds.

Cooper later joined Charlie Koontz, Blue Caplinger and Ben Wiedenmann to win the 4×100-meter relay in 43.78 seconds. In fact, all three Louisburg relays found their way to a gold medal.

Caplinger, Collins, Wiedenmann and Chris Williams won the 4×400-meter relay in 3 minutes and 33 seconds, while Williams, Cade Holtzen, Jackson Staab and Dylan Knipp won the 4×800 relay in 9:27. Williams also won the 400-meter dash in 51.69 seconds.

All relays set personal bests, as did sophomore Trent Martin, who won the pole vault after he cleared 13 feet to win that competition.

“It was nice to finally have the weather cooperate with us at a track meet,” Louisburg boys coach Andy Wright said. “The track team as a whole did really well and we had multiple personal records. I was excited to see Trent Martin go 13’ in pole vault, and all three of our relays PR as well. If everyone can stay healthy, I hope to continue to see improvement in all three relays.”

Blue Caplinger takes a handoff from teammate Charlie Koontz during the 4×100-meter relay Thursday.

The Wildcat boys scored several points on the track as Collins finished right behind Cooper in the 100 dash as he took runner-up in 11.79 seconds. Sophomore Michael Waldron took fourth in the 400 dash in 58.15 and Knipp was sixth in the 800-meter run in 2:30.

Louisburg also scored several points in the throws as sophomore Brayden White led a group of Wildcats in the shot put as he took third with a toss of 37 feet, 11.75 inches. Junior Kiefer Tucker (37-10.25), senior Matt Holloway (37-10) and junior Jonathan DePriest (37-7) finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.

Waldron continued his strong season in the javelin as he threw 154-7 to take third overall, while junior Austin Moore recorded a toss of 134-1 to take fourth. Waldron also finished fourth in the discus with a throw of 115 feet and sophomore Carter Anglin was sixth at 112-4.

“The throwers have been working really hard in practice and it shows through their improvement in competition,” Wright said. “Brayden has been pretty consistent on his throws in shot, but I would like to see him get one out there. Kiefer has been improving his distances every week, and continues to work hard.

“Micheal Waldron is an awesome surprise. He is working very hard, and is finding a natural fit with the javelin. It is his first year throwing javelin and is currently one of the top six in our regional.”

Senior Matt Holloway lets the shot put fly Thursday during the Louisburg Invitational.

Along with his win in the pole vault, Martin also scored points in the long jump with a mark of 18-1 to take sixth overall, while Jack Mick was fourth in the high jump with a clearance of 5-6. As a team, the Wildcats were second with 132 points and Spring Hill won the seven team meet with 149.

The Lady Cats also found a lot of success on the track. Sophomore Carlee Gassman, sophomore Sydni Keagle and senior Isabelle Holtzen led the way as they each took gold in two different events.

Gassman won the long jump with a mark of 16-4.5 and later helped the 4×100 team of Holtzen, Kaitlyn Urban and Keagle to a first place finish in 52.09 seconds.

“The 4×100 ran great,” Louisburg girls coach John Reece said. “We cannot wait for a good warm day to see what they are capable of doing. There is always work to be done with handoffs to get them just right, and when we do, we will hit a good time.

“Carlee continues to improve each meet in long jump. She has been working hard on popping off the board and when she gets that down, she is going to post a big jump.”

Keagle continued her success in the 100-meter hurdles as she set a personal best time of 16.52 seconds to win the event. Holtzen also won the pole vault after she cleared 9-6.

Louisburg also had a champion in the 800-meter run for the first time this season as junior Payton Shaffer won the event in 2:46 and teammate Shaylor Whitham was second in 2:48.

“Payton and Shaylor are two competitors,” Reece said. “To see them go one and two in the 800 was awesome. They were rewarded for the hard work that they put in each practice.”

Also on the track, the 4×400 meter relay of Mikayla Quinn, Urban, Holtzen and Gassman finished runner-up in a time of 4:28. The 4×800 relay of Shaffer, Whitham, Kennady Wilkerson and Quinn also took second in 11:30.

Senior Mikayla Quinn helped the Lady Cat 4×800 relay to second place finish and also took fourth in the 400 dash.

Quinn finished fourth in the 400 dash in 1:07.80, while Kristen Bell (18.97) and Shelby Grandon (19.78) took third and sixth, respectively in the 100 hurdles. In the 300 hurdles, Keagle took third in 54.51, Grandon was fifth in 59.68 and Bell was sixth in 1:00. Jordon Leach came in sixth in the 100 dash in 14.07.

In the field events, Urban had a good performance in the triple jump as she took second at 31-9 and teammate Eileen Benne was fourth at 30-9.25. Benne also came in third in the high jump after she cleared 4-8.

Senior Lexie Reece also recorded her best throw of the season in the discus with a toss of 102-3 to take second. As a team, the Lady Cats tallied 126 points to finish second to Spring Hill, which totaled 200.

“The girls did an awesome job at the meet,” coach Reece said. “They finished second as a team with a great effort by all girls. It is always great to compete in-front of the home crowd and it was nice to recognize our senior athletes.”

Other results from the Louisburg Invitational are:

Girls

100 dash: Andrea Gaza, 13^th, 15.05; Gabbie Nichelson, 14^th, 15.53; Hannah Cook, 15^th, 15.80; Shayla Aye, 18^th, 17.51

200 dash: Jordon Leach, 7^th, 29.74; Eileen Benne, 14^th, 31.56; Cook, 16^th, 33.14; Nichelson, 17^th, 33.45; Aye, 20^th, 37.51

400 dash: Gaza, 9^th, 1:17

800 run: Lakin Cunnigham, 8^th, 3:12

Long jump: Shelby Grandon, 8^th, 13-0.75; Cook, 16^th, 10-11.5

Shot put: Shea O’Hara, 10^th, 26-8.75; Eden Strumillo, 14^th, 24-7; Lexie Reece, 16^th, 23-6.5; Melia Rice, 18^th, 23-4.75; Aiyana Penca, 19^th, 22-9

Discus: Rice, 11^th, 76-8; Strumillo, 13^th, 68-1; Kody Lowry, 15^th, 67-1; Penca, 21^st, 52-8

Javelin: Cunningham, 11^th, 75-7; Rice, 15^th, 66-4; Lowry, 17^th, 56-4; Strumillo, 18^th, 53-9

Boys

100 dash: Jay Scollin, 7^th, 12.65; Indy Strumillo, 13^th, 13.32