Louisburg girls track finds success at Redbud

By Andy Brown
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Updated: May 12, 2015

Louisburg High School freshman Isabelle Holtzen springs up to go over the bar in the pole vault Friday at the Redbud Relays at Wellsville High School. Holtzen set a personal-best in the pole vault as she cleared 8 feet and took sixth overall.

WELLSVILLE – Missing a week with an injury didn’t seem to bother freshman Bailey Belcher.

All Belcher did was score in all four of her events Friday during the Redbud Relays at Wellsville High School. Those points helped the Louisburg girls track and field team to a fifth place finish with 33 points.

Belcher finished fourth in two of her individual events and joined Megan Lemke, Ashley Ruder and Hanna Becker in the 4×100-meter relay to finish third in 53 seconds.

In the 100-meter dash, Belcher ran a time of 13.63 seconds to take fourth and also finished fourth in the 200 dash in 27.59. She also scored points in the high jump after she cleared 4 feet, 8 inches to finish fifth.

“I felt the girls competed well,” Louisburg coach Greg Darrington said. “I thought Bailey did well for missing a week of practice. She will only get better as she gets into shape again.”

In the team standings, no team could come close to the race Paola and Baldwin put together. Paola edged Baldwin to win the team title with 162 points and Baldwin finished with 148. Spring Hill took third with 39 points.

Like Belcher, another freshman came through for the Lady Cats.

Freshman jumper Haley Earl had the best individual finish for Louisburg as she came in third in the triple jump with a mark of 31-7.25. Earl also came in seventh in the long jump with a leap of 14-7.

“I really like how Haley Earl is competing and getting better each week,” Darrington said. “I think as long as she works hard she has a chance in competing for a spot in the state track meet.”

Also in the field events, junior McKinley Mathews continues to score points for the Lady Cats. Mathews came in fourth in the pole vault after she cleared 8-6, but another teammate was right behind her.

Freshman Isabelle Holtzen set a personal record in the pole vault after she cleared 8-0 and finished sixth. Sophomore Chloe Renner was sixth in the high jump after she cleared 4-6.

On the track, the Lady Cats also scored points in two other relays. The 4×400 relay team of Kaitlyn Gaza, Makenzie Kallevig, Ruder and Lemke ran a time of 4:23 to finish fourth.

Liz Hildreth, Lauren Becker, Kallevig and Holtzen ran the 4×800 relay to a fifth-place finish in 11:08.

Louisburg will compete in one of its final meets of the season Thursday at the Frontier League meet at Spring Hill. Field events are set to begin at 3:30 p.m.