Lady Cats, Moore win titles at Prairie View

By Andy Brown
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Updated: September 25, 2018

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Members of the Louisburg girls cross country team are (from left) Ruth Minster, JV winner Kennady Wilkerson, Trinity Moore, Delaney Wright, Reese Johnson, Emily Williams, Kaitlyn Lewer and Shaylor Whitham. The Lady Cats won the team title Thursday at Prairie View.

It didn’t come as a complete shock to Louisburg cross country coach John Reece when it was announced that his girls team had won the Ramsey Invitational title.

Actually, he would have been shocked if the announcement had been anything but the top spot.

“I hate to say it, but I expected them to win the meet,” Reece said. “There were no exceptions, we were there to win again and we did.”

The Lady Cats tallied 32 points and finished four points ahead of runner-up Anderson County to win the Prairie View High School meet for the fourth consecutive season. Trinity Moore, Reese Johnson, Delaney Wright, Shaylor Whitham, Kaitlyn Lewer, Emily Williams and Ruth Minster all ran the Lady Cats to a gold medal finish.

Although this was nothing new for several of the runners, it didn’t mean they were any less excited about it.

“It feels great to have gotten first again as a team,” Moore said. “We are working really hard this year and it has showed. It felt a little different without our seniors from last year, but we came out and worked very hard.”

Not only did the Lady Cats earn top honors, but Moore took first individually in what was a photo finish.

Trinity Moore (right) battles Central Heights’ Lily Meyer right to the finish line Thursday at Prairie View.

Moore ran side by side with Central Heights freshman Lily Meyer for the final 50 meters of the race and it was too close to call at the finish line. When the results came out, Moore won by two-hundreths of a second with a time of 20 minutes and 50.08 seconds.

“The finish was very interesting,” Moore said. “I am not a sprinter, so I wasn’t sure if I got her at the end. She was close behind me the entire race and when I heard her come up so close to the finish, I just gave it everything. That was the fastest I think I have ever run.”

That result also didn’t surprise Reece as he knows the type of runner Moore is and the type of race she is capable of running.

“Trinity did make an early move and then the girl (Meyer) answered and then it came down to guts and Trinity is a fierce competitor and it did not surprise me that she won it,” Reece said. “Trinity is still learning how to manage races and I think she learned a lot at Prairie View on how to handle being in the front pack.”

Along with Moore, two other Lady Cats also brought home individual medals. For the second straight week, freshman Reese Johnson won a varsity medal as she took fourth overall in 21:44.

Freshman Delaney Wright finished 10th overall for Louisburg and earned her first medal.

Another freshman, Delaney Wright, captured her first varsity medal in 23:56 to take 10^th overall. Senior Shaylor Whitham missed a medal by one spot as she took 16^th in 25:04.

Senior Kaitlyn Lewer and junior Emily Williams took 18^th and 19^th in 25:16 and 26:05, respectively. Freshman Ruth Minster was 28^th in 29:40.

The Louisburg boys also fared well at Prairie View and had two runners earn medals.

Junior Anthony Davis finished 13^th overall to earn a varsity medal in 19:47 and sophomore Cade Holtzen was 15^th with a time of 19:57. As a team, the Wildcats were fourth overall with 88 points and missed out on team medals by four points.

“Anthony and Cade did great and both earned well deserved medals,” Reece said. “The sky is the limit for all the runners it is just a matter of letting themselves soar to the upper limits and beyond.”

Louisburg’s Evan Murphy (left) and Ben McKain lead a pack of runners during Thursday’s meet at Prairie View High School.

Junior Evan Murphy was third on the team with a time of 20:45 to finish 21^st overall and sophomore Carson Houchen was 23^rd in 20:54. Freshman Ben McKain took 25^th in 21:08 and sophomore Tyler Detherage ran a 26:10 and came in 35^th.

Thanks to some inclement weather, this was only the second race of the season for Louisburg as it had two cancelled to start the year. Still, Reece believe his team is right on track to where it needs to be.

“I think we are in a great position to finish the season strong even though we missed a few races that could have helped the younger runners,” he said. “We have great leaders and it is showing as we continue to push towards state. This is a great bunch of kids and they are committed to being the best they can be.”

On the junior varsity side, Louisburg also came away with medals on the girls side.

Sophomore Kennady Wilkerson won the junior varsity girls race in 26:15 to earn top honors. Sophomore Alexis French was fifth in 27:32, junior Natalie George was seventh in 27:49 and senior Molly Rison was 10^th in 28:33.