Lady Cats win team title, boys second at Anderson County

By Andy Brown
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Updated: April 17, 2019

Louisburg junior Michael Waldron won the javelin competition Thursday at the Anderson County Invitational and helped the Wildcat boys to a second place finish.

GARNETT – On a cold, blustery day in Garnett, it was going to be difficult for any of the athletes of the Louisburg track and field teams to set any kind of personal bests.

However, that didn’t mean the Wildcats weren’t able to find success.

The Louisburg girls won the team title Thursday at the Anderson County Invitational with 119 points and finished seven points ahead of runner-up Spring Hill. Anderson County was third with 111.5

“The weather should never be a factor for competing,” Louisburg girls coach John Reece said. “Everyone has to deal with the same conditions so only the mentally tough will overcome and we did. It was a close race for first and our girls stepped up.”

It was the same type of performance on the boys side as the Wildcats finished second in the team standings with 152.5 points and won seven events on the night. Spring Hill was first with 216.5 and Eudora was third with 89.5.

“The weather conditions were less than ideal,” Louisburg boys coach Andy Wright said. “I just wanted our athletes to go out and compete against the rest of the field. With the results that we were able to achieve, they did just that.”

Senior Blue Caplinger led the boys side as he recorded three gold medals on the day, including two individual wins. The Wildcats swept the 100-meter dash and Caplinger won in 11.74 seconds, while sophomore Ben Wiedenmann was second at 11.82 and senior Brandon Cooper was third in 12 seconds.

Caplinger later won the 200-meter dash in 24.18 seconds and Wiedenmann was right behind him in second in 24.66. To end the meet, the Wildcat 4×400-meter relay of Chris Williams, Wiedenmann, Caplinger and Justin Collins took gold in 3 minutes and 34 seconds.

“It was nice having Blue back,” Wright said. “When you are forced to run into a very hard wind it takes a strong runner to finish, and Blue fits that caliber. Blue ran two strong races, of course because of the wind and conditions they were not his best times, but he stepped up and competed and that is all we can ask.”

Senior Chris Williams won his second consecutive race in the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.78 seconds. Junior distance runner Anthony Davis also medaled as he took third in 1,600-meter run in 5:08, while freshman Tom Koontz was third in the 300-meter hurdles in 46.20 seconds.

The Wildcat also struck gold in the field events as they won three in that area.

Michael Waldron didn’t let the conditions stop him as he recorded a personal best throw in the javelin with a mark of 163 feet, 10 inches and the Louisburg junior finished first. Freshman A.J. Reed also medaled as he took third with a toss of 137-06.

Sophomore Luke Faulkner continued his success in the pole vault as he finished first with a clearance of 12-6, which tied his personal best.

Junior Trent Martin shined in the long jump as he recorded a mark of 19-9.5 to win gold for the first time this season in the event.

“I’m proud of the way they competed because of the conditions most of the track meet was a mental game,” Wright said. “The athletes in the field events stepped up and made their marks work. Learning how to compete in terrible conditions now will help all of our athletes down the road.”

On the girls side, freshman Delaney Wright continued her successful start to the season.

Wright won gold in two events and later helped the 4×400-meter relay of Carlee Gassman, Rain Pugh and Sydni Keagle to a second place finish in 4:25. Wright later went on to win the long jump with a mark of 17-1.5 and the 400-meter dash in 1:05.

Gassman also had a big day for the Lady Cats as she finished with three second place finishes and a gold. In the 4×100 relay, Gassman, Jordon Leach, Pugh and Keagle edged Eudora to finish first in 54.21 seconds.

Gassman also went on to take second in the long jump with a mark of 16-05 and was also runner-up in the 300-meter hurdles in 51.95 seconds.

Also on the track, Keagle took third in the 100-meter hurdles in 18.25 seconds, while senior Shaylor Whitham did the same in the 1,600-meter run in 6:22.

“We had several girls really step up and place higher than usual,” Reece said. “One in particular that stood out was Shaylor as she placed third in the 1,600 and scored a total of 10 points for the team. She has definitely made her senior year her best year in both cross country and track.”

The Lady Cats earned another medal in the field events as junior Avery Graham finished second overall in the pole vault as she cleared 9-0.

Louisburg returns to the track this Thursday when it competes in its home invitational. Events are set to begin at 4 p.m. at Wildcat Stadium.

Other results are:

GIRLS

100 dash: Rain Pugh, fourth, 14.13; Jordon Leach, 12^th, 14.70; Andrea Gaza, 17^th, 15.15; Hannah Cook, 20^th, 16.31

200 dash: Gaza, 12^th, 32.79; Cook, 20^th, 36.07

400 dash: Gaza, sixth, 1:16

800 run: Shaylor Whitham, fifth, 2:54; Lacie Kallevig, 13^th, 3:21

1,600 run: Kallevig, 11^th, 7:17

100 hurdles: Kristen Bell, sixth, 20.26

300 hurdles: Bell, 10^th, 1:09

High jump: Eileen Benne, fourth, 4-10; Shelby Grandon, eighth, 4-6

Pole vault: Malee Rutherford, fifth, 7-0

Long jump: Sydni Keagle, fifth, 14-10.75; Pugh, ninth, 14-3.25; Benne, 14^th, 12-5.5

Triple jump: Benne, seventh, 29-11.5

Shot put: Shea O’Hara, 12^th, 27-2; Melia Rice, 19^th, 23-2.5; Aiyana Penca, 25^th, 21-3

Discus: Rinny McMullen, ninth, 82-1; Penca, 10^th, 77-10; Rice, 11^th, 75-2; O’Hara, 17^th, 66-7; Davis Guetterman, 20^th, 62-11

Javelin: Guetterman, 14^th, 72-5; Rice, 24^th, 56-8; Lexi Rogers, 25^th, 54-7

BOYS

100 dash: Justin Collins, fifth, 12.09; Charlie Koontz, eighth, 12.15

200 dash: Collins, sixth, 25.71; Koontz, 12^th, 26.72; Dylan Armstrong, 20^th, 28.02

400 dash: Weston Guetterman, 12^th, 59.97; Will Finestead, 13^th, 59.99; Isaac Guetterman, 17^th, 1:01; Armstrong, 19^th, 1:03

800 run: Anthony Davis, seventh, 2:23; Sawyer Richardson, 13^th, 2:31; Caden Bradshaw, 14^th, 2:31; Gareth Baus, 29^th, 2:54

1,600 run: Ryan Rogers, ninth, 5:23; Bradshaw, 12^th, 5:36; Richardson, 14^th, 5:40; Baus, 25^th, 6:16

110 hurdles: Tom Koontz, fourth, 17.96

High jump: Indy Strumillo, seventh, 5-2

Pole vault: Trent Martin, fifth, 11-0

Long jump: Finestead, 14^th, 17-4; I. Guetterman, 18^th, 16-9.5; Strumillo, 23^rd, 15-11; Armstrong, 25^th, 15-9

Triple jump: Strumillo, sixth, 35-11.5; W. Guetterman, seventh, 35-5.5; I. Guetterman, 10^th, 34-5.5; Finestead, 16^th, 32-8

Shot put: Kiefer Tucker, fifth, 39-4.5; Brayden White, 10^th, 38-1; Jonathan DePriest, 17^th, 35-5.5; Cole Evans, 18^th, 35-4.75; Will Patterson, 28^th, 31-3

Discus: Carter Anglin, fourth, 129-7; Tucker, fifth, 126-10; DePriest, ninth, 108-9; White, 12^th, 106-3; Chase Pritchard, 21^st, 98-1