Louisburg senior Tim Smith gets out in front of Galena’ Matthew Oglesby during the boys Class 4A regional meet Saturday in Burlington. Smith became the school’s first regional champion as he won with a personal best time of 16:42.

BURLINGTON – Tim Smith knew he was going to have to get off to a fast start if he wanted to stay in front of the pack during the Class 4A regional cross country meet Saturday in Burlington.

As it turned out, the Louisburg senior was the fastest of the bunch.

Smith became the first boys cross country runner in Louisburg history to win a regional race and did so in impressive fashion. He ran a personal best time of 16 minutes and 42 seconds to become a regional champion.

“For this being my senior year, it means everything to me,” Smith said. “I really don’t know how to put it into words. It feels awesome and I just love it.”

Smith earned a state bid for the second consecutive season and he won’t be going alone. Senior teammate Wyatt Reece qualified for state for the third straight year as he finished seventh in 17:24 and just missed out on sixth by less than a second.

“I am just excited,” Reece said. “I am hopeful that a third time will be the charm and that I can get a medal out of it. It was a little bit of a rough race, but we are going to go have fun at state in about a week.

“I tightened up about a mile and a half in, so then I just started counting places to see if I will get in or not and it just ended up working in my favor.”

Smith and Galena’s Matthew Oglesby found themselves at the front of the race most way and Smith was right on Oglesby’s heels. However, due to a strong wind that made running difficult at times, Smith wanted to stay behind Oglesby as long as possible.

“I usually start out a little slower, but I knew I would have to go out with a little more kick this time to get out front,” Smith said. “I think Wyatt and I started really well in that first mile and then we both starting picking off people in front of us. That second mile was tough because of the wind, but after that we learned to tuck in behind people and let them take the draft for us.”

Louisburg senior Wyatt Reece stays with a Girard runner while Wildcat coach John Reece urges Wyatt on Saturday in Burlington.

Then in the final mile, Smith had enough energy left to pull out in front and his time ended up being the second fastest in school history.

“Tim ran an outstanding race,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “It was amazing watching him run and it was kind of similar to what Wyatt did at league the week before. He ran the race he had to run and he caught up to the leader. When Tim put pressure on the leader, the other kid just collapsed. After it was over, Tim was still living on the adrenaline rush and ran a great race.”

As a team, the Wildcats finished 10^th overall with 200 points. Girard was the regional champion with 74 points, Ottawa second with 87 and Iola was third with 118.

Freshman Luke Faulkner finished third on the Wildcat team and 61^st overall in 20:01. Fellow freshman Cade Holtzen was 67^th in 20:24.

Sophomore Evan Murphy (20:42), freshman Carson Houchen (20:48) and sophomore Colin Cook (21:02) finished 74^th, 77^th and 85^th, respectively.

Both Smith and Reece will try to earn a state medal Saturday when they travel to Wamego for the Class 4A Kansas State Cross Country Championship at the Wamego Country Club. The 4A boys race is set to begin at 11:45 a.m.

“I hope we can get both of those guys down there and finish in the top 20 and get them both medals,” coach Reece said. “That is the plan, and that is what it has been since the beginning of the year. We want to get them back to state and up on the podium. That is what we are shooting for.”

After all the great finishes both runners have had this season, they know none of those compares to what Saturday holds.

“We haven’t really been training to run fast at regionals, we have been training to run fast at state,” Wyatt said. “We have a week of training to go and we will see what happens.”

Smith is also excited for what is in store for this weekend.

“To finish in the top 15 or 20 at state and bring home a state medal would be awesome,” Smith said. “Wyatt and I just want to go out there and give it our best and make it one great last race.”

The Louisburg girls cross country team qualified for state for the first time in program history Saturday during the Class 4A regional meet in Burlington. Members of the team are (from left) Emily Williams, Carlee Gassman, Kaitlyn Lewer, Trinity Moore, Reilly Alexander, Payton Shaffer and Isabelle Holtzen. 

BURLINGTON – The Louisburg High School cross country team has rewritten the history books a lot this season.

However, this chapter might be the biggest one yet.

For the first time in program history, the Wildcats will be sending a team to state as the girls team finished third overall at the Class 4A regional meet Saturday in Burlington. Louisburg finished with 108 points and edged out fourth-place Iola by one point as the top three teams earn an automatic berth to the state meet.

Trinity Moore, Carlee Gassman, Isabelle Holtzen, Reilly Alexander, Payton Shaffer, Kaitlyn Lewer and Emily Williams had some of their best performances of the season as it put them over the top. For the first time in the program’s 19 years, a team will represent Louisburg at state.

“My first reaction was ‘Wow, we just made history for cross country at Louisburg,’” Alexander said. “I couldn’t stop smiling at the thought that we now would be able to fill a spot on the blank cross country board in the gym. Also I’m so happy and honored to say that I was a part of the first cross country team to make it to state.”

The opportunity to go to state was especially meaningful for Alexander and Holtzen, the team’s two seniors. Not only was their season on the line Saturday, but it could have been their final race in a Louisburg uniform.

As it turns out, they will get to suit up one last time.

Louisburg senior Isabelle Holtzen sprints toward the finish line Saturday in Burlington.

“Honestly, it just feels unbelieveable,” Holtzen said. “At practice (Friday) and the day before, coach (John) Reece came up to all of us during a team meeting and he was telling us that we would have a chance, but that we would have to run our hearts out. I know the entire race, as I ran part of it with Reilly and part of it with Peyton, we were just encouraging each other that this was for state. For it to actually happen is just outstanding.”

Following the race, there was some confusion on how the final results were going to shake out. The original results showed Louisburg finished second overall, and when the team was informed, they were ecstatic.

A few moments later, it was found that a runner from another team was missing, which meant they had to recalculate the points. It left for some tense moments among the Lady Cat runners.

When all was said and done, the Lady Cats still secured their state berth. Fort Scott finished first in the team standings with 61 points and Anderson County was runner-up with 85.

“I was extremely nervous,” Holtzen said. “We have been looking at different ranking web sites and it had us ranked fourth in all of them. When we first found out that we had gotten second, it was just amazing. We were freaking out and were just super excited. I was just so happy that I was crying, everyone else was crying and we were hugging. Then to have it taken away was really scary. I was just happy to get third and to be able to go.”

Moore led the Lady Cats as she ran toward the front of the pack for the entire race. She passed several runners in the final mile to eventually finish third individually with a time of 20 minutes and 24 seconds.

Kaitlyn Lewer (left) and Trinity Moore give hugs to their teammates to celebrate their state berth Saturday.

Moore, a sophomore, will make her second consecutive trip to state after she finished 19^th overall and earned a state medal.

“It feels really good to be going to state again, but it feels even better to go as a team,” Moore said. “The race was really, really fast. I didn’t realize it when we hit the two-mile mark that I had less than a mile to go, so I had to make my move.

“I just had to make sure I had enough energy to finish in the end and it took some hard work to get up there. I hope I can go to state and do what I did last year and hopefully pass some girls at the end. Hopefully our team can do well, too.”

Gassman was second on the Lady Cat team with a time of 21:39 and finished 14^th overall. Holtzen ran a 22:29, which was her best time of the season, and took 27^th.

Alexander, who finished 32^nd, ran a personal best time of 22:54. Shaffer also recorded a personal best of 23:11 and took 38^th.

Senior Reilly Alexander leads a pack of runners around a turn Saturday at the Class 4A regional race in Burlington.

“The regional race for me was one of the toughest mentally,” Alexander said. “Thankfully I knew the course from the year prior, but the thought of my teammates counting on me to do my best really helped me push to go my hardest. I was able to work with Isabelle towards the end of the race and we pushed each other to finish out our potentially last race of our senior year”

Lewer (23:23), who ran a season best, and Williams (24:16) rounded out the Lady Cat team in 43^rd and 58^th, respectively.

Louisburg will take part in one final race Saturday when it travels to Wamego for the Class 4A Kansas State Cross Country Championships. The girls race will start at 10 a.m. at the Wamego Country Club.

“We have had teams with opportunities, but for one reason or another it just hadn’t worked out,” coach Reece said. “This year, the opportunity was there and from the start of the race they worked very hard. The monkey is kind of off our back now. We can go (to state) and have fun. We ran at Wamego earlier in the year, so they know exactly what they are getting in to. It is going to be a good week.”

Here is a photo gallery’s from today’s Class 4A regional cross country meet in Burlington. The Louisburg girls’ team finished third overall and qualified the entire team for state. Senior Tim Smith won the boys side, while teammate Wyatt Reece took sixth and took sixth. The runners will compete in the Class 4A state meet Saturday in Wamego.

Louisburg sophomore Trinity Moore gets out to a big lead during the Frontier League Championships on Thursday at the Baldwin City Golf Course. Moore won the league title with a time of 20 minutes and 12 seconds. 

BALDWIN CITY – Trinity Moore and Wyatt Reece ran their way into the Louisburg High School cross country record books Thursday in what was one of the most competitive races on the season for the Wildcats.

During the Frontier League Championships, Moore and Reece competed against some of the state’s top runners from schools like Baldwin, De Soto and Eudora. However, both runners showed why they are considered one of the top in the state in their own right.

Moore became the first cross country runner in Louisburg history to win a Frontier League title as she captured the girls’ race with a personal best time of 20 minutes and 12 seconds at the Baldwin City Golf Course and distanced herself from the rest of the pack.

“Winning league was totally unexpected, but it is sure awesome,” Moore said. “Going into league, I was thinking if I ran a good race that I could finish in the top five. We have some amazing teams in our league with some great runners.”

Reece made some noise of his own in the boys race. He finished second overall with a time of 17:11 and recorded the highest league finish for a boy in Louisburg history.

“I wasn’t worried about my place at all, I just wanted to run well,” Reece said. “The race itself I was happy with. I felt it should’ve been faster, but the course was soft. Our competition at league is some of the best in the state and I love competing with them.”

For their performance, both runners earned first-team all-league honors as they, and the rest of the Wildcats, prepare for their regional race this Saturday in Burlington.

Louisburg senior Wyatt Reece leads a pack of runners early in the race Thursday at Baldwin City.

Louisburg senior Tim Smith also brought home hardware from the boys race as he took 10^th overall in 18:19 and earned second team all-league honors.

Moore, a sophomore, got off to a good start in the girls race as she stayed near the front of the pack, but with 2,000 meters left in the race, she overtook the leader and won the race by 27 seconds.

“That was outstanding by Trinity,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “The runners started out fairly fast and she put herself in a position to be able to close and she was feeling her oats. She made a move and ran away with the race. It was impressive for her to make a move that early and hold it and put the rest of the field away.

“The Frontier League is one of the toughest league in the state as far as competition goes. The times that some of the Baldwin girls posted have been really good and to see Trinity go out there and do what she did was just outstanding. She is going to be a force to be reckoned with out at state.”

As for the girls team, Louisburg finished fourth in the team standings with 112 points. Baldwin won the league crown with 42 points and De Soto was second with 44.

Sophomore Carlee Gassman just missed out on earning honorable mention all-league honors as she took 22^nd overall in 22:43. The top 21 finishers in each race receive all-league status.

Senior Reilly Alexander (23:30) and junior Payton Shaffer (23:41) took 32^nd and 33^rd overall, respectively. Junior Kaitlyn Lewer (23:50) crossed the line shortly after to finish 35^th and senior Isabelle Holtzen (24:11) was 39^th.

Junior Payton Shaffer sprints toward the finish line Thursday during the Frontier League Championships.

Senior Abby Crooks (50^th), sophomore Emily Williams (53^rd), junior Shaylor Whitham (54^th), freshman Kennady Wilkerson (55^th), sophomore Avery Graham (65^th), freshman Alexis French (68^th), junior Anna Niebrugge (70^th), sophomore Elizabeth Kratochvil (71^st), junior Jordon Leach (74^th) and junior Katie Nikulina (77^th) also competed for Louisburg.

In the boys race, Reece, stayed near the front from the start and his goal was to run with De Soto’s Sam Hubert, Andre VanMeerhaege, along with Baldwin runners Parker Wilson and Jacob Bailey. He did more than that as he surpassed all but Hubert, who won in a time of 16:56 – 15 seconds ahead of the Louisburg senior.

“Wyatt did outstanding and for him to come out and get second was just awesome,” coach Reece said. “The young man from De Soto is a heck of a runner, but Wyatt ran a race to give himself an opportunity to be there and it paid off. It wasn’t a PR for him, but the race he ran was excellent.

“Wyatt is finding his stride at the right time. His mental competitiveness has just totally changed. He knew that he had to go out and run with the De Soto and Baldwin kids and it just so happened that he had it today and beat a lot of them.”

As a team, the Wildcats finished sixth with 136 points. De Soto won the league boys title with 52 points and Ottawa was second with 58.

Sophomore Evan Murphy was third on the Wildcat team as he ran a 20:06 to take 38^th overall. Freshman Cade Holtzen was 44^th in 20:33 and freshman Carson Houchen was 52^nd in 20:53.

Sophomore Colin Cook (54^th), freshman Luke Faulkner (55^th), junior Jackson Staab (60^th), sophomore Garrett Rolofson (67^th), sophomore Rian Mallory (69^th), sophomore Keith Estle (70^th) and senior Parker Perentis (71^st) also competed for the Wildcats.

Louisburg will travel to Burlington this Saturday as it will compete in the Class 4A regional race. The top three teams advance to the state meet, along with the top five other individuals that aren’t a member of a state qualifying team. The girls race will begin at 10 a.m., with the boys to follow at 10:40.

Reece, Smith and Moore all punched their tickets to state on the same course a year ago and they are hoping history repeats itself.

“I am healthy now, feeling strong and looking forward to running at regionals,” Moore said. “We will face some very talented runners at Burlington, but I am very excited for the opportunity to run and compete with the best. Hopefully all the hard work will pay off.”

Louisburg sophomore Trinity Moore leads a pack of runners Thursday during the Louisburg Invitational at Lewis-Young Park. Moore won the girls side with a personal best time of 20 minutes and 30 seconds.

In the last quarter-mile of their final Louisburg Invitational, seniors Wyatt Reece and Tim Smith ran side-by-side, leading the rest of the pack.

No one was going to catch them. They were going to finish in first and second place, but the only question was, who would cross the line first?

So, they had a nice, quick chat on how it was going to be decided. They were going to leave it to chance.

“We were going to do Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who was going to win,” Reece said. “But then Tim took a hard step, then I did and then it was a true race.”

It was a bang-bang finish as both runners recorded a time of 17 minutes and 27 seconds, but Reece edged Smith at the line as Reece captured the Louisburg Invitational crown Thursday at Lewis-Young Park and Smith took runner-up.

“Winning the home meet wasn’t the overall goal, but I knew the opportunity was going to be there, so I am happy with the win,” Reece said. “The time wasn’t bad, but it could’ve been faster.”

Senior Wyatt Reece turns a corner during the varsity boys race Thursday at Lewis-Young Park,.

Although the girls’ race didn’t have as much drama as the boys, it still provided the Louisburg team with another positive result. Sophomore Trinity Moore won the girls side with a personal best time of 20:30 to win her second race of the season.

Louisburg sophomore Carlee Gassman also had a strong race as she took third overall in 21:30. Those finishes helped the Lady Cats to third-place in the team standings with 54 points.

Fort Scott won the meet with 30 points and Spring Hill was second with 50.

Senior Reilly Alexander just missed the top 15 as she took 16^th in 23:32. Junior Kaitlyn Lewer and senior Isabelle Holtzen were side-by-side at the finish with a time of 23:41, but Lewer just nudged Holtzen as they took 18^th and 19^th, respectively.

Junior Payton Shaffer was 21^st in 24:03 and sophomore Emily Williams rounded out the girls team in 25^th in 24:37.

On the boys’ side, the Wildcats were fifth in the team standings with 99 points. Ottawa won the meet with 34 points and Spring Hill took second with 77.

After Reece’s and Smith’s top two finishes, freshman Cade Holtzen was next on the Wildcat team in 30^th with a time of 20:39. Sophomore Evan Murphy took 32^nd in 20:49, freshman Carson Houchen ran a 21:45 to take 34^th and freshman Luke Faulkner was 36^th in 22:27.

In the junior varsity races, Abby Crooks led the Louisburg girls in fifth place in 24:29, while Kennady Wilkerson (7^th) and Shaylor Whitham (9^th) also had top 10 finishes. Jackson Staab and Gareth Baus finished ninth and 10^th, respectively, to lead the junior varsity boys.

Louisburg will now begin its postseason races starting this Thursday when they travel to Baldwin City for the Frontier League Invitational. The following week, the Wildcats will travel to Burlington for the Class 4A regional meet as they hope to earn several state berths.

“I’m pumped for the postseason,” Reece said. “We don’t train for our home meet, we train for state. When we get there, we will be ready.”

Louisburg senior Reilly Alexander was one of seven runners that helped the Wildcat girls cross country team to a third place finish at the Pittsburg Invitational last Thursday. 

PITTSBURG – Coming off its best meet of the season where it won a team and two individual titles, the Louisburg High School cross country team took the momentum from that performance and ran with it – literally.

The Wildcats competed in the Pittsburg Invitational on Thursday and left there with more medals. The Louisburg girls team finished third overall with 98 points and had two runners earn individual medals, while the boys also garnered two medals.

Trinity Moore, Carlee Gassman, Reilly Alexander, Kaitlyn Lewer, Isabelle Holtzen, Peyton Shaffer and Emily Williams helped the Lady Cats to that third place finish. Fort Scott won the team title with 61 points and Carl Junction (Mo.) was second with 62.

Moore matched her personal best with a time of 20 minutes and 36 seconds to finish third, while Gassman surpassed her top time in 21:24 to take 11^th. Gassman also moved up to second on the LHS all-time list for a 5-kilometer race.

Alexander also made her way onto that list as she was third on the team with a time of 23:14 to take 31^st overall. That time was good for seventh on the school’s all-time list.

Lewer (23:40) was next on the Lady Cats in 38^th and Holtzen (23:46) was 42^nd. Shaffer (23:48) and Williams (24:13) took 43^rd and 47^th, respectively.

“The course is flat and fast and our times and hard work showed it,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “The girls ran an awesome race on Thursday. Finishing third was a huge step in the right direction to attempt to qualify the team for state.”

The Wildcats also had a lot of success on the boys side as seniors Wyatt Reece and Tim Smith garnered another top five finish for themselves.

Wyatt ran his best race of the season as he took second overall with a personal best time of 16:49, while Smith finished right behind him in third in 16:58.

As a team, the Wildcats finished fifth overall with 160 points. Carl Junction was first with 51 and Chanute was second with 112.

“The boys were much improved with many personal records,” coach Reece said. “The team finished fifth, which is outstanding. Wyatt and Tim both broke the 17 minute barrier and ran great races. Their showing at the meet against several schools that will be at our regional is a positive and our junior varsity runners that move up will help out tremendously.”

Sophomore Evan Murphy finished third on the Wildcat team in 19:41, which was good for 47^th overall. Freshmen Cade Holtzen (19:42) and Carson Houchen (21:13) took 48^th and 85^th, respectively.

Louisburg also added a pair of junior varsity medals earlier in the day. Shaylor Whitham took 12^th in the girls race in 24:35 and Luke Faulkner was also 12^th for the boys as he finished with a time of 20:33.

The Kansas State High School Activities Association released sub-state and regional pairings today for volleyball and cross country.

The Louisburg High School volleyball team will compete at Paola High School on Oct. 21 along with Ottawa, Paola and Spring Hill.

Atchison HS – Matt Renk, Manager(s) (1 Court)
Atchison HS; Basehor-Linwood HS; Kansas City-Piper HS; Tonganoxie HS;

Chanute HS – Eric Flaton, Manager(s) (1 Court)
Andover Central HS; Augusta HS; Chanute HS; Rose Hill HS;

El Dorado HS – Brian Engelken, Manager(s) (1 Court)
Abilene HS; El Dorado HS; Towanda-Circle HS; Wamego HS;

Fort Scott HS – Larry Fink, Manager(s) (1 Court)
Altamont-Labette County HS; Coffeyville-Field Kindley HS; Fort Scott HS; Independence HS;

Paola HS – Darin Gagnebin, Manager(s) (1 Court)
Louisburg HS; Ottawa HS; Paola HS; Spring Hill HS;

Shawnee Mission-Bishop Miege HS – Mike Hubka, Manager(s) (1 Court)
Bonner Springs HS; Eudora HS; Kansas City-Sumner Academy; Shawnee Mission-Bishop Miege HS;

Ulysses HS – Jason Kenny, Manager(s) (1 Court)
Buhler HS; Hays HS; McPherson HS; Ulysses HS;

Winfield HS – Billy Tipps, Manager(s) (1 Court)
Arkansas City HS; Mulvane HS; Wellington HS; Winfield HS;

The Louisburg High School cross country team will travel south to Burlington for its regional meet on Oct. 21.

CLASS 4A

(Saturday, October 21, 2017)

4 Regionals…3 Teams Qualifying Per Regional,
Top Ten Runners With Possibility of Additional Individual Qualifiers

BURLINGTON HS (Burlington-John Redmond Res. Dam) Dave Watkins, Manager

GIRLS – 10:00a.m.

BOYS – 10:40 a.m.

Baxter Springs HS, Burlington HS, Chanute HS, Columbus HS, Fort Scott HS, Frontenac HS, Galena HS, Garnett-Anderson County HS, Girard HS, Iola HS, LaCygne-Prairie View HS, Louisburg HS, Osawatomie HS, Ottawa HS, Paola HS, Parsons HS

EL DORADO HS (El Dorado Lake State Park) Brian Engelken, Manager

GIRLS – 10:00 a.m.

BOYS – 10:40 a.m.

Altamont-Labette County HS, Andale HS, Andover Central HS, Arkansas City HS, Augusta HS, Clearwater HS, Coffeyville-Field Kindley HS, El Dorado HS, Independence HS, Mulvane HS, Rose Hill HS, Towanda-Circle HS, Wellington HS, Wichita-Collegiate HS, Wichita-Trinity Academy, Winfield HS

LANSING HS (Wyandotte County Park) Gary Mattingly & Brian Malm, Managers

GIRLS – 10:45 a.m.

BOYS – 12:15 p.m.

Atchison HS, Baldwin HS, Basehor-Linwood HS, Bonner Springs HS, Eudora HS, Holton HS, Kansas City-Bishop Ward HS, Kansas City-Piper HS, Kansas City-Sumner Academy, Marysville HS, Meriden-Jefferson West HS, Sante Fe Trail HS, Shawnee Mission-Bishop Miege HS, Spring Hill HS, Tonganoxie HS, Topeka-Hayden HS

MCPHERSON HS (McPherson-Rolling Acres Golf Course) Shane Backhus, Manager

GIRLS – 10:30 a.m.

BOYS – 11:10 a.m.

Abilene HS, Buhler HS, Chapman HS, Clay Center Community HS, Concordia HS, Hays HS, Holcomb HS, Hugoton HS, Larned HS, Lindsborg-Smoky Valley HS, McPherson HS, Nickerson HS, Pratt HS, St. George-Rock Creek HS, Ulysses HS, Wamego HS

The Louisburg High School girls cross country team won the Ramsey Invitational on Thursday at Prairie View High School. Members of the team are (from left) Carlee Gassman, Kaitlyn Lewer, Reilly Alexander, Isabelle Holtzen, Payton Shaffer, Emily Williams and Trinity Moore.

LA CYGNE – It was a gold medal performance type of day for the Louisburg High School cross country team.

Not only did the Wildcats sweep the individual crowns Thursday at the Ramsey Invitational at Prairie View High School, but the Lady Cats also won the team title for the first time this season and captured the Prairie View crown for the third consecutive year.

Sophomore Trinity Moore won the girls race with a personal best time, while senior Tim Smith took first place on the boys’ side by more than 20 seconds. Between the boys and girls teams, the Wildcats medaled seven runners in all.

“To watch Trinity and Tim both work through the race, make moves on the leader and then put distance on them and keep running their race was just outstanding,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “It is something we talk about in practice, about pulling away and taking the energy away from people and it was just all positive.

“The girls team worked really well together, especially early in the race. Even though they got a little separated, they kept working and we put seven runners in the top 20. When you do that, you win races.”

The Louisburg girls team of Moore, Carlee Gassman, Kaitlyn Lewer, Isabelle Holtzen, Reilly Alexander, Payton Shaffer and Emily Williams ran away with the title with 44 points. Anderson County was second with 53.

As for Moore, she trailed Jayhawk-Linn’s Kate Dawson through half of the race before she made her move and pulled away in a time of 20 minutes and 36 seconds to win her first competition of the season.

“It is amazing,” Moore said. “I had to work really hard because there was a lot of competition in this race. I just kept my form and I had a drive to go past (Dawson). I just had the mentality to keep going and I really wanted to win.”

Gassman, a sophomore, had her best finish of the season as she medaled fourth in 22:56. Lewer, a junior, finished 11^th overall in 23:50.

Louisburg junior Kaitlyn Lewer stays ahead of a pack of runners Thursday during the Ramsey Invitational at Prairie View High School.

Holtzen (23:59) and Alexander (24:27), both seniors, also earned medals with their 13^th and 15^th place finish, respectively.

“I think Trinity ran her race in the first mile and she was patient and the girls came back to her,” Reece said. “When Trinity made her move and closed the gap, she fed off of (Dawson). It was Trinity’s race to have.

“Carlee’s race was outstanding. She probably went out a little fast as she wants to run right with Trinity, but she is learning as well and she has big races in her as we get through the end of the season. It is going to happen.”

Shaffer (24:42) and Williams (25:04) rounded out the Louisburg girls in 16^th and 19^th place.

Smith had his best day of the season for the Louisburg boys as he literally ran away with the boys’ race in 17:42 and won by 23 seconds – his first victory of the season. He passed Anderson County’s Owen Lutz and Central Heights’ Tyler Stevenson close to the midway point of the race and pulled away.

“Honestly, it was a really fun race for me,” Smith said. “A lot of people went out fast in the first mile and I just kind of stuck with them and trailed just a little bit. In about the second mile, I was able to pass the guy who was in first and he drifted. Overall, it was an awesome race for me and I am really proud of the girls too.”

Smith wasn’t the only positive for the Wildcats as senior Wyatt Reece earned a medal and finished fourth in 18:17. Those two results, along with sophomore Evan Murphy and freshmen Cade Holtzen and Carson Houchen, helped the Louisburg boys team to a third place finish with 86 points.

Louisburg’s (from left) Tim Smith, Cade Holtzen, Evan Murphy, Wyatt Reece and Carson Houchen pose with their third place team medals.

Murphy finished 22^nd overall in 20:37 and Holtzen was 25^th in 20:41. Houchen rounded out the Wildcat lineup in 34^th in 21:13.

“Tim ran great, especially on a hot, humid day,” coach Reece said. “He ran just like Trinity. Wyatt started off strong, but he cramped up a little bit after the first mile, but it was able to loosen up and he was able to get back in the race. He ran a good race too. We look at last year’s times, and they both ran faster and Wyatt was almost 20 seconds faster. Our sophomore and freshmen boys ran good races and for them to take third as team is just fantastic. They are super excited.”

The Wildcat junior varsity also left Prairie View with a few medals. Abby Crooks took fourth overall in the girls race in 26:59. Teammates Shaylor Whitham (27:08) and Kennady Wilkerson (27:16) medaled in fifth and sixth, respectively.

Louisburg will try and use that momentum for another good finish this Thursday when they travel to the Pittsburg Invitational.

The Kansas High School Activities Association released the classifications for the 2017-18 season on Tuesday morning, and for Louisburg High School, much remains the same.

The Wildcats are currently a Class 4A-Division I program with 532 students, but after this season the classification system will change. Class 4A will get rid of the divisions and 4A will have just 36 schools. Louisburg is still expected to be in 4A for the foreseeable future.

However, several schools across the state made classification changes.

Arkansas City and Sumner Academy dropped from Class 5A to 4A for the upcoming season, while Galena, Hugoton and Marysville all moved up to 4A. Maize South jumped from 4A to 5A.

Colby , Goodland, Scott City and Haven all dropped from 4A to 3A schools, while McLouth moved up from 2A to 3A.

Hays is currently the largest 4A school with 791 students, followed by Sumner Academy (782), Andover Central (764), Bonner Springs (762) and Arkansas City (757).

Sub-state and regional assignments for the fall season will be released in the coming days.

Louisburg’s Trinity Moore (right) and Carlee Gassman get off to a good start Thursday at the Wellsville Invitational. Both runners earned medals for Louisburg as Moore took sixth and Gassman 14th. 

WELLSVILLE – For the last two meets, the Louisburg High School cross country team has had to navigate through courses that featured steep hills, which gave the Wildcat runners a good early season test.

The Wildcats competed on a more flat terrain Thursday when they traveled to the Wellsville Invitational, and while that course featured difficulties of its own, Louisburg still came away with plenty of positives to build upon.

Four runners medaled for the Wildcats, including three top-10 finishes that paced Louisburg to its best finish of the young season.

The Louisburg girls team was one spot short of earning team medals. The Lady Cats took fourth overall with 101 points. Fort Scott won the meet with 55, Spring Hill was second with 83 and Eudora was third with 85 points.

Sophomore Trinity Moore medaled in her third consecutive meet to start the season as she took sixth in 21 minutes and 57 seconds. Sophomore teammate Carlee Gassman also picked up her second varsity medal of the year as she crossed the finish line in 14^th in 22:48.

“We ran well at Wellsville,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “The girls just missed team medals as they finished fourth. Trinity continues to have a good season and Carlee ran her best time for the year, which moved her into the No. 6 spot for our all-time top seven runners. The girls continue to push each other through performances at meets and during workouts.”

Isabelle Holtzen was third on the Louisburg girls team as she ran a 24:12 to take 29^th overall, while teammates Reilly Alexander (24:47) and Kaitlyn Lewer (25:24), took 37^th and 39^th, respectively.

Emily Williams (25:38) finished 44^th and Shaylor Whitham (26:39) took 50^th to round out the Louisburg girls team.

Seniors Tim Smith and Wyatt Reece continue to push each other on the boys side. Smith ran his way to a fourth place finish in 17:40 and Reece, who worked his way throughout the race to get up to the front of the pack, came in sixth with a time of 18:13.

“Tim ran a great race to finish fourth,” coach Reece said. “He was running by himself for most of the meet and was able to keep pressing to maintain his spot. Wyatt made up a ton of ground during the race to finish sixth. This was our first meet to field a full varsity boys team and they did great.”

Louisburg freshman Cade Holtzen (left) and Evan Murphy stay with a pack of runners Thursday at the Wellsville Invitational.

Freshman Cade Holtzen was third on the Wildcat team with a time of 20:44 to finish 51^st overall and sophomore Evan Murphy was right behind him in 52^nd with a time of 20:50. Freshman Carson Houchen rounded out the Louisburg boys team in 74^th in 22:13.

As a team, Louisburg finished ninth out of 13 teams with 184 points. Eudora won the meet with 71 points.

The Wildcats will try and continue their improvement this Thursday when they travel to the Prairie View Invitational.

“We continue to race well, and with a slight change in our training schedule for the season compared to last year, we hope to see some big gains over the next few weeks as we gear up for league, regional, and state meets,” coach Reece said.