TONGANOXIE — The Louisburg cross country team began its postseason schedule last Thursday at the Frontier League Invitational in Tonganoxie. 

One Wildcat was able to leave the meet with postseason honors.

Sophomore Levi Cotter finished 20th overall as that was good enough to put him on the All-Frontier League honorable mention team. Cotter ran a time of 18 minutes and 42 seconds to lead the Wildcats.

“Levi ran a great race and moved through the field in the last mile to put himself in All-League honors,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “Even though it was not his best time, it was a very competitive race for him.”

Sophomores Spencer Mattison and Truman Ellison also finished in the top 30 in the league. Mattison (19:25) and Ellison (19:37) were 28th and 29th, respectively.

Senior Ben Proctor was 54th in 21:44, while another senior, Jerynce Brings Plenty, is out for the rest of the season with an injury.

On the girls side, freshman Hailey Shelton just missed out on all-league honors as she led the Louisburg girls in 24th in 23:32. Sophomore Talen McMurray was 28th in 23:40.

Senior Marissa Vallejo was 36th in 24:20 and freshman Anna Cotter was 46th in 24:51. Freshman Brianna Caraway (67th) and sophomore Luciana Vallejo (74th) rounded out the Wildcat varsity team.

“The girls team is very young and are doing well,” Reece said. “Hailey led the way and posted her best time on a challenging course.”

The course at the Leavenworth County Fairgrounds provided some challenges for all the runners involved.

“It was challenging due to lots of curves and turns and there was never true smooth ground to run on, very rough footing,” Reece said. “There were two long gradual hills in the last mile that challenged all runners.”

Louisburg will now prepare for the Class 4A regional meet Saturday that will be held at Blue Valley Southwest. The girls race will begin at 10 a.m., and the boys race will be at 11:15.

“We have a good chance to qualify individuals at regionals so it will be an exciting race,” Reece said.

The Louisburg cross country team finally got a chance to run on its home course Thursday during the Louisburg Invitational.

Not only that, but a pair of Wildcats earned medals following the race at Lewis-Young Park. Sophomores Truman Ellison and Levi Cotter each had top 15 finishes to earn hardware and led the Wildcats at the 5-team meet.

Ellison finished eighth overall in 18 minutes and 2 seconds to earn his second straight medal. As for Cotter, he took 11th in 18:16 and he captured his fifth medal on the season. Both runners recorded personal bests in the process.

“Truman ran a great race and made a solid move with about 1,000m left and ran a solid PR,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “Levi also ran a great race and PR’ed as well. They are setting themselves up to finish the season strong.”

Another sophomore, Spencer Mattison, just missed out on a medal in 16th in 18:57. Senior Jerynce Brings Plenty, who has been battling an injury, took 21st in 20:33 and senior Ben Proctor was 24th in 21:45.

On the girls side, senior Marissa Vallejo also just missed out on a medal by one spot, but ran her best race of the season, Vallejo took 16th in 23:38. Sophomore Talen McMurray was right behind her in 17th in 23:45.

Freshman Annie Hornberger took 21st in 24:55, while freshman Anna Cotter (26:15) and sophomore Luciana Vallejo (29:06) were 25th and 28th, respectively. 

“The girls continue to work hard and are doing a great job,” Reece said. “Marissa had a good race and continues to lead the girls team.”

Louisburg will now prepare for its postseason schedule that begins this Thursday when the Wildcats travel to Tonganoxie for the Frontier League Invitational. The following week, the Wildcats will try and earn a spot in the state meet at the Class 4A regional meet, which is held at Blue Valley Southwest.

“We think they see the writing on the wall and there is a great chance to qualify individuals for state,” Reece said. 

LA CYGNE — The Louisburg cross country team brought home their fair share of hardware from the Ramsey Invitational last Thursday at Prairie View High School. 

Both teams had their best performance of the season and it all started on the girls side. The Wildcat girls finished second in the team standings with 41 points, 10 points behind Jayhawk-Linn.

Although they didn’t have the numbers to qualify as a team, the Wildcat boys had strong performances of their own as they had three top 10 medalists.

Freshman Hailey Shelton led the Wildcat girls on the Prairie View course as she took seventh overall in 24 minutes and 22 seconds. Teammate Talen McMurray was right behind her in 24:24 in eighth.

Senior Marissa Vallejo also left Prairie View with a medal as she took 10th overall in 24:47. Freshmen Annie Hornberger (25:04), Anna Cotter (25:25) and sophomore Luciana Vallejo  (27:57) took 12th, 14th and 20th, respectively.

“It was a great meet for our girls,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “We had girls really improve as they are understanding how to race. Hailey ran a great race and really moved through the pack in the last 2 kilometers. Talen ran strong as well. We are getting there and hope to be rolling come regionals.”

On the boys side, sophomore Levi Cotter was less than two seconds from winning the race. Cotter medaled for the second straight week as he was second in 18:31, just behind Fort Scott freshman Lincoln Fess.

Sophomore Truman Ellison also finished toward the top of the standings as he took fourth in 18:39, while another sophomore, Spencer Mattison, was 10th in 19:40.

Senior Ben Proctor rounded out the Wildcat team in 27th with a time of 21:53.

“Levi had an amazing race as he ran a controlled the first mile and then really moved through the field to challenge for the win,” Reece said. 

On Saturday, Louisburg senior Jerynce Brings Plenty competed in the one of the most competitive high school cross country meets in the state — the Rim Rock Classic. The meet, which was held at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence, brings in the top runners in all classes from across the area.

Brings Plenty battled the field, but an injury hampered him. He still finished the race in 19 minutes and 51 seconds, which was good for 224th out of 306 runners.

“Rim Rock is an amazon course that is challenging,” Reece said. “Jerynce had his own challenge as he cramped up at about 3K, but stuck it out and finished the race. It was not the day we were looking for, but every race cannot be your best.”

The Louisburg team will hit the course once again this Thursday as it competes at the Perry-Lecompton Invitational at Hummer Sports Park in Topeka. Events begin at 5 p.m.

Here is the Louisburg Sports Zone Athlete of the Week for week four of the fall sports season, sponsored by Dr. Laura’s Orthodontics.

LEVI COTTER, SOPHOMORE, CROSS COUNTRY

Louisburg sophomore Levi Cotter set the pace for the Wildcat boys cross country team at the Ramsey Invitational last Thursday at Prairie View. Cotter finished second overall and was one of three Wildcats to finish in the top 10. He ran a time of 18 minutes and 31 seconds and was less than two seconds off the winning time.

Cotter medaled for the second straight week after earning hardware at the Wellsville Invitational back on Sept. 19.

The athlete of the week award is announced every Wednesday morning during the fall season and the winner is selected by Louisburg Sports Zone with the help of nominations from coaches.

Previous Winners:

Week 1: Myles Vohs

Week 2: McKenna Lohse

Week 3: Ashton Moore

WELLSVILLE — Levi Cotter and Jerynce Brings Plenty both earned medals this past week, but they each did it at a different venue.

Cotter and the Wildcat team competed at the Wellsville Invitational last Thursday and the Louisburg sophomore earned a medal with a 23rd place finish.

As for Brings Plenty, he competed on his own Saturday at the Baldwin Invitational and earned an 11th place medal. It was a successful week for the Wildcats just days after competing at a challenging Wamego Invite.

“The boys ran well considering they had run Wamego just 5 days before,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “They ran controlled first miles then worked their way up through the runners. It was great to see Levi medal with such a short turnaround between meets.”

Cotter led the 3-member Wildcat group in 23rd in 19 minutes and 40 seconds, while two other members finished just outside the medals.

Truman Ellison was 31st in 20:26 and Spencer Mattison was right behind him in 20:34 for 33rd place.

On the girls side, sophomore Talen McMurray led the Wildcats in 34th overall in 25:51 and freshman Hailey Shelton was 45th in 26.52.

Sophomore Ella Bockelman was 56th in 28:15 and sophomore Luciana Vallejo took 71st. Reagan Smith rounded out the Wildcat lineup in 78th.

“All things considered, especially with the heat, the girls ran strong,” Reece said. “We are making steady gains and hope to make a big step forward as a team at Prairie View this week.”

On Saturday, Brings Plenty took part in the Baldwin Invitational in a meet full of Class 5A and 6A competition. The Louisburg senior more than held his own as he medaled 11th in 17:44 at the Baldwin City Golf Course.

“Jerynce ran a very competitive race at Baldwin,” Reece said. “There were mostly 5A and 6A schools there so an 11th place finish was great. He will have great competition this week at Rim Rock.”

Brings Plenty will compete at the Rim Rock Classic in Lawrence this Saturday, while the rest of the Wildcats will travel to the Prairie View Invitational on Thursday.

An abbreviated version of the Louisburg cross country team took part in what will be one of their largest meets of the season Saturday at the Wamego Invitational.

More than 100 hundred runners took to the Wamego Country Club course to square off in the Class 4A race and four Wildcat boys found themselves in the middle of it all.

Jerynce Brings Plenty, Truman Ellison, Noah Cotter and Spencer Mattison took part in the competition that featured 136 runners from all over the state and one of them left with some hardware.

Brings Plenty earned his first medal of the season as he took 31st in 17 minutes and 50 seconds.

“The boys ran well at Wamego,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “Jerynce medaled and is progressing well. The three sophomores, Levi, Truman, and Spencer, had great performances. We only had four running because of ACT testing. If we keep on the path we have started, the end of the season will be exciting.”

Ellison and Cotter ran most of the course together and earned a pair of top 50 finishes. Ellison was 44th in 18:29.30 and Cotter was right behind him in 45th in 18:29.53.

Mattison finished with a time of 19:49 and took 90th overall.

More than 20 schools competed in the Class 4A race and Southeast of Saline won the team title with 57 points and Wamego was second with 82.

Brayden Walker of Southeast of Saline won the race with a time of 16:08 and McPherson’s Caleb Mueller was second in 16:16.

Louisburg will field its full team this Thursday as the Wildcats travel to the Wellsville Invitational. Races are set to begin at 4 p.m.

GARNETT — The season opener for the Louisburg cross country team had its highs and lows Thursday at the Jerry Howarter Invitational.

Louisburg left the Garnett Country Club course with a pair of medals as the Wildcats tried to make the best out of a tough day that saw two runners leave the race with an injury.

“The teams did a great job,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “I felt they did not let the conditions bother them and they did their best for the first meet.”

Sophomores Levi Cotter and Truman Ellison had a successful first outing as both earned medals for the Wildcats.

Cotter finished 12th overall in 19 minutes and 2 seconds and Ellison was 16th in 19:27. Another sophomore, Spencer Mattison, took 28th, while senior Ben Proctor was 46th in 22:40.

Mattison would have earned a medal as well, but due to a mix-up at the finish line, he wasn’t awarded one.

“All three boys ran well,” Reece said. “They are going to be looked upon to step up this year and help to create a strong team. That is a tall task for sophomores but we see the potential and know they will rise to the challenge.”

Louisburg senior Jerynce Brings Plenty, who is the team’s top runner heading into the season, had to leave with an injury. Another senior, Marissa Vallejo, also had to leave due to an illness in the girls race.

“Marissa did not finish due to her being sick days prior to the meet,” Reece said. “She made the effort, which we appreciate, and we will get her ready and healthy for her next meet.

“Jerynce had to step off the course for a leg issue. It was minor and we have come up with a solution that should help in the future.”

Vallejo and sophomore Talen McMurray were the lone varsity runners on the girls side. McMurray finished 32nd overall in 27:26.

Louisburg will be back in action this Saturday when the Wildcats travel to the Wamego Invitational. 

“Our three sophomore boys and Jerynce will travel to Wamego to get an opportunity to run the state course and see great competition early in the season,” Reece said. “Our young runners are doing an awesome job and we will be looking to move them up within the team as the year goes on to give ourselves a complete varsity team.”

The Louisburg cross country team had two runners reach the final meet of the season last year as they competed at the Class 4A state championships.

One of those runners, Jerynce Brings Plenty, is back to lead the Wildcats after earning his first state medal in 2023.

The Wildcats lost several varsity runners from a year ago, especially on the girls side, and now they look to reload both rosters.

Louisburg currently has 15 on its roster, but Wildcat head coach John Reece believes he has several quality runners who can make an impact this year. 

“Our 15 runners this year is down from past years,” Reece said. “We are a young team with only one senior girl and two senior boys. We do return experience with the younger runners as they stepped up last season and ran in the big meets in the end.”

It all starts with Brings Plenty as he returns after finishing 12th overall at the Class 4A state meet last season. He also recorded the school’s second fastest time a year ago.

“We look for Jerynce to have a great season,” Reece said. “We will be taking him to some larger meets to gain experience in tactical racing within a large group of competitive runners.”

The Wildcat boys also return several runners who saw varsity time last season. Senior Ben Proctor is one of four others who will join Brings Plenty in the lineup.

Levi Cotter, Truman Ellison and Spencer Mattison also return after putting a year of experience under their belt.

“We have five guys and all saw varsity races last year so we have the experience to move right into the season with all running the varsity races,” Reece said. “With continued growth, we should be a strong group come the end of the season.”

On the girls side, senior Marissa Vallejo is in her first year with the program after moving into the district and brings several years of running experience with her.

She will join sophomores Talen McMurray and Ella Bockelman, along with freshman Anna Cotter, as several runners who will compete for varsity spots this year.

“Our girls side is very young,” Reece said. “Marissa is our lone senior but she brings experience to the team as she has run the past three years,” Reece said. “Ella and Talen will also be looking at varsity races and then we will have to see how our freshman girls progress through the season.”

Louisburg opens its season Thursday when the Wildcats travel to the Jerry Howarter Invitational in Garnett.

It was a successful, and eventful, 2023 for Louisburg High School athletics and for those who are connected to the Wildcat program. 

This past year created a lot of school history for LHS and a few programs brought back state hardware.

Below are the top stories from 2023, along with a brief explanation of each. Included in the writeup is the link to the actual story from the event.

When putting the list together, I took a lot of things into account – whether it was team vs. individual, popularity of the sport, historical achievements and the interest it drew on the web site.

This year was a blast to cover and I am looking forward to seeing what 2024 will bring. Thank you to everyone for their support and can’t wait for it all to begin again.

10. Brings Plenty earns first state cross country medal

WAMEGO — Jerynce Brings Plenty had being eyeing this race since the beginning of the season.

After missing out on the opportunity to run at the Class 4A Kansas State Cross Country Championships in 2022 due to an injury, Brings Plenty was itching at the chance to run against the state’s best.

He got that opportunity at the Wamego Country Club and he took full advantage.

Brings Plenty earned his first state cross country medal as he took 12th overall in a time of 16 minutes and 57 seconds. It has been a long time coming for the Louisburg junior.

“Getting 12th place and a state medal meant everything to me,” Brings Plenty said. “All season my main focus was to place as high as I could at state, especially since I had only placed 51st as a freshman and didn’t race my sophomore year.”

The 2023 season was a successful one for Brings Plenty as he earned a medal in every race he finished. He also moved up the school’s all-time leaderboard and currently holds the second fastest time.

9. Brueggen wins two state swim medals; Brown earns first boys state medal

Sabra Brueggen and Colin Brown put together a pair of historic seasons for their respective swim teams in 2023.

Brueggen doubled her medal count back in May at the state meet at the Capitol Federal Natatorium in Topeka. The Louisburg sophomore earned state medals in both the 100-yard backstroke and 50 freestyle.

After earning the one medal as a freshman a year ago, Brueggen was happy to find the medal stand in both races this season.

However, it has been a long road for Brueggen to get back to the state meet. After suffering a knee injury last summer, she had to work hard to get back in time for this go-round in a recovery that lasted nine months.

“Going into high school swim this season, I only had one personal goal in mind, making it back to finals at state,” Brueggen said. “Little did I know that I was going to make it back to the ‘A’ final in both my events, allowing me to medal. This truly meant the world to me because this past year has been one of the toughest ones yet. Overcoming this nine month long recovery, and accomplishing this at state, was an indescribable feeling.”

As for Brown, the Wildcat freshman earned the school’s first state medal in boys swimming back in February at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center in Lenexa. 

Brown recorded a time of 56.46 seconds in the finals of the 100-yard butterfly to take eighth overall. He swam a season-best time of 55.85 in the preliminaries to garner a spot in the finals.

“Colin’s swim in the medal finals was so fun to watch,” coach Mary Argeropoulos said. “Hardware from state is not easy to earn and he did a marvelous job all season working toward that final.”

In all, Louisburg sent four swimmers to the state meet in Brown, Brayton Brueggen, Colton Prettyman and Andrew Jamison and the Wildcats turned in several times that earned spots in the consolation finals. As team, the Wildcats finished 15th overall with 44 points.

8. Cheer takes fourth at state

TOPEKA — Louisburg cheer has been no stranger to the big stage when it comes to the state competition.

The Wildcats have become a mainstay in the Class 4A Game Day Spirit Showcase in the last several years that has included a state championship and a pair of state runner-up finishes.

Louisburg found itself in position for another state plaque in November at the Stormont-Vail Events Center in Topeka. The Wildcats qualified for the finals with an impressive performance, but came up just short of another state plaque as they took fourth overall in Class 4A.

“I am so proud,” Louisburg coach Breanna Kostroske said. “This team had to welcome not one, but two new coaches and has worked so hard since May on their competition material and it truly showed on the floor Saturday. Being a new coach you are automatically stressed that you haven’t given enough to all aspects of a game day routine, but we put our faith in the team and they showed up and truly represented themselves in a huge way.”

Members of the Louisburg cheer team are: Elizabeth George, Brooklyn Harmon, Addison Drake, Maddie O’Keefe, Maddy Carpenter-Ross, Caroline Dugger, Anna Brizendine, Reece Jones, Addie Vargo, Laney Stohs, Taryn Osborn, Kayleigh Ramsey, Will Leach, Brooklyn Roney, Harper Boyle, Kimmie Powls, Reece Younggren and Reese Anderson. The Wildcats are coached by Breanna Kostroske and Heather Brummel.

7. Pfannenstiel takes AD position, Wildcat basketball hires new coach Ben Doll

The 2023-24 school year for Louisburg High School activities had little different look to it — especially at the top.

Ty Pfannenstiel was hired as the school’s new activities director and took over for Michael Pickman, who will focus on his assistant principal duties and curriculum. 

Pfannenstiel, who has been the boys basketball coach for the last six years, resigned his post to take on the activities director position. He also stepped down as an assistant football coach.

“This is very exciting for me,” Pfannenstiel said. “It’s definitely going to be a change. I have been a teacher and a coach for 18 years. I still get to be a teacher half-time, and now I get to step into a new role as an administrator. It is going to be all sports and activities and I am looking forward to the new direction.”

Louisburg then hired Ben Doll to replace Pfannenstiel as the new Wildcat boys basketball coach. Doll has patrolled the sidelines as an assistant for two state championship teams and has coached in numerous state tournaments over his 24 year career.

This is Doll’s first head coaching position after spending time as an assistant at St. Thomas Aquinas, Johnson County Community College, Lansing and Blue Valley North.

“I am really excited to get going,” Doll said. “It has been a long time coming. I have a lot of great experiences and I am ready to apply those things I have learned into this job. I am ready to put my own stamp on some stuff as well.”

6. Wrestling qualifies six for state, Eslinger medals

SALINA —  Just like a year ago, Elijah Eslinger found himself one win away from a spot in the state championship match.

Eslinger, who has been ranked in Class 4A at different times throughout the season, has had a long road as a Wildcat heavyweight. One that included a rough freshman year, to progressively getting better.

With a spot in the semifinals at the Class 4A Kansas State Wrestling Championships already wrapped up, he had already secured his second state medal in Salina. Although he didn’t make that championship match, Eslinger still left Salina with some hardware.

“To make the semifinals was exciting, especially since it was the closest match I had,” Eslinger said. “It was probably close to the hardest match that I had over the weekend. I feel like I could have done better looking at my matches in hindsight.”

The Wildcats nearly had two more wresters earn spots on the medal stand. Junior J’Lee Collins (126 pounds) and sophomore Ashton Moore (175) both made their way to the blood round and needed a win to secure a state medal.

The Wildcats also experienced some heartbreak as senior Kaven Bartlett fell short of his goal of earning another state medal. At 138 pounds, Bartlett finished the state tournament with a 1-2 record.

Senior Trace Eslinger (215) and sophomore Jay McCaskill (157) also represented the Wildcats at the state tournament, but finished with an 0-2 record.

5. Lohse wins three state medals, Lady Cats sixth at state

WICHITA — Emma Lohse blazed the track for the Louisburg girls track and field team all season, and the Class 4A Kansas State Track and Field Championships was no different.

Lohse picked up three medals and helped the 4×100-meter relay to another school record at Wichita State’s Cessna Stadium. In all, the Lady Cats medaled in five events and finished sixth in the team standings with 29 points.

“Coming back from Wichita with three state medals was something I had to work for and was happy about the outcome,” Lohse said. “Leaving Cessna Stadium one last time, I was very proud of the way I competed and proud of what I came home with.”

Lohse was just inches away from winning a state championship in the 100-meter dash. At the finish line, the Louisburg senior was step-for-step with Rose Hill’s Kate Dare.

As the two leaned for the finish line, Dare edged Lohse for first as Lohse ran a time of 12.46 seconds. Dare ran a 12.44.

Later in the 200-meter dash, Lohse earned another state medal as she took seventh in 26.77 seconds.

Sandwiched in between those two races, Lohse helped the 4×100-meter relay of Mackenzie Rooney, Suzanna Dansel and Kendall Crossley to a medal of their own.

The Lady Cat relay finished third overall with a time of 49.70 seconds. Andale won in 49.24 and McPherson was second at 49.67.

However, in the preliminaries on Friday, the team broke their own school record for the fourth consecutive time in 49.26 seconds and had the fastest time going into the finals.

Another Lady Cat to find the medal stand was Emma Prettyman. The Louisburg senior put together a strong showing in the discus.

Prettyman earned her first state medal as she finished sixth in the event with a throw of 115 feet, 9 inches.

4. Wildcat pole vaulters dominate 4A state meet

WICHITA — Maddy Carpenter-Ross, Caden Caplinger and Cooper Wingfield had been considered as some of the top pole vaulters in Class 4A for most of the season.

All three had finished at, or toward the top of each of their meets this year, and all of them had high hopes going into state meet at Wichita State.

Carpenter-Ross and Caplinger reached the highest summit Class 4A had to offer as both were crowned state champions following their respective events.

Caplinger became a two-time state champion first as he cleared 15 feet to win the 4A boys pole vault. Wingfield finished as the state runner-up.

“It means a lot and I am just blessed to have the opportunity to be here and win the title, especially with Cooper right on my tail,” Caplinger said. 

Carpenter-Ross thrived under the pressure in the girls competition as she, not only looked for her second consecutive state medal, but her first state championship. 

The Louisburg junior captured her first state title after she cleared 11 feet, which tied a personal best. This coming off a season where she medaled fifth at state a year ago.

“I think it is fantastic,” Carpenter-Ross said. “Going to 11 feet, I was tied with the one girl and I was hoping that I would get it on my first try. Then when I did, it was just an amazing feeling. 

“It was just awesome for me, plus to see my family’s faces up in the stands was really cool too. Being a state champion is awesome and I plan to do it again.”

3. Wildcat football wins back-to-back Frontier League titles

SPRING HILL — It had been 16 years since the Louisburg football team last repeated as back-to-back Frontier League champions.

That drought ended on an October night in Spring Hill.

In a battle of undefeated league teams, Louisburg proved its was the best. The Wildcats scored 21 unanswered points, and shutout the Broncos in the first half, as they cruised to a 35-21 victory.

Louisburg earned back-to-back league crowns for the first time since the 2006 and 2007 campaigns. The Wildcats also finished the regular season with an 8-0 record.

“It is pretty exciting,” Louisburg coach Drew Harding said. “We talked to the guys before the game about how long it is has been since we have won back-to-back league titles and it has only been done four times in our school’s history. So to chalk another one up there feels pretty good.”

The Wildcats advanced to the regional round of the state playoffs in early November, but lost a heartbreaker to Basehor-Linwood, 22-20, and ended a nine game winning streak.

“This season was a lot of fun,” Harding said. “It is a great group of kids and they worked incredibly hard. They were loose and made it fun every single day. I can’t say enough about how good of kids they are and how hard they work. We hoped to still be moving on, but this loss doesn’t take away from what these kids did all year.”

2. Wildcat volleyball takes fourth at state for second straight year

HUTCHINSON — For the second time in as many years, Louisburg is leaving the state volleyball tournament with some hardware.

The Wildcats, for the second straight season, finished fourth Saturday at the Class 4A Kansas State Volleyball Championships in Hutchinson. It marked the 20th appearance for the Wildcats in the tournament.

Getting that hardware and making it to Saturday was certainly a battle for the Wildcats, who had to fight through adversity during pool play on Friday. Louisburg had to deal with injuries and had its fate rest in another team’s hands. 

Despite all that, Louisburg left with a fourth place medal following a tough 23-25, 25-8 and 25-16 loss to Andale in the third-place match Saturday at Hutchinson Sports Arena.

“We are very proud of this team for making it back to the state tournament and finishing in the final four again,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “We, of course, will always strive for higher finishes until we reach that ultimate goal of state champions, but we are proud of where we finished the season and were happy with the success of this team.”

Members of the Louisburg volleyball team are (from left) Adelyn Moore, Caileigh Kilgore, McKenna Lohse, Delaney Nelsen, Aspen Coulter, Evyn Richardson, Ashlyn Berck, Katie Elpers, Izzy Moreland, Megan Quinn, Hailey Sword, Madie Williams and head coach Leanna Willer.

1. Wildcat boys track finishes as state runner-up; Dobbins wins state title in high jump as team medals in 13 events

WICHITA — The Louisburg boys track and field team had the resume of a state champion. 

The Wildcats racked up 87 points during the Class 4A Kansas State Track and Field Championships at Wichita State. 

Louisburg medaled in all 13 events it competed and the Wildcats finished the meet with two individual state champions. The ending was supposed to feature the Wildcats holding up a state championship plaque.

“If you would have told me at the beginning of the year we would score 87 points at state and not win a championship, I would have just ignored you and said ‘Whatever,’” Louisburg coach Andy Wright said. “No way that would happen.”

As it turned out, the Wildcats found themselves on the outside looking in for a team state title. Andale finished first with 87.5 points. Louisburg had 87.

It was an emotional letdown for the Wildcats as they were so close to that team goal.

“To beat Andale, we had to score 88 and that is just a testament to how good they are,” Wright said. “They have really good athletes, especially in the throws. At the same time, I couldn’t be more proud of my guys and how they competed. It was just so much fun to watch them lay it all out there. They really did have a great season.”

Mason Dobbins reached new heights at the Class 4A Kansas State Track and Field Championship.

Ok, well maybe not literally.

Dobbins who broke a school record in the high jump earlier this year, didn’t reach that height at the state meet — but he didn’t need to. The Louisburg senior cleared 6 feet, 6 inches to win the Class 4A high jump title.

It was the first of four state medals that Dobbins would win on the day as he helped lead the Wildcats to the Class 4A state runner-up plaque.

“It meant everything to be a state champion and to be able to medal in all of my events this year since I didn’t last year,” Dobbins said. “Our team trains so hard, and to be able to be runner up by .5 points, is incredible.”

Dobbins nearly earned his second state title in the 110-meter hurdles as he found himself in a battle with Rose Hill’s Teagan Cobb. The two were stride-for-stride going into he final hurdle, but Cobb nipped Dobbins at the finish line.

Later on, he joined Caden Caplinger, Colyer Wingfield and Ethan Ptacek in the 4×100-meter relay and the team medaled third in 43.38 seconds. Ptacek had to run for Ashton Moore, who was injured during the preliminaries.

Then toward the end of the meet, Dobbins, who was sitting seventh in the 200-meter dash after the preliminaries, battled to keep his team in the state championship race and medaled third in 23.07.

Louisburg senior Nathan Vincent got his team a lot of points in the throwing events as he medaled in the javelin, discus and shot put — with the latter being his best event of the weekend.

Vincent, who just started doing shot put this year, put together his best performance of the season. He recorded a personal best throw of 51-8 in the finals to take third overall. He also went on to take fifth in the discus and sixth in the javelin.

Sophomore Jerynce Brings Plenty also came away with three state medals in the distance events, but none was more precious to him than the 3,200-meter run.

Brings Plenty broke the school record in the event as he medaled third in 9 minutes and 49.41 seconds. He surpassed the old mark of 9:50.60 that was set by Jason Rose in 2007.

He continued his medal streak for the Wildcats as he joined Hunter Heinrich, Blaise Vohs and Colton Blue to medal seventh in the 4×800-meter relay.

Later in the day, Brings Plenty competed in the 1,600 run and took sixth in 4:34.42.

Louisburg senior Nathan Apple left his final state meet with a pair of medals in both hurdle events. Apple finished fourth in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.29 seconds on Saturday.

Apple also went on to take fourth in the 300 hurdles in 40.55 seconds as he ended his Wildcat track career on a positive note.

The Wildcats ended the state meet with the 4×400-meter relay as the team of Heinrich, Vohs, Colyer Wingfield and Ptacek needed a third place finish or better to win the state title. Unfortunately, the Wildcats came up just short as they took fourth in 3:23.98.

Louisburg set a new personal record by three seconds and was .25 seconds away from tying the school record. The Wildcats also scored points in all three relay events.

Louisburg junior Jerynce Brings Plenty garnered his first state cross country medal last Saturday at the Class 4A state meet in Wamego.

WAMEGO — Jerynce Brings Plenty had being eyeing this race since the beginning of the season.

After missing out on the opportunity to run at the Class 4A Kansas State Cross Country Championships last fall due to an injury, Brings Plenty was itching at the chance to run against the state’s best.

He got that opportunity Saturday at the Wamego Country Club and he took full advantage.

Brings Plenty earned his first state cross country medal as he took 12th overall in a time of 16 minutes and 57 seconds. It has been a long time coming for the Louisburg junior.

“Getting 12th place and a state medal meant everything to me,” Brings Plenty said. “All season my main focus was to place as high as I could at state, especially since I had only placed 51st as a freshman and didn’t race my sophomore year.”

The 2023 season was a successful one for Brings Plenty as he earned a medal in every race he finished. He also moved up the school’s all-time leaderboard and currently holds the second fastest time.

“It was awesome to see Jerynce get his first cross country state medal,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “He worked hard all season and off season to put himself in position to earn a state birth and then a medal.”

The state race itself is always a difficult one and it was a competition that feature more than 100 runners. Brings Plenty managed to stay toward the front of the pack and work his way up from there.

“I’m pretty happy with how I performed on the day,” Brings Plenty said. “Going into the race I knew it was going to be a dogfight from start to finish and I was prepared to do whatever it took to stand my ground. In all honesty, I wish I would’ve placed higher, but there is nothing much I can do about it now other than come back better and stronger next year.”

It was a competitive field in the 4A boys race this season and featured several fast times. McPherson sophomore Caleb Mueller ran a time of 15:58 to win the state title as he edged out Eudora’s Zach Arnold by less than a second.

“The overall competition in all classes this year was tough,” Reece said.. “The times ran this year and the number of runners that could take a race at any given time was always a guessing game. Jerynce put himself in a great position early, but faded a little in the end. He did what he needed to do to give himself a chance and was rewarded for his effort.”

Senior Noah Cotter saw his season and Wildcat cross country career come to a close Saturday as well. Cotter finished 62nd in 18:23 to end a year that saw him earn All-Frontier League second team honors.

“Noah just missed last year and was determined to qualify this year as an individual if the team did not make it,” Reece said. “He did just that. He was sick the week of state, but powered through and ran the best he could in his final race of his cross country career. Noah is an awesome leader and the program will miss his grit and leadership. We wish him luck in his pursuits after high school.”