Louisburg junior Jerynce Brings Plenty gets out to a good start Thursday during the Jerry Howarter Invitational at Garnett Country Club. Brings Plenty finished fourth overall.

GARNETT — The Louisburg cross country team brought home some hardware in its first competition of the season.

Louisburg earned three medals at the Jerry Howarter Invitational last Thursday at Garnett Country Club and did so by not having full squads on both the boys and girls side.

The Wildcats, who had some runners out with injuries, still made some noise as Jerynce Brings Plenty and Noah Cotter each had top 10 finishes to lead the boys. Senior Maddy Rhamy finished in the top 20 to pace the girls side.

“Everyone ran well at Anderson County,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “The temps were not terrible, and there were some first race jitters, but it was a good meet.”

Brings Plenty had a strong showing in his season opener as the Louisburg junior finished fourth out of 73 runners in 17 minutes and 35 seconds.

Cotter was right behind him. The Louisburg senior finished sixth overall in 17:52 to give the Wildcats a strong start to their season.

“Jerynce and Noah ran great races,” Reece said. “Jerynce could do some special things this season and Noah is going to be right there with him. They will be a huge factor when it comes to postseason and team scoring.”

On the girls side, Rhamy led an injury-riddled girls team that featured just three runners. Still, the Louisburg senior competed against a very strong field as she took 19th in 23:31.

“Maddy ran a solid race,” Reece said. “Earning a medal is always a great way to start the season. I look for her to really step up this year and work hard for the team.”

Senior Lola Edwards was second on the team in 35th overall in 25:49 and senior Erin Apple was 46th in 27:20.

Freshman Truman Ellison was third on the boys team in 50th in 21:27 and junior Ben Proctor was 56th in 22:00.

The schedule gets a little tougher for Louisburg this Saturday as the Wildcats travel to the Wamego Invitational — a meet that brings some of the top teams across the state. It is also the home of the 4A state meet. Races begin at 9 a.m. at the Wamego Country Club.

Louisburg junior Evyn Richardson goes up for a kill during Tuesday’s home match against Piper. The Wildcats defeated Burlington, 2-0, before falling to Piper, 2-1.

It was a mixed bag of sorts for the Louisburg volleyball team Tuesday at home.

On one hand, the Wildcats picked up their first win of the season with a 25-5 and 26-24 victory over Burlington and used that momentum to go up early in their match against Piper.

Louisburg was primed for a sweep, but the Pirates had other ideas. The Wildcats fell to the Pirates, 23-25, 25-12 and 25-22 to get a split in their home triangular.

“It was great to get that first win under our belt,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “We came out ready to roll in that first set and never looked back. It was a fun way to start the night. We are currently battling the challenge of remaining consistent, but I think we are making progress toward better consistency every day with the work we are putting in during practice, and learning from our games.”

The Wildcats got out to a fast start against Burlington as they jumped out to a 19-2 advantage in the first set, but had to battle in the second. 

Louisburg (1-4) took a 14-6 lead and appeared on its way to another easy win. Burlington had other ideas as it battled back to eventually even it up at 23-all.

Wildcat junior Evyn Richardson recorded a kill to make it 24-23, before Burlington tied it up once again. Sophomore Delaney Nelsen registered a kill to make it 25-24 and Louisburg sealed the win on an ace from Megan Quinn.

Senior Hailey Sword and Richardson each led the Wildcats with seven kills and senior Katie Elpers finished with five. Setters Adelyn Moore and Quinn finished with 11 and 10 assists, respectively.

Sword and Moore each led the Wildcat defense with six digs. From behind the service line, Louisburg tallied six aces in the match, including two from Quinn.

Louisburg got out to good start against Piper as it was able to take the first set, but struggled to get going in the second. The Wildcats bounced back nicely in third and appeared well on their way to a victory with an 18-14 lead. 

Piper had other ideas as it ended the match on an 11-4 run to get the victory over Louisburg.

“Losing that second match to Piper in three was tough, but like I said, I think it provided some really great learning moments for our whole team,” Willer said. “Making 19 more errors than the other team makes it tough to win a match. Walking into practice the next day, we were very focused on specific things that we wanted to improve after that game, and as a coach that’s all I can ask for.”

Sword led the Wildcats at the net once again as she tallied 10 kills. Senior Madie Williams finished with seven kills and also had a team-high three aces.

Moore led Louisburg in assists with 14 and Quinn added 12 to go along with two aces. Defensively, Williams had a big night for Louisburg with 11 digs and senior Ashlyn Berck added seven.

Louisburg will try and bounce back tonight as it gets back into league play. The Wildcats travel to Ottawa for a 6:30 p.m. start.

Louisburg senior quarterback Declan Battle celebrates in the endzone with linemen Miles Meek and Johnny Hendrickson following one of his five touchdowns Friday against Heritage.

It may have been just the first game of the season, but Louisburg senior Declan Battle left a lasting first impression Friday.

The Wildcats hosted Rogers Heritage (Ark.) in their season opener in what was a return game following last year’s close loss on the road. Battle and the Wildcats made sure history didn’t repeat itself.

The Louisburg quarterback scored five touchdowns and led the Wildcats to a 48-14 victory over the War Eagles. It was exactly the start to the season the Wildcats wanted.

“It was a very fun win for us,” Louisburg coach Drew Harding said. “We have preached all week in doing our jobs. In the first game, sometimes you go kind of brain dead and do some really weird things, but (Friday) we went out and got a stop our first time out and then we just went to work from there.”

Battle led the Wildcats with 235 total yards, including 135 on the ground to go along with his five scores.

In all, Louisburg tallied 449 yards of total offense against the War Eagles. It also marked the end of a three-game losing streak against regular season non-league opponents, something Battle and his teammates have remembered.

“It feels really good,” Battle said. “Every year I have been in high school, we have always lost these non-league games like Smithville, Rock Creek and last year to Heritage. We wanted to finally win one of those games and we were able to get it done and it feels great.”

Louisburg was able to get a lot of that accomplished thanks to a new-look offensive line that had to replace four starters from a season ago.

Along with returning center Jaymes Melton, the Wildcat line of Jackson Howard, Miles Meek, Brayden Yoder and Johnny Hendrickson provided a lot of running room to help account for their 340 yards on the ground.

“We will know for sure when we watch film, but in the moment I thought the line played really well out there,” Harding said. “They came out and established themselves and I thought they executed pretty well for the most part. We had a few mental errors here and there, but it was a good night for them.”

Battle was the recipient of a lot of those yards and he liked what he saw from his new group.

“Coming into the season, I don’t know that anyone really knew how the line was going to shape up since we lost a lot of seniors last year,” Battle said. “The first game is really when you see what it will be like and I thought they did really good. They performed really well.”

Defensively, the Wildcats held the War Eagles to just one touchdown for much of the contest until they were able to add a late score with a running clock.

Louisburg didn’t give up many big plays and it started at the linebacker spot. Senior Wyatt Holland led the way with a team-high 12 tackles, including two for a loss, while junior Ashton Moore finished with nine stops and one tackle for a loss.

Senior cornerback Brady Hickey also had his best game as a Wildcat as he was third on the team with six stops — but more importantly — came away with two interceptions.

“They were flying around out there,” Harding said of his defense. “Coach G(Gentges)really preached 11 hats to the ball all night and I felt like that is what we did. We had a really good week of preparation, came out and played well.”

After the Wildcats forced a punt to start the game, they were able to score on their first possession. Moore found the end zone on a 26-yard touchdown run, and after a Blaise Vohs extra point, made it 7-0. Moore finished the game with 87 yards on the ground on 11 carries.

Battle then added touchdown runs of 6 and 12 yards to put the Wildcats up 20-0 going into the second quarter.

Heritage scored its first touchdown of the game to begin the second quarter, but the Wildcats responded with two more scores from Battle. After a 9-yard score put the Wildcats up 20 again, Battle broke free for his fourth touchdown on a 52-yard run on what was a 4th and 2 for Louisburg near midfield.

Battle added another 17-yard touchdown run to begin the third quarter and wrapped up a memorable night for the Wildcat senior.

“Last year we felt like we needed to limit his carries a little bit, but he is going to run the ball for us this year,” Harding said of Battle. “He is a really good runner and he has good speed and strength. When you add something like that to the offense, it is nice to have.”

The Wildcats will try for back-to-back wins this Friday when it hosts Paola for their Frontier League opener.

“Paola is always the biggest week,” Battle said. “From Monday on, everyone is just super excited and there is just a whole different energy at practice. Then on Friday night, it is just go time.”

LOU 20 14 14 0 — 48

RH 0 7 0 7 — 14

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

L: Ashton Moore 26 run (Blaise Vohs kick)

L: Declan Battle 6 run (Vohs kick)

L: Battle 12 run (kick failed)

Second Quarter

R: Amere Dingle 1 run (kick good)

L: Battle 9 run (Vohs kick)

L: Battle 52 run (Vohs kick)

Third quarter

L: Battle 17 run (Vohs kick)

L: Darby Van Eaton 2 run (Vohs kick)

Fourth Quarter

R: Cohen Smith 37 pass from Domenic Castaneda (kick good)

STATISTICS

RUSHING — Declan Battle 9-135; Ashton Moore 11-87; Darby Van Eaton 9-73; Blaise Vohs 5-27; Alex Saad 2-18. Totals: 36-340

PASSING — Declan Battle 11-15-100; Alex Saad 2-3-9. Totals: 13-18-109

RECEIVING — Conlee Hovey 5-49; Caden Caplinger 3-40; Brock Vohs 1-14; Ashton Moore 2-10; Hunter Heinrich 2-(-)4. 

TACKLES — Wyatt Holland 12, Ashton Moore 9, Brady Hickey 6, Conlee Hovey 4, Caden Caplinger 3, Brayden Yoder 3, Declan Battle 2, Russell Wiseman 2, Myles Vohs 2, Lucas Swartz 2, Darby Van Eaton 1, Jackson Howard 1, Brock Vohs 1.

INTERCEPTIONS: Brady Hickey 2, Logan Henry 1

Here is the Louisburg Sports Zone Athlete of the Week for week one of the fall sports season, sponsored by Edward Jones-Craig Holtzen.

DECLAN BATTLE, SENIOR, FOOTBALL

Louisburg senior Declan Battle had a game to remember last Friday during the Wildcats’ 48-14 victory over Rogers Heritage. The Wildcat quarterback broke loose for five of the team’s seven touchdowns on the night as he led Louisburg to victory in the season opener.

Battle combined for 235 yards of total offense, including 135 yards on the ground. He accomplished all that in just two-and-a-half quarters of action.

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.

Louisburg’s Evyn Richardson (left) and Hailey Sword team up for a block during a match earlier this season.

DE SOTO — Going against bigger programs can be difficult and the Louisburg volleyball faced its fair share of challenges Thursday.

The Wildcats traveled to De Soto for a triangular with Olathe West and left with a pair of setbacks. Louisburg lost to Olathe West 24-12 and 25-16 and also fell to De Soto 25-19 and 25-20.

“Thursday presented a couple of tough opponents for us,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “I thought we did a good job of keeping ourselves in the game and battling throughout the night. There were also a couple of key things that we worked on in practice Wednesday after last Tuesday’s game that I was happy to see improvement in on Thursday.”

Louisburg senior Hailey Sword led the Wildcat offense at the net with 10 kills on the night and senior Madie Williams finished with seven.

Middle blockers Izzy Moreland Evyn Richardson also played strong as Moreland finished with six kills to go along with a team-high four blocks. Richardson had three blocks on the night, as did senior Katie Elpers.

Offensively, senior Megan Quinn led the Wildcat offense with 15 assists on the night and freshman Adelyn Moore tallied seven. Quinn also led the defense with a team-high 14 digs.

“Both middles, Izzy and Evyn, did a good job of making themselves available in the offense and capitalizing on their opportunities,” Willer said. “Also, I thought that Megan had a great defensive night as she actually led our team in digs. Very proud of her.”

Senior libero Bronwynn Williams and Madie Williams each tallied 10 digs on the night, while senior Ashlyn Berck led Louisburg from behind the service line with three aces.

Louisburg (0-3) is back in action tonight as the Wildcats host Burlington and Piper in a triangular. The Wildcats will play Burlington at 4:30 p.m., and Piper at 6:30.

Louisburg senior quarterback Declan Battle returns for this third year under center after earning all-league and all-state honors last season.

Last season was a memorable one for the Louisburg football team.

The Wildcats ran through Frontier League with an undefeated record and finished with their first league title since 2018. Although it ended with a loss to St. Thomas Aquinas in the playoffs, it was a successful run.

Louisburg hopes to have that same type of success, if not more, this season but the Wildcats will have a little different look to them. They said goodbye to a 16-member senior class, including several all-league and all-state players.

Still, that success and confidence has bled over into the 2023 season and the Wildcats are hoping it can continue what it started a year ago.

“I think it gave us some confidence and also helped establish the standard for where we want to be,” Louisburg coach Drew Harding said of last year’s finish. “The Frontier League is tough, so in order to compete for the league title you have to be ready week in and week out.

“Honestly, without having played anyone else I’m not sure if we have an identity just yet. We were hoping to get an idea with the jamboree, but with the heat we obviously had to change course. I think we will find ourselves over the first few weeks of the season.”

Even though the roster will look a little different in 2023, there are still plenty of familiar faces on the Wildcat sideline and it starts under center.

Senior Declan Battle returns for his third season as the starting varsity quarterback and is coming off an impressive junior campaign. He finished with more than 1,700 yards of total offense and had 18 touchdowns.

That all led to a first-team all-league selection and was also named honorable mention all-state.

“Declan had a really good year for us last year,” Harding said. “I was very proud of the way he picked up a new offense and really played well in the run game and passing game for us. We are hoping he continues to develop, feels more confident in our system, and puts together another really good season for us.”

Battle also has a lot of his offensive weapons back from a season ago in junior tailback Ashton Moore and senior running back Wyatt Holland. He also returns a pair of all-league players at receiver in seniors Caden Caplinger and Hunter Heinrich, while junior Darby Van Eaton will see time at running back.

Seniors Brody McGreer, Blake Amren, along with juniors Myles Vohs, Reid McCaskill and Josh Holtzen, could all see time at wide receiver throughout the year.

A big difference this season for the Wildcats will be on the line of scrimmage where they have to replace four of the five starting linemen from last year. Senior center Jaymes Melton is back to lead the group.

Seniors Jackson Howard, Ben O’Bryan, along with juniors Brayden Yoder, Miles Meek, Nate Capuro and sophomore Johnny Hendrickson could all see time on the offensive line.

Louisburg will also feature new players at the tight end position in senior Brock Vohs and junior Conlee Hovey. 

“You know I think we have the bodies to help replace those guys up front from last year but we will find out for sure here in the first few weeks,” Harding said. “There is still some competition that is taking place along the lines and we will probably be playing several guys as we start the season at some spots.”

The defensive line will also feature a lot of new faces in Vohs, Hovey, Howard, Yoder, O’Bryan, Hendrickson, Meek and senior Drake Crooks.

However, the defensive leadership for Louisburg will come at the linebacker position. Moore and Holland will help anchor the defense after a strong 2022 season. 

Moore, who was a first team all-state and all-league selection as a sophomore, returns for his junior season after leading the Wildcats in tackles last season with 114, including 12 for a loss.

Holland tallied 89 tackles last season, which earned him second team all-league honors and Harding likes what he has in his veteran linebackers.

“Ashton and Wyatt I believe were both in the top three of our team in terms of tackles, so that kind of experience is nice to have back,” Harding said. “The nice thing about those guys is they can both really run. They can both make plays sideline to sideline. Last year was Wyatt’s first year ever playing linebacker and it was Ashton’s first year playing linebacker on the varsity level, so they both should feel much more confident this year. We need them to step up vocally on the defense and get everyone lined up and so far they have been doing a good job.”

In the secondary, the Wildcats return just two starters in Caplinger (safety) and Heinrich (cornerback). Battle, Caplinger, senior Brady Hickey and junior Lucas Swartz are all competing for a starting safety spot, while Heinrich, McGreer, Vohs, McCaskill and junior Alex Saad will be the team’s cornerbacks.

It will be a different type of season for the Wildcats, but the goals are still the same and that is to finish atop the league standings.

“Our expectations are that we will need to get better every week,” Harding said. “We have a lot of new players along both sides of the line of scrimmage, so we hope to see big strides for both of those groups throughout the season. We want to put ourselves in a position to compete for another Frontier League title, and in order to do that we have to improve and play well each and every week.”

That starts today as the Wildcats host Heritage High School from Rogers, Ark. The War Eagles are making the return trip this season after the Wildcats suffered a close loss at their place a season ago.

However, with a new season comes a clean slate and the players are excited to get the season going.

“Practices have been going well,” Harding said. “The guys are extremely excited to get the season going and there was a boost in energy once we started a game week. I think everyone is ready to go against somebody other than ourselves.”

Louisburg junior Emmett White celebrates his go-ahead goal late in the second half Tuesday against Leavenworth.

For the first 60 minutes on Monday in its season opener, Louisburg had Leavenworth right where it wanted it.

The Wildcats led the Pioneers by a goal midway through the second half, and then the match became a fireworks show. Leavenworth scored twice to take the lead and turned the game on its head.

Then the match changed once again. Louisburg junior Emmett White answered back as he scored a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes to give the Wildcats a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Leavenworth.

For a team that took the field with just two returning starters, and very little varsity experience, the Wildcats didn’t let getting down late get to them.

“That’s what the game is all about — overcoming adversity,” Louisburg coach Bobby Bovaird said. “Starting off the year with a win was a major stepping stone for us. A lot of the guys were feeling nervous since it was the first varsity time many of them have played. Combine that with the natural jitters that athletes feel for their first game of the season, and it can be an emotional ringer that they go through. I’m proud of how they played, holding onto the lead for most of the game, and then coming back after conceding two goals.”

Leavenworth looked like it was going to spoil the Wildcats’ opener with a pair of goals midway through the second half and took a 2-1 advantage. Time was running out on Louisburg.

White became the aggressor for the Wildcats as he scored the tying goal with 8 minutes remaining in the match on a through ball from sophomore Owen Marsh. Then two minutes later, White struck again.

He found himself at the top of the box as the ball came right at him and he struck it past the Pioneer goalie to put the Wildcats back on top for good.

After just one match, White has already eclipsed his scoring mark from a year ago after getting shutout in that category.

“Emmett has already made a statement on offense this season,” Bovaird said. “He didn’t get any goals last year and only had two assists, but in one game he’s scored twice and was a solid presence in the midfield. If you were there and witnessed his playing, you could see the passion in his body language, his refusal to give up, and his leadership in front of his peers.”

Louisburg senior John Powls opened the scoring in the game’s first 10 minutes as he scored on a breakaway opportunity to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead — an advantage they would hold for nearly 50 minutes.

In between that time, the Wildcats had opportunities to increase their lead as White had a potential goal that was taken away due to an offsides call.

White was also fouled near the box, and instead of being awarded a penalty kick, the ball was spotted just outside that took another scoring opportunity away.

Junior Colton Blue also had two shots on goal, including one that was stopped on a diving save by the Leavenworth keeper.

The Wildcat defense held strong for much of the contest and sophomore goalie Evan Moreland tallied four saves in his varsity debut.

It was a much-needed win and confidence builder for a team that had much of their roster play in its first-ever varsity contest. 

“I told the guys before the game started that discipline is never pleasant,” Bovaird said. “In fact, it’s often painful, but those who remain true to their training will reap the benefits in the end. That’s our goal this season — pursuing excellence by focusing on the details and remaining disciplined throughout the game. We all know it’s almost a completely new team out there this year, but you can’t overlook the hard work that they’ve all put in during the off-season. 

“All last year, we knew that there were 15 of our teammates who wouldn’t be coming back. This year’s squad is full of guys who truly believe they can step up and represent LHS on the field. Monday’s game wasn’t the prettiest, and we witnessed some major things we need to work on fixing, but that’s the easy part. These guys have already made the commitment to giving it all they’ve got.”

Louisburg will try and build on this win tonight as the Wildcats travel to Independence for a 6 p.m. start.

Louisburg senior Madie Williams sends the ball over the net Tuesday during the Wildcats’ season opener against Baldwin at Louisburg High School.

In its season opener Tuesday, Louisburg found itself in a rematch of the sub-state championship match from a season ago.

The Wildcats hosted Baldwin, a team they defeated on their way to a fourth-place state tournament finish.

Unfortunately for Louisburg, the result wasn’t quite the same this time around.

Baldwin won the first two sets and held on for a 3-1 victory (25-20, 25-18, 19-25, 27-25) over Louisburg. Despite the early deficit, the Wildcats battled back to almost force a fifth set.

“I thought we played pretty well for the first match of the year,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “We saw some nerves for sure in that first set, but I think we settled in pretty well and fought hard throughout the match. There were some impressive rallies and great plays made by both teams, which made for a fun night. Regardless of the outcome, I am proud of how hard we fought and how we stayed together working as a team throughout the match.”

Through the first two sets, the Wildcats had a tough time slowing down the Bulldog attack at the net — more specifically Fisayo Afonja. 

The Baldwin senior, who is one of the top players in Class 4A this season, made an impact all over the floor. Afonja finished with a team-high 31 kills and also had 21 digs with her play in the back row as she made things difficult on the Wildcats.

“She is a truly impressive player all around,” Willer said of Afonja. “The toughest thing about her is that she can come from anywhere and hit any tempo set. She also has a crazy high vertical, and with that extra hang time she can turn in the air to find the open court. We started to do a better job of finding her in the third and fourth sets to put up a better block, so that helped us compete better with their strong offense.”

The Wildcats got out to a shaky start with the back-to-back 25-20 and 25-18 losses, but gathered themselves and put together a strong performance the rest of the way.

After a convincing 25-19 win in the third set, Louisburg found itself in a back-and-forth match with the Bulldogs, but after forcing extra points, fell 27-25.

Louisburg senior Madie Williams had a big night to lead the Wildcats as she finished with a team-high 26 kills as she had plenty of opportunities from both the front and back rows. She also led the team defensively with 19 digs.

“Madie had an awesome night,” Willer said. “She established herself early, and continued to be the go to hitter for both of our setters. They know that they can give the ball to her at any time and she’s going to make the most of it. I was also pleased to see her court awareness shine through as she made some very smart decisions with her attack choices. She’s not afraid to go up and take a huge swing or mix in a tip, and we saw how successful that can be. 

“Additionally, I thought she passed very well and made some big plays on defense. She has a natural ability to read the court and anticipate what’s coming next, which is huge for us.”

It was also the first time the Wildcats implemented their two-setter offense with senior Megan Quinn and freshman Adelyn Moore. Quinn finished with a team-high 25 assists and Moore had 19 of her own. Quinn also had a strong game defensively with 12 digs.

“I think they both did a great job,” Willer said. “They spread the ball around, but also found a way to find our hot hitters as much as they could. I love seeing their relationship in between plays, time outs, and sets as well. Megan is a wonderful leader and has really taken Adelyn under her wing to help our team be the best we can be.”

Senior Hailey Sword also had a big game at the net with 11 kills, and defensively she was second on the team with 17 digs.

Also on defense, senior libero Bronwynn Williams tallied 17 digs, while senior Izzy Moreland finished with a team-high five blocks from her middle blocker spot.

“I thought our serve receive passing was pretty strong for the majority of the night, and I loved our defensive effort,” Willer said. “I think every person on the floor stepped up in moments where they were able to shine a little bit, so I love seeing that well-rounded aspect of our team.”

Louisburg will try and bounce back today as the Wildcats travel to De Soto for a triangular with Olathe West. Matches begin at 5 p.m.

Louisburg senior Emma Vohs will try for her third consecutive state medal this season as she is one of seven seniors on this year’s girls cross country team.

For the last six years, the Louisburg girls cross country team has ended its season as the Class 4A state meet in Wamego.

The Wildcats are primed to make it a seventh straight trip.

Louisburg returns most of its state team from a season ago, including four seniors in Emma Vohs, Lola Edwards, Maddy Rhamy and Erin Apple.

Add in fellow seniors Anna Poe, Maddie O’Keefe and Elizabeth George and the Wildcats feature an experienced roster.

“We do have an abundance of experience with the girls team,” Louisburg coach John Reece said. “We think the expectation of qualifying for state is always there. Because of our success in the past, the runners put pressure on themselves to continue to perform well come regionals and state.”

Vohs is one runner who has found a lot of success for the Wildcats. Vohs is a two-time state medalist, including a 10th place finish in 2022.

Rhamy and Edwards are also returning state medalists. Both runners medaled in 2020 and Rhamy medaled again in 2021, so the team has earned five state medals between them.

Four of those runners — Vohs, Rhamy, Edwards and Apple — were also a part of the Wildcats’ third place state team in 2020.

On the boys side, the Wildcats feature just one senior in Noah Cotter, who missed the state meet by one spot last season. Cotter will look to lead a young boys team along with junior Jerynce Brings Plenty.

Brings Plenty is coming off a pair of state medals last season in track, but missed most of his sophomore year in cross country due to an injury.

“The boys team is very young but very hard workers,” Reece said. “Jerynce and Noah have set a positive tone to start the season with their work ethic and leadership. Jerynce does look to build off of his track season and is looking to move up the leaderboard.”

As far as who will compete on the boys and girls varsity roster for the opening meet, Reece said there will be a lot of competition for those spots between now and the end of the year.

Reece is also believes there could be some freshmen that will impact the team as well.

“As far as varsity and junior varsity, it is always a work in progress/revolving door,” Reece said. “We will move runners up and down as needed, so that they can find success which will create a positive mindset. That will come in handy as we approach postseason. We also have a great freshman class and it will be exciting to watch them progress this year.”

Louisburg opens it season Thursday when it travels to Garnett for the Jerry Howarter Invitational. Races are set to begin at 3:30 p.m. with the middle school level.

The Wildcats will host their lone home competition on Oct. 5 at Lewis-Young Park.

Louisburg senior Hailey Sword is one of three returning starters off of last season’s state tournament team that finished fourth overall.

Last year, the Louisburg volleyball team was one of the few teams left standing when the season came to a close.

After the Wildcats upset No. 1 seed Baldwin for a sub-state title, Louisburg made a nice run through the state tournament and eventually ended with a fourth-place finish.

However, the Wildcats had to say goodbye to four senior starters off that team and head coach Leanna Willer has had to do a little bit of reshuffling — like many coaches do from year to year.

As tough as some have it, the Wildcats still return three starters from a year ago and have a seven-member senior class in hopes of reaching the state tournament, yet again.

“We did lose four amazing seniors, but we also have a lot of experience coming back,” Willer said. “This team will be a good mix of ‘old’ and young as we will have all four classes represented in our starting rotation. It’s great to have strong senior leaders as well as talented underclassmen come together as one unit. 

“We are really working on that team chemistry right now to solidify our group. We do have three senior returners maintaining a similar role that they had last year, but the other four are stepping up into bigger roles to fill some of the holes left by last year’s graduating class.”

Louisburg has a good foundation to build from with those three returning starters. Seniors Madie Williams and Hailey Sword will return as starting outside hitters and will play all six rotations after playing similar roles last season.

Senior setter Megan Quinn returns to lead the Wildcat offense after eclipsing 1,000 assists a year ago.

“Having Megan, Hailey, and Madie return is huge for us as they gained tons of experience at a high level, especially toward the end of the season,” Willer said. “They have stepped up as our go to players all summer long as leaders on the court and the ones we look to to ‘get the job done’ in tough situations. 

“Hailey and Madie will hold down the fort for us on the outside, playing all the way around, so their defense and serve receive is just as important as their work at the net. Megan has done a great job thus far of running our offense and she will continue to have a big role as our setter and as a defender.”

One difference this year is the Wildcats will be running a two-setter offense and Quinn will be joined by freshman Adelyn Moore. 

Throughout the summer and the beginning of practice, the Wildcats have worked Moore into the varsity lineup and she has learned a lot along the way from her senior counterpart.

“Megan and Adelyn will be ‘co-piloting’ our team this year as our setters,” Willer said. “Running a system with two setters allows us to bring in more offensive weapons and a stronger defensive look as we will be able to have bigger blockers with our right sides against other team’s outside hitters. Megan and Adelyn have done an awesome job this summer working together to create a cohesive style for our players, so that hitter/setter connections can be established. 

“I love having Megan there to mentor Adelyn and show her the ropes with the varsity team, and Adelyn is stepping up with no hesitation to play at a high level right away. We are very excited about this duo for the season.”

Other than Sword and Williams, the Wildcats will have some new faces at the net. They feature a pair of middle hitters in senior Izzy Moreland and junior Evyn Richardson. Moreland has seen some varsity time the last two seasons, Richardson is in her first season at varsity, while sophomore McKenna Lohse could also see some varsity time there.

Sophomore Caileigh Kilgore and senior Katie Elpers will swing from the right side this year, as will sophomore Delaney Nelsen, who is recovering from an injury. Nelsen also saw some varsity playing time last season.

Defensively, the Wildcats will be anchored by a pair of seniors. Bronwynn Williams will be the team’s starting libero, while Ashlyn Berck will start as a defensive specialist. Both players were in the varsity rotation at times last season and Williams saw playing time in 25 matches.

“The strength of this team will be our athleticism and versatility,” Willer said. “We have girls at all positions who could play a variety of positions on the court, and we have very strong offensive weapons who can be a threat from anywhere. With one lineup, we are able to get a lot of different looks offensively, which works to our advantage. Additionally, running a two-setter system allows us to have more hitters on the court at all times, and we have the depth to be really strong across the board.”

Although the Wildcats have several new faces on the court this season, they still have the same goal, and that is to end their season at the state tournament in Hutchinson.

“As a team, we are maintaining high expectations for ourselves based on last year’s finish,” Willer said. “While we recognize areas for growth and improvement, we are returning with confidence that we can get back to the state tournament again at the end of the season if we play to our potential. The key for us is to maintain high expectations without putting too much pressure on ourselves. We plan to take the season one day at a time, focusing on just one match at a time and getting better every day.”

Louisburg will begin that journey today as the Wildcats host Baldwin for a Frontier League dual. Varsity is slated to begin around 6:30 p.m.

“Practices have been going well,” Willer said. “At all three levels, we have a great energy and sense of competitiveness every time we walk into the gym, and the girls are getting after it with a sense of purpose. I think we are all amped and ready for the season to truly begin this week. Getting a few games under our belt is always good so that we can have specific things to focus on each practice.”