Cross Country opens at Anderson County

The Louisburg Wildcat Cross Country teams opened their season at the 5th Annual Jerry Howarter Invitational at Garnett Country Club on September 3, 2009. The Wildcat girls placed fifth overall with a team total of 132 points, while the boys placed sixth overall with a team total of 166 points.

Teams from Baldwin and DeSoto split the top two spots in the event, witwh Baldwin claiming first on the girls 4K course with 33 points and DeSoto second with 48 points. The teams flip positions over the boys 5K course, with DeSoto taking the top team spot with 40 points and Baldwin placing second with 46 points.

The Wildcats placed three in the top 25 of the girls event, with Shayla McElyea (7:13.2) finishing in 20th place, Gwen Baumgardner (7:23.6) in 23rd and Kaitlin Wertz (7:29.8) in 25th. Other Wildcat finsihers were Amy Roether (7:53.2) in 34th, Melanie Battaglia (8:14.2) in 42nd, Lindsey Smith (8:33.5) in 46th, and Kristen Fisher (8:43.8) in 48th.

In the Boys division, Nic Crotts (6:08.7) was the top Wildcat to cross the finish line in 23rd position. Connor Hopkins (6:13.9) in 27th, Nick Klein (6:20.5) in 33rd, Mark Sitek (6:26.9) in 37th, Jacob Herbert (6:48.2) in 56th, Paul Rhodes (7:07.0) and Donald Combs (7:21.6) rounded out the Wildcats in the boys varstiy event.

In the Junior Varsity events, the Wildcats place fourth with 103 points, DeSoto, Baldwin and Eudora took the top three places in the team standings. Mia Combs (8:24.8) was the top Wildcat finisher in the race in 16th place, Donna Edwards (8:34.8) also placed in the top 25 at 25th. Shannon Small (8:54.6), Keriann Battaglia (9:12.4), Tierna Jacobsen (9:13.0), Lindsey Fisher (9:20.4), Corri Bradshaw (9:44.0), Rebecca Meganck (9:45.5) and Emily Tyson (11:03.7) rounded out the Wildcat entries in the event.

On the boys side, the Wildcats had four runners entered, Andrew Yach (7:15.5) was he top finisher in 31st. Luke Hudgins (7:43.9), Matt Locke (7:47.5) and Stephen Vallejo (7:59.0) were the other Louisburg entries.

In the Freshman boys division, John Stambaugh placed eighth with a time of 7:05.6 over the 4K course, teammate Frank Totta placed ninth with a time of 7:06.6. Brady Hudgins (7:30.8) and Zac Turner (8:59.9) rounded out the Wildcat runners in the event.