Great Bend Post Sports
In baseball, they call it a split squad. With some members of the Panther track and field team in Lawrence for the KU Relays over the weekend, most of the team was in action Friday at Buhler. Big gains were made in the middle distance events
The 1600 featured one of Class 4A's best in Buhler's Layne Whisler, who got the win by six seconds in 4:29. Panther sophomore Ismael Ramirez cut three seconds from a season best for the bronze in 4:37.18. Sophomore Tavon Stroup cut nine seconds to place fourth in 4:41.42. Stroup erased 10 seconds off his season best in the 3200m run to place fifth in 10:19.42 and miss the bronze by 11 seconds.
Ramirez placed fourth in the 800 in 2:03.24 to miss the bronze by less than two seconds. Senior Braylon Moore cut four seconds from a season best to place sixth in 2:04.15.
In the sprints, senior Ramiro Rocho placed fourth in the 400m dash in 52.16 to miss the bronze by a tenth of a second. He ran 11th in the 200m prelims in 24.65 to miss a spot in the finals by more than half a second.
In the field, Ben Nicholson reached 37-11 in the triple jump for fifth place, two feet from the bronze. Kellen Brown followed at 37-7 for sixth. Brown's long jump of 17-4.25 was good enough for 11th.
Sophomore Conner Holliday led the throwers with a sixth-place finish in the discus at 125-6, nine feet shy of the bronze. Jorge Pena placed 15th at 110-3. Pena placed 12th in the shot with a throw of 40-3.5.
On the girls' side, Junior Marissa Boone nixed a couple seconds in the 1600m run to place fourth in 5:38.84. She ran off her best time in the 3200m run by still placed third in 12:04.40 to miss the silver by seven seconds. Morgan Beckwith placed fifth in 12:11.68, and Teah King ran sixth in 12:20.23
Junior Kate Welcher cut six seconds from a season best in the 800m run to place fourth in 2:31.36, missing the bronze by less than a second.
Junior Kara Feist cleared the high jump bar at 4-6 for ninth. She also placed ninth in the triple jump at 30-8.5, followed by Cassie Ellegood in 10th at 30-5. Sophomore Kaylea McMullen and freshman Kayle Baldwin both cleared the pole vault bar at 8-0 for seventh and eighth, respectively.
Sophomore Allie Gerhart placed fifth in the shot at 33-9 to miss the bronze by less than two inches. Sophomore Natalee Daniels reached 32-7 for seventh, and sophomore Kimberly Hofflinger placed 11th at 30-3.
Hofflinger led the Lady Panther throwers in the javelin, placing fifth at 103-7. Sophomore MacKenzie Lindberg finished ninth at 95-1, and Gerhart finished behind her at 90-2. Hofflinger's discus toss of 98-2 was good enough for seventh place. Lindberg placed 11th at 91-2, and Daniels finished 13th at 89-5.