Great Bend Post Sports
More than 200 girls ran in the varsity race Saturday evening at the Olathe Twilight Meet, yet it was a pair of names familiar to Central Kansas that took the top two spots. Salina Central senior Katelyn Rupe, coming off a win at Lake Barton last Thursday, won Saturday's race in 16:52.70. Her sophomore teammate, Kaylie Schultz, ran second in 17:28.50. No other Kansas runner finished under 18 minutes.
The Lady Panther runners scored 222 points to finish eighth out of 27 full teams in action. Washburn Rural won the team side with 90 points, followed by Olathe West with 120 points. Class 5A St. James Academy scored 172 points for third, and 5A Aquinas placed seventh with 213 points.
Senior Marissa Boone paced Great Bend in 19:18.90 for 31st, just half a second out of the top-30. Junior Sienna Smith rounded out the top-40 in 19:33.90. Bella Long ran 54th in 19:56.20, Reese Bullard placed 59th in 19:58.40, and Teah King rounded out team scoring in 79th with a time of 20:25.90. Kate Welcher finished 139th in 21:47.40.
Class 5A Blue Valley Southwest won the boys' race with 128 points. Out-of-state teams took the next four spots, and 5A's Spring Hill placed fifth with 188 points. Great Bend scored 717 points to finish 27th out of 34 teams.
Bentonville's (Ark.) Owen Kelley won the boys' race by five seconds in 14:50.00. Tavon Stroup led the Panther boys in 35th with a time of 15:56.50 to miss the top 30 by just four seconds. Diego Pasos ran 177th in 17:48.30, followed by Anthony Lawrence and Isaac Aldana, both in 192nd with a time of 18:02.60. Brogan Lashley scored the final team points in 238th with a time of 18:46.00. Parker Coleman ran 250th in 18:54, and Sullivan Luttrell placed 311th in 19:40. The boys' varsity race featured 463 athletes.