Great Bend Post Sports
Last Thursday proved to be a banner day for the fifth-ranked Lady Panther cross country team. Great Bend took the top three spots in the varsity race to beat Class 4A power Buhler and Class 3A power Southeast of Saline in the team standings. The Panthers finished with 67 points, followed by Buhler’s 73 points, and 76 points from SES.
Great Bend freshman Decorah Schroeter cruised to the win by 21 seconds in 20:05.3, followed by junior Bella Long in 20:26.8 for the silver. Freshman Sydney Stein had to work for her bronze, beating Buhler junior Corbin Starkweather by less than a second in 20:36.1. Sophomore Samantha Negaard finished 16th overall in 22:09.2, and sophomore Sydney James ran 60th in 25:55.9. Sophomore Alyssa Prendergrast placed 71st in 27:43.9.
Some of the usuals won on the boys’ side. Southeast of Saline took the team title with 60 points, followed by Andale with 76, and Hutchinson Trinity with 81. Great Bend finished fifth with 116 points.
Just four boys finished under 17 minutes. McPherson senior Caleb Muehler led that pack in 16:29.8 to win by just more than a second. Panther senior Tavon Stroup ran eighth in 17:20.4, and sophomore Brogan Lashley broke the top-20 in 17th in 17:48.8. Sophomore Isaac Aldana finished 33rd in 18:38.8, sophomore Noah Kaiser placed 37th in 18:57.0, and junior Parker Coleman collected the final team points in 43rd with a time of 19:15.9.