By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The Panther swim teams will have a new head coach this winter. Kari Carper takes over for Klara Gilbert, who head coached at Great Bend for one season. Carper is pleased to have six seniors on her squad.
Seniors Kasey Kennedy and Adam Hall return and are joined by Ryan Armendariz, Thomas Henrikson, Andrew McQuade, and Joshua Sharpe. Kennedy will look to return to the state meet in the 100 fly, and Hall is working on a state time in the 50 free.
"As a team, we have decided we want to focus on getting the 200 free relay qualified," Carper said. "We have some new guys this year that are going to be big contributors towards the middle to end of season."
Junior Matthew Williams, sophomore Quinton Heath, and freshman Kale Mermis all have competitive swimming experience. Williams is joined by fellow juniors AJ Thurman from Hoisington and Jordan Sander.
Carper has high expectations for the season with Kennedy a possible Western Athletic Conference favorite in the 100 fly and 200 IM. She expects Hall to compete well in the 50 and 100 free races, along with Sander in the 500 free.
"I am confident we will see exciting things from Matthew, Kale, Quinton, and Gabe Herrman come WAC," Carper said. "We also have several other guys that we are hoping can place in the top five in their events. We will have our work cut for us with last year's WAC champs: Garden City. I am not sure what they are bringing to the table this year."
The Panther swimmers hit the water Thursday in Salina for the first competition of the season, then travel to Maize on Saturday.