Great Bend Post Sports
Forty-one teams, more than 1,600 runners from Kansas and Missouri, and food trucks. That's just a sample of the giant Olathe Twilight meet Saturday evening. The Great Bend girls finished fifth behind some of the best teams in Kansas and Missouri.
Olathe West, reigning 6A champion in Kansas and one of the top teams in the nation, scored just 60 points for the win. Reigning 5A champion St. James Academy placed a distant second with 163 points. Rock Bridge and Blue Springs South, two top-five programs in Missouri's largest classification, ran third and fourth, respectively, with 168 and 177 points. Great Bend scored 203 points for fifth, still 17 spots ahead of sixth-place Olathe North.
The varsity races featured some of the top runners throughout the Midwest. Olathe North senior Anjali Hocker Singh, the reigning three-time 6A champion, won the girls' race by 13 seconds in 17:41.20.
Lady Panther senior Addy Nicholson still held her own with a 12th-place finish in 18:29.30 to miss the top-10 by just four seconds. She becomes the first runner ever at Great Bend to run a 5K in under 19 minutes. Junior Marissa Boone placed 37th in 19:23.90. Seniors Eliana Beckham and Makenzie Premer came across in a photo finish with Beckham capturing 47th in 19:29.20 and Premer following in 19:29.90 for 48th. Sophomore Sienna Smith grabbed the final team points in 64th in 19:48.20.
Senior Morgan Beckwith also ran in the varsity race, placing 119th in 20:48.00, and junior Kate Welcher rounded out varsity action in 124th in 20:52.80.
Sophomore Tavon Stroup led the Panther boys at 102nd in the boys' varsity race in 16:52.50. Senior Braylon Moore ran 183rd in 18:05.60, and senior Brayden Suppes finished 207th in 18:46.10.
Wichita Trinity placed two runners in the top four but still finished 12th place as a team. Trinity senior Clay Shively, the top runner in Kansas this fall, won the race by six seconds in 14:42.60. Just three runners, including two from Kansas, ran under 15 minutes.
The Panther cross country teams head to Buhler on Thursday.