Great Bend Post Sports
The winter sports season is officially underway as basketball teams, wrestlers, and swimmers all saw action around Kansas. The Great Bend High School swim team headed to Salina where they scored 201 points to place fifth out of seven teams in action. Campus dominated the meet with 607 points, followed by Garden City with 428 points, and Hays with 316.5 points.
The 200-yard freestyle relay of Joshua Sharpe, Matthew Williams, AJ Thurman, and Andrew McQuade finished sixth in 2:07.82, 17 seconds behind the bronze. McQuade, Williams, Kale Mermis, and Jordan Sander joined forces in the 200-yard medley relay to swim seventh in 2:23.03, 18 seconds off the bronze.
Sander had the best individual finish for the Panthers in the 500-yard free, placing sixth in 7:51.79 to miss the bronze by 80-plus seconds. Sander swam ninth in the 200-yard free in 2:41.55, followed by Williams in 2:55.33 for 10th. The winning time in that race was 2:05.66. Mermis placed seventh in the 200 IM in 3:06.43, followed by Thurman in ninth in 3:38.36. The winning time was 2:22.22. Mermis placed eighth in the 100 butterfly in 1:32.85 to miss the bronze by 29 seconds. McQuade finished eighth in the 100 back in 1:31.07, with the winner finishing in 1:03.82. Thomas Henrikson swam 14th in the 50 free in 39 flat with the winner crossing in 24.47.
The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Sander, Sharpe, Mermis, and Quinton Heath finished ninth in 5:40.53. Salina Central won that race by five seconds in 4:07.88.
The Panthers swim at home next Tuesday.