By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
A regional title was out of grasp at Thursday's Class 5A meet at Great Bend High School, but the Panther boys still qualified for state in several events. Hays, Goddard, and Valley Center scored 120, 104, and 103 points, respectively, to run away with things. Goddard-Eisenhower finished a distant fourth with 48 points, and the Panthers scored 35 points for ninth.
Freshman Cooper Ohnmacht continued his reign in the triple jump. The school-record holder in that event at 46-5.5, he missed that mark by a few inches Thursday but still won the regional title at 46-1.5. Valley Center senior Colt Williams finished a foot back of Ohnmacht for the silver as the only other jumper past 45 feet.
The long jump field featured six athletes who went past 21 feet. Williams took the gold by an inch at 21-9.75. Ohnmacht went 0.75 inches further than Goddard's Jaden Cohens for the bronze medal.
The Panther 4x800m relay team of Ismael Ramirez, Diego Pasos, Tavon Stroup, and Braylon Moore also won a regional title, beating Valley Center by nearly three seconds in 8:23.74. Ramirez also qualified for state in the 3200m run, placing second in 10:10.99 to miss the gold by two seconds. Stroup ran eighth in 11:11.56.
Moore ran sixth in the 800m race in 2:02.98 to miss a spot at state by just over a second. Pason placed 10th in 2:09.33, and Alex Galindo finished 12th in 2:12.01. Ramiro Rocho finished 12th in the 400m dash in 56.18 to miss the final state spot by four seconds.
The 300m hurdle race featured the top two racers in Class 5A. Panther junior Ernan Rodriguez posted a season-best 43.08 to finish seventh and miss state by 1.07 seconds.
Sophomore Kellen Brown placed ninth in the triple jump at 38-10.25, four feet from state in a tough field. Sophomore Conner Holliday placed 11th in the discus at 125-5 where a 144-7 was needed to qualify for state. Senior Jorge Pena's shot put throw of 40-4 put him in 19th place, with Holliday following at 39-5.25 for 21st. The final state-qualifying mark was 49-2.
The Kansas State High School Track and Field Championships are scheduled for next Friday and Saturday at Wichita State University's Cessna Stadium.