Great Bend Post Sports
Panthers are solitary animals but groups of the cats are called prides. Thursday in Buhler, the Lady Panther cross country team was more like a pack of wolves. Salina Central's standouts took the top-two places but Great Bend had the next five finishers for a near-perfect 25 points. Southeast of Saline, ranked No. 1 in Class 3A, finished a distant second with 84 points, and Buhler scored 92 points for third.
Central junior Katelyn Rupe won the race in 17:41.20, followed by freshman teammate Kaylie Shultz in 18:26.70. Lady Panther senior Addy Nicholson ran an 18:29 Saturday in Olathe but that was not the purpose of Thursday's race. She paced the Panthers in third in 20:50.60, closely followed by senior Makenzie Premer in 21:51.60 for fourth. Senior Eliana Beckham ran fifth in 20:54.30, and junior Marissa Boone followed her in sixth with a time of 20:57.70. Sophomore Sienna Smith edged out her closest competitor to cap team scoring in 21:02.40 for seventh.
Senior Morgan Beckwith ran 13th overall in 21:41.10, and junior Kate Welcher finished 15th in 21:52.60.
A tough boys' field included second-ranked Southeast of Saline with 31 points for the win. Buhler scored 41 points for second, and Great Bend finished with 221 points for ninth.
SES took four of the top-six spots, led by sophomore Brayden Walker in 16:26.90 for the win by five seconds. Sophomore Ismael Ramirez led the Panthers in 24th with a time of 18:29.50 to miss the top-20 by 22 seconds. Senior Braylon Moore ran 40th in 19:03.80, followed by freshman Anthony Lawrence in 52nd in 19:52.90, and senior Bradon Suppes behind him in 20:04.00. Freshman Parker Coleman capped team points in 57th with a time of 20:25.50.