May 10, 2024

Lady Panthers win fourth straight WAC track and field title

Posted May 10, 2024 12:34 PM

Great Bend Post Sports

The Lady Panther track and field team entered Thursday's Western Athletic Conference Championships in Dodge City as the three-time defending champions. They also entered the meet coming off a recent tie against league-rival Hays. Great Bend piled up 119 points to secure its fourth-straight title. Hays finished second with 103.5 points, and Dodge City scored 64.5 points for third.

The Lady Panthers swept the distance events. Senior Addy Nicholson ran off a season-best in the 3200m run but still won by nearly five seconds in 11:57.81. Junior Marissa Boone finished third in 12:09.08, and senior Morgan Beckwith placed fourth in 12:13.46.

Nicholson won another individual gold in the 1600m run in 5:27.62 to beat Garden City's Cate Wiese by a second. Lady Panther sophomore Sienna Smith ran third in 5:30.63, and freshman Teah King placed seventh in 5:48.40.

Great Bend dominated the 800m run with the top three medals. Senior Eliana Beckham, ranked No. 9 in a tough 5A field, just missed a personal best for the gold in 2:21.07. Sophomore Reese Bullard won the silver in 2:28.12, and Smith finished third in 2:28.86.

Beckham, Bullard, Kate Welcher, and Bella Long joined to bring home the 4x800m title in 10:22.81, eight seconds in front of second-place Liberal. The 4x4 squad of Bullard, Beckham, Smith, and Daizy Gomez finished second in 4:11.77, two-plus seconds behind Liberal.

Senior Sadie Spray moved her best high jump of the season up two inches at 5-4. That would have tied her for the 5A lead, but Hays junior Katie Linenberger also added two inches to her season best to win the WAC title and move into sole possession of the 5A lead. Lady Panther junior Cassie Ellegood won the bronze at 5-2.

Spray also picked up heavy points in the hurdle events. She ran second in the 300s in 48.77 to miss the gold by half a second. Spray ran just off her No. 12 time in 5A. Long finished eighth in 55.24. Spray won the 100m hurdle bronze in 16.43, missing the silver by 0.1 second. Freshman Kayle Baldwin ran 10th in 18.78.

The Lady Panther throwers won two of the three events. Senior Macy Nachtigal reached 135-10 in the javelin but won by just 17 inches. Nachtigal still ranks No. 1 in Class 5A and fifth overall in Kansas with a best throw of 141-4. Sophomore MacKenzie Lindberg placed fifth at 100-7, and sophomore Kimberly Hofflinger finished seventh at 92-8.

Lindberg won the WAC title in the discus on a throw of 107-7, edging out Hofflinger's second-place throw by a single inch. Sophomore Natalee Daniels finished eighth at 82-10.

Sophomore Allie Gerhart nearly completed the sweep with a silver medal in the shot on a throw of 35-8, 16 inches shy of the gold. Daniels placed third at 33-4.75, and Hofflinger finished seventh at 29-2.75.

Baldwin won the pole vault bronze at 8-6, a foot short of the silver. Sophomore Kaylea McMullen also cleared 8-6 for fourth.

Junior Kara Feist placed fourth in the triple jump at 34-2.5, the No. 17 mark in 5A. She missed the silver by just three inches. Ellegood placed seventh at 32-11, and Spray finished 11th at 31-6.

Other finishes:
400m dash: 7. Daizy Gomez 1:06.05
4x1 relay: 5. Jordyn Harbaugh, Kara Feist, Cassie Ellegood, Daizy Gomez 53.88
Long jump: 9. Kara Feist 14-5, 12. Jordyn Harbaugh 14-2.5

Great Bend will host a Class 5A regional on Thursday, May 16. The top four finishers from each event will qualify for the state track and field championships the following week in Wichita. Field events begin at 2 p.m. with track prelims to begin at 5 p.m.