By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
A little warm and windy for mid-October, but the conditions could not stop the Great Bend girls from claiming a fifth-straight Western Athletic Conference cross country championship Thursday in Liberal. The Panthers scored 31 points to beat Dodge City by 15 spots. Garden City finished third with 71 points. The Panther boys finished third as a team.
The Lady Panthers nearly swept the top-three spots, led by freshman Decorah Schroeter with the WAC title in 16:20.23 on the 4K course. Junior Bella Long won the silver in 16:35.37, and freshman Sydney Stein finished fourth in 16:54.55, 15 seconds from the bronze. Sophomore Samantha Negaard ran eighth overall in 18:24.31, and freshman Makenzie Gwin earned the final team points in 16th with a time of 19:07.28. Sophomore Sydney James placed 26th in 19:50.04, and sophomore Alyssa Prendergrast finished 30th in 20:14.35.
Garden City dominated the boys’ race with 22 points, followed by Dodge City with 46 points, and Great Bend with 75. Hays finished a distant fourth with 105 points.
The Buffs took four of the top-six individual spots in a 5K race, led by senior Trevor Fry with the gold by 16 seconds in 17:10. Panther sophomore Brogan Lashley helped break up the sweep in fifth place with a time of 17:37.07, just four seconds off the bronze. Sophomore Isaac Aldana ran 12th in 18:15.01, less than two seconds out of the top 10. Senior Tavon Stroup finished 18th in 18:33.20, followed by sophomore Noah Kaiser seven seconds later in 19th. Junior Parker Coleman collected the final team points in 23rd with at time of 19:16.25.
Panther sophomore Sullivan Luttrell placed 29th in 19:39.29, followed by sophomore Alexis Garcia in 19:57.79 for 32nd, and freshman Eli Leech in 20:00.15 for 33rd. Freshmen Julian Hernandez and Evan Mason ran 47th and 52nd, respectively, in 20:42.09 and 21:02.33.
The Panther runners return home on Saturday, Oct. 25 for Class 5A regional action at Lake Barton. The girls’ race begins at 10 a.m., with the boys to follow at 10:40.