By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Thursday's cross country season opener at Lake Barton featured some state powerhouses. That did not make for an easy day for area runners. Twelve schools brought full teams for the large classification race. Great Bend finished eighth in that pack. Hoisington beat Ellinwood by a single placing for first place among the smaller schools.
Hoisington's Kamden Tarlton led area runners in 17:09.0, good enough for first place among the smaller schools by nearly three minutes and 11th place among all runners. The next three spots were determined by less than half a second. Hoisington senior Eli Lewis crossed in 19:54.0, followed by Central Plains senior Peyton Ryan in 19:54.2, and Hoisington senior Michael Hipp in 19:54.3. Lewis' time helped the Cards hang on in the team standings with 31 points against Ellinwood's 32.
Class 6A Garden City dominated the boys' race with 65 points. Class 4A powerhouse Buhler finished second with 72 points, followed by Bishop Carroll with 78. Great Bend and McPherson each scored 220 points with the Panthers moving to eight on a tiebreaker.
Reigning Class 5A state runner-up Kaleb Glazier of Maize, who doubles as the course-record holder at Lake Barton, won by 12 seconds in 16:18.1. Garden City senior Kailyn Munoz took the silver in 16:30.0.
Panther sophomore Izmael Ramirez paced Great Bend in 27th in 18:15.5. Sophomore Tavon Stroup finished two spots behind him in 18:18.9. Senior Alex Galindo made his debut in the sport with a 40th-place finish in 18:39.7. Senior Braylon Moore ran 63rd in 19:33.2, and senior Bradon Suppes collected the final team points in 70th in 20:10.5. Freshman Anthony Lawrence placed 71st in 20:11.5, and freshman Parker Coleman finished 73rd in 20:19.9. Lawrence finished seven seconds ahead of a Salina Central runner for the tiebreak.
