Great Bend Post Sports
The Great Bend High School swimmers hit the road to Hutchinson Tuesday. The Panthers scored 118.5 points to finish fourth in the field of eight teams. Buhler cruised to the win with 369.5 points, followed by Garden City with 299 points, and Hutchinson with 237 points.
The 200 medley relay team of Andrew McQuade, Matthew Williams, Kasey Kennedy, and Adam Hall finished third in 2:08.96, six seconds behind Garden City and nine seconds from a state consideration time. Buhler won the race by eight seconds, missing automatic state qualification by a second. The same team won another bronze in the 200 free relay in 1:51.92 to miss state consideration by seven seconds.
Kennedy had the best individual of the day in the 100 breast with the bronze in 1:15.01 to miss state consideration by less than four seconds. He placed fifth as part of a photo finish in the 50 free. Kennedy's time of 26.14 was just over half a second from the bronze. Hall finished in 27.12 for ninth.
McQuade placed ninth in the 100 free in 1:04.59 to miss the bronze by nearly six seconds. He also placed 10th in the 100 back in 1:27.19, 14 seconds off the bronze. Williams placed 10th in the 200 freestyle in 2:43.57 to miss the bronze by nearly 30 seconds. AJ Thurman finished 12th in the 200 IM in 3:33.16 to miss the bronze by 57 seconds.
The 400 free relay of Thurman, Jordan Sander, Ryan Armendariz, and Joshua Sharpe placed 12th in 5:53.42.