Great Bend Post
Great Bend High School swim coach Klara Gilbert had May 11 circled on her calendar. Two years ago, Garden City ended Great Bend's run of 17-straight WAC titles. The Lady Panthers took the crown back last year and wanted to keep it that way Thursday in Hays. The two squads swam away from the competition. Great Bend scored 584 points for the win, and Garden City scored 537 points for second. Dodge City scored 346 points for third.
The 200-yard medley relay team of Emilee Hall, Clarise Snapp, Elly Somers, and Josephine Mazouch won perhaps the best race of the day, beating Garden City by 0.01 seconds in 2:00.27. The team of Reggie Huslig, Ava Gregg, Alyvia Mingenback, and Darcy Feist placed third in 2:16.92.
Hall won the WAC title in the 200-yard free by more than a second in 2:15.34. Braylee Carper took the bronze in 2:24.08. Somers finished second in the 200 IM in 2:33.71 to miss the title by eight seconds. Hall won a second title in the 100 back, finishing in 1:05.15 to beat Garden City by three seconds. Huslig finished third in 1:12.62.
Somers collected the gold in the 100 butterfly by nearly a second in 1:08.91. Huslig placed third in 1:20.15, and Mingenback picked up valuable points in fifth in 1:23.57.
Carper brought home the title in the 500 free by six seconds in 6:29.53. Katelyn Mermis placed fourth in 6:40.01 to miss the bronze by 1.2 seconds. Ellie Lutt finished sixth in 7:14.00.
Competition was tough in the 50-yard free. Mazouch missed the state qualifying time by just 0.04 seconds in 26.87 but finished third, just 0.04 seconds behind the silver. Kamryn Johns placed fifth in 28.49, and Sydney Kruckenberg swam sixth in 28.53. Mazouch placed second in the 100 free in 59.70, five seconds off the pace. Johns finished fifth in 1:03.12.
The Lady Panthers had a big day in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The team of Johns, Snapp, Kruckenberg, and Carper won by nine seconds in 1:54.88. The squad of Feist, Mingenback, Lutt, and Sydney Gilkison finished third in 2:05.18.
The 400-yard freestyle relay saw similar results. The team of Somers, Johns, Mazouch, and Hall won by less than a second in 4:03.22. The relay of Kruckenberg, Lutt, Feist, and Carper swam third in 4:31.22.
Snapp placed third in the 100-yard breast in 1:21.88 to miss the silver by two seconds. Gregg finished fifth in 1:26.75, and Lakyn Caroll picked up 12 points in seventh in 1:29.97.
Several Lady Panther swimmers head to Topeka for the Class 5-1A State Swimming and Diving State Championships on Thursday.