Great Bend Post Sports
The Great Bend swimmers have had their hands full with Garden City at a handful of meets already this winter. Last Thursday, the Panthers headed west to Garden City for a four-team meet. The host Buffs dominated the field with 533 points, followed by Hays with 425 points, and Great Bend with 336 points. Liberal rounded out the group with 307 points.
Great Bend excelled in the 100 free. Kasey Kennedy got the win in 57.63, followed by Adam Hall in 1:02.72 for the silver. Kennedy picked up a bronze in the 200 free in 2:11.01 to miss the silver by just over a second. Andrew McQuade placed fifth in 2:34.75, and Hall finished sixth in 2:34.95.
The Panther 200 free relay place fourth in 1:58.67. That team of Hall, McQuade, Gabe Herrman, and Matthew Williams missed the bronze by just 1.4 seconds. The 400 free relay team of Hall, McQuade, Williams, and Joshua Sharpe finished in 4:42.58 to miss third place by 20 seconds. Garden City won by 10 seconds in 4:03.
Sharpe finished fifth in the 500 free in 8:18.30, followed by Jordan Sander in sixth in 8:20.49. AJ Thurman finished behind him in 8:30.34. Garden City took the top-two spots at 5:56 and 6:33. McQuade placed fifth in the 100 back in 1:25.74 to miss the bronze by 12 seconds. Sharpe followed in seventh with a time of 1:27. 27. Williams placed sixth in the 100 breast in 1:31.48 to miss the bronze by seven seconds. Williams picked up another sixth-place finish in the 200 IM in 3:06.38 to miss the bronze by 16 seconds. Sander placed eighth in 3:42.18. Kale Mermis finished ninth in the 50 free in 31.38 to miss that bronze by nearly five seconds.
Great Bend's 200 medley relay of Sander, Thurman, Sander, and Sharpe placed seventh in 2:41.73, 31 seconds behind the bronze. Garden City won the event by four seconds in 2:02.