Great Bend Post Sports
Throw the state rankings out the window. Saturday's field in the Gold race at the Rim Rock Classic near Lawrence featured many of the region's top teams. The Great Bend girls still finished fourth overall, missing a top-three trophy by just two places and less than half a second. Seniors Makenzie Premer and Addy Nicholson both set school records for the famed course.
Olathe West showed its dominance with the win with 140 points. Denver East, ranked No. 7 in Colorado's largest classification, scored 190 points for second. Owasso, ranked No. 2 in Oklahoma's largest classification, finished two spots ahead of Great Bend with 201 points. The Lady Panthers beat Iowa's seventh-overall Dallas Center-Grimes High by eight spots, and Colorado's Classical Academy, ranked No. 1 in their Class 3A, by 11 spots. Top-ranked St. James Academy (5A in Kansas) finished with 265 points, and Rogers, the top-ranked team in Arkansas, scored 294 points in ninth.
Kansas runners also dominated in individual scoring. Salina Central junior Katelyn Rupe, who set the Rim Rock course record at last year's state meet, ran 20 seconds off her best time but still won Saturday's race by 48 seconds in 17:33.10. Freshman teammate Kaylie Schultz took the silver by two seconds in 18:21.00, and Junction City's Lorna Rae Pierce ran third in 18:23.20 to secure the bronze by a second.
Nicholson ran a 19:45 at state last year for 15th. Saturday, Premer led the team in 25th overall with a time of 19:22.20 to miss the top-10 by 38 seconds. Nicholson finished 30th in 19:28.30. Junior Marissa Boone ran 52nd overall in 20:05.80, and sophomore Sienna Smith and senior Eliana Beckham capped team scoring in 59th and 60th, respectively. Smith finished in 20:14.00, and Beckham crossed in 20:16.30. Senior Morgan Beckwith placed 126th in 21:27.50, and junior Kate Welcher finished 150th in 21:58.10.
Missing the final team trophy by just two spots Premer missed 24th by five seconds and saved a place by 1.6 seconds. Nicholson had a photo finish in her race, missing the next spot by just 0.1 seconds and two spots by 0.9 seconds, with the runner behind her crossing just 0.6 seconds later. Boone also crossed in a photo finish with the same time listed as the runner in front of her. Smith crossed less than a second later than the runner in front her.
The Panther boys placed 33rd in the crimson race. Buhler won that race with 89 points, followed by Lexington with 118 points and Bishop Carroll with 127 points. Dodge City placed a distant fourth with 292 points. Great Bend scored 787 points.
Sophomore Tavon Stroup had a big day, placing 35th in 17:27.30 to miss the top 20 by 26 seconds. Senior Braylon Moore ran 157th in 19:05.80, followed by freshmen Parker Coleman and Anthony Lawrence in 197th and 198th, respectively, both with a time of 19:51.80. Senior Bradon Suppes crossed in 20:14.10 for 227th.