By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Even without reigning Class 5A state champion high jumper Valarie Luna at Friday’s Jack Bowman Invitational, the event remained a good one. Hays junior Katie Linenberger and Great Bend senior Sadie Spray, the reigning state silver and bronze medalists, respectively, were joined by Lakin freshman Aryn Michaelis and her debut at 5-7 for the state lead, and another state qualifier in Lady Panther junior Cassie Ellegood.
Linenberger took the gold at 5-4, beating another state qualifier in Bishop Carroll’s Kristina Mount on an earlier jump. Ellegood, Michaelis, and Spray each cleared the bar at 5-2 to finish in that order.
Despite losing a handful of points in the throws, five-time 4A champion Andale still took the team title with 128 points. Hays scored 100.33 points for second, followed by Great bend with 96.33 points in third. Bishop Carroll finished with 87 points for fourth.
The Lady Panther 4x8 team of Sienna Smith, Reese Bullard, Kate Welcher, and Eliana Beckham was able to hold off Carroll by just over a second for the win in 10:15.32.
Senior Macy Nachtigal moved her unbeaten streak to two meets by winning the javelin by 12 feet with a throw of 124-8. She led Class 5A after one week of action. Kimberly Hofflinger finished 12th at 95-10, followed by Reese King in 13th at 95-9, and Allie Gerhart at 94-9. MacKenzie Lindberg placed 16th at 93-3.
Beckham held off Carroll’s Sofia Wendell for the 4x8 win. The duo squared back off in the open 800 with Beckham winning by three seconds in 2:26.70. Smith ran third in 2:32.65, and Welcher finished eighth in 2:39.67.
Spray made her return to the 300m hurdles after winning a state medal a year ago. She ran third in 50.19 to miss the silver by half a second.
Missing in action Friday was Salina Central’s Katelyn Rupe, the top distance runner in Kansas this year. Lady Panther senior Addy Nicholson still had to contend with Central freshman Kaylie Shultz, who finished second to Rupe at the 5A state cross country meet. Shultz won the 1600 by 18 seconds in 5:11.83. Nicholson ran third in 5:33.06 to miss the silver by less than four seconds. Marissa Boone led a pack of Panthers in seventh in 5:49.67, followed by Bella Long in 5:50.60, and Morgan Beckwith in 5:51.30. Teah King ran in the other heat but finished 10th behind Beckwith in 5:57.78.
Shultz won the 3200m run by 63 seconds in 11:01.05 as one of the state leaders in 2024. Nicholson finished third in 12:11.61, seven seconds behind the silver. Boone ran fifth in 12:22.23, followed by Beckwith in 12:34.86, and King in seventh with a time of 12:48.78.
Allie Gerhart finished third in the shot put on a throw of 34-3, just 10 inches from the silver medal. Natalee Daniels placed seventh at 33-3.5.
Great Bend’s 4x4 team of Spray, Beckham, Bullard, and Kara Feist rounded out the night with a fourth-place finish in 4:20.26 to miss the bronze by less than two seconds.
Other notable
finishes:
400: 6. Reese
Bullard 1:04.42, 11. Daizy Gomez 1:07.90.
Long jump: 17.
Daizy Gomez 14-9, 18. Jordyn Harbaugh 14-6.5
Triple jump: 11.
Cassie Ellegood 32-2, 13. Jordyn Harbaugh 31-11, 17. Kara Feist 30-5.5.
Discus: 6.
Kimberly Hofflinger 105-5, 11. MacKenzie Lindberg 98-6.5.
Pole vault: 8. Kaylea McMullen, 8-0, 12. Kayle Baldwin, 7-6