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No. 1 ranked Panther girls, Tavon Stroup qualify for state
Hoisington boys qualify for 3A state cross country
2023 XC Regional Champions.jpg
Great Bend High School cross country team celebrate after winning the 2023 KSHSAA 5A Regional title at Lake Barton Golf Course in Great Bend on Saturday morning. Pictured from the left are Teah King, Teegan Guerra, Morgan Beckwith, Marissa Boone, GBHS XC coach Lyles Lashley, Addy Nicholson, Kate Welcher, Eliana Beckham, Sienna Smith, and Bella Long. - photo by Hugo Gonzalez

BY JIM MISUNAS

jmisunas@gbtribune.com

LAKE BARTON — Great Bend's third-place regional medalist Addy Nicholson led five of the top eight finishers as the Panthers captured their third consecutive 5A regional title by 50 points. The Panthers accomplished the feat without No. 2 runner Makenzie Premer, who bypassed the meet to compete in the substate volleyball meet.

Nicholson felt Premer's presence throughout the race.

"I ran my own race and finished the race where I wanted," Nicholson said. "But I missed having my side partner Kenzie (Premer) with me. At the beginning, I could see her, and I said, 'yes.' Everyone stepped up and ran better than we expected. I'm very pleased. We're excited for the state meet. Everything was good today."

The Panther girls feature six runners with state experience at Rim Rock Farms. The Panthers have finished third and fifth in 5A the past two years. 

Third-place Nicholson, 19:06.0; led a pride of Panthers across the finish line. Nicholson was followed by fifth-place Marissa Boone, 19:23.16; sixth-place Sienna Smith, 19:41.91; seventh-place Morgan Beckwith, 20:00.51; and eighth-place Eliana Beckham, 20:12.17. 

"This was my best time at Lake Barton," Boone said. "I felt stronger and more prepared for this race. My second and third miles were really important. The last mile is always tough to finish. Our team was excited, and ran a strong race today. We all tried to meet individual goals rather than trying to run in a pack today." 

From the year's first meet at Lake Barton, time improvements were Beckwith, 1:34; Smith, 1:20; Boone, 49 seconds; Nicholson, 48 seconds; and Beckham, 46 seconds. 

"The girls are your 3-peat regional champions," said Great Bend coach Lyles Lashley. "Addy Nicholson set another school course record. All the girls ran lights out. The girls' school record on the course was 19:43 and the team average today was 19:41. Morgan Beckwith stepped up big-time, and ran a big lifetime PR."  

Salina Central’s defending state champion Katelyn Rupe (17:21.18) cruised to 5A regional medalist cross country honors ahead of teammate Kaylie Shultz. Rupe (18:02.05). Rupe won the 5A state meet by 2:25 last year.

Four top 20 state medalists return for defending 5A champion Lenexa St. James, which scored 31 team points with six of the top 11 runners at the Topeka regional.

"Our expectation is to compete to the best of our ability," Lashley said. "We'll match up and do what we can to bring home a big trophy. St. James is the favorite until you beat them at the state meet." 

Great Bend's Tavon Stroup delivered a spectacular career-best fifth-place finish (17:03.26) to qualify for the 5A state cross country state meet.

"Tavon Stroup is heading to state," Lashley said. "Tavon has matured and learned how to race. He ran smart and took care of business. He ran conservative and made sure he qualified for state." 

Rounding out the Panther finishers were 20th-place Braylon Moore, 18:14.59; 27th-place Bradon Suppes, 18:43.82; 36th-place Anthony Lawrence, 19:09.04; and 49th-place Parker Coleman, 20:14.77. Time improvements from the first meet Lawrence, 2:02; Suppes, 1:26; Moore, 1:18 and Stroup, 1:15.

"I was happy. Braylon Moore and Bradon Suppes ran awesome races in their last-ever race," Lashley said. "Braylon ran 26 minutes and Bradon 23 in their first freshman meet. Today, they ran 18:14.59 and 18:43.82." 

3A LAKE BARTON BOYS — Returning state qualifier Kamden Tarlton (16:29.34) led the Cardinals to third place (95) and a trip to the 3A state cross country meet. Hoisington also counted 15th-place Eli Lewis, 18:07.7; 17th-place Michael Hipp, 18:20.9; 19th-place Alex Mater, 18:23.7; and 35th-place Brody Rossman, 19:13.2.

2A MEADE BOYS— Ellinwood's Ryan Pohlman (18:32.35) placed 13th to earn a 2A state tournament entry at Wamego.

1A MEADE GIRLS—Otis-Bison's Destiny Mitchell (22:06.12) placed 13th to earn a 1A state berth at Wamego. Mitchell has placed ninth and 38th at 1A state.

1A MEADE BOYS— St. John's Quade Smith (18:19.39) placed eighth to return to 1A state after placing 13th and 49th. Ian Dunn (18:59.85) placed 14th to qualify.

1A WICHITA BOYS — Stafford's Joel Valadez (18:40.14) was a surprise 1A state qualifier with a fourth-place regional finish.

3A LAKE BARTON GIRLS — Hoisington's Tristin Compton (21:23.0) qualified for 3A state with a 10th-place finish.

LAKE BARTON GIRLS 5A (3 TEAMS)

TEAM SCORES—1—Great Bend 29; 2—Salina South 79; 3—Hays High 90, 4—Valley Center 98; 5—Salina Central 121; 6—Goddard Eisenhower 137;  7— Newton 139.

5A GIRLS TOP 10—1—Katelyn Rupe, SC, 17:21.18; 2—Kaylie Shultz, SC, 18:02.05; 3—Addy Nicholson, GB, 19:06.0; 4—Arely Maldonado, Hays, 19:14.2; 5—Marissa Boone, GB, 19:23.16; 6—Sienna Smith, GB, 19:41.91; 7—Morgan Beckwith, GB, 20:00.51; 8—Eliana Beckham, GB, 20;12.17; 9—Josten Fischer, SS, 20:29.26; 10—Alina Arceo, SS, 20:42.64

GREAT BEND—14—Bella Long, 21:04.27; 16—Kate Welcher, 21:11.74.

LAKE BARTON BOYS 5A (3 TEAMS)

TEAM SCORES—1—Goddard Eisenhower 52; 2—Salina Central 73; 3—Valley Center 95, 4—Goddard 119; 5—Hays High 121; 6—Great Bend 137; 7—Salina Suth 148; 8—Newton 179; 9—Hutchinson 234.

5A BOYS TOP 10—1—Brock Moses, VC, 16:51.53; 2—Owen Dent, GE, 16:59.5; 3—Liam Deniau-Young, 17:00.14; 4—Luke Griffith, Goddard, 17:00.94; 5—Tavon Stroup, GB, 17:03.26; 6—Taevian Maupin, Hays, 17:30.35; 7—Korbin Dykes, SS, 17:34.41; 8—Kyler Webb, SS, 17:35.32; 9—Ethan Spiva, GE, 17:37.33; 10—Jack Santillan, GE, 17:46.97. 

GREAT BEND—20—Braylon Moore, 18:14.59; 27—Bradon Suppes, 18:43.82; 36—Anthony Lawrence, 19:09.04; 49—Parker Coleman, 20:14.77

3A LAKE BARTON BOYS (3 TEAMS)

BOYS TEAM SCORES—1—Holcomb 29; 2—Lakin 78; 3—Hoisington 95, 4—Norton 124; 5—Lyons 135; 6—Cimarron 154; 7—Nickerson 179; 8—SW Heights 193; 9—Colby 202, 10—Larned 257.

3A BOYS TOP 10—1—Brody Deniston, Holcomb, 15;54.74; 2—Alex Luce, Lakin, 16:07.57; 3—Austin Reitsema, Lakin, 16:12.47; 4—Kamden Tarlton, Hoisington, 16:29.34; 5—Landen Leonard, Holcomb, 16:36.71; 6—Jeb Stoppel, Holcomb, 16:55.28; 7—Lance Lundine, Beloit, 17:17.1; 8—Wes Baker, Holcomb, 17:31.87; 9—Breckin McClure, Holcomb, 17:39.76; 10—Eli Kisner, SW Hts. 17:41.62

HOISINGTON—15—Eli Lewis, 18:07.7; 17—Michael Hipp, 18:20.9; 19—Alex Mater, 18;23.7; 35—Brody Rossman, 19:13.2; 48—Landon Beaver, 20:12.1; 44—Kasey Andereck, 19:57.97; 52—Nathan Norvell, 20:39.9; 71—Kyler Jensen, 22:02.23; 79—D.J. Wyant, 22:29.4.

LARNED—42—Calen McDonald, 19:45.34; 63—Santiago Velasco, 21:37.3; 75—Asher Oliver, 22:11.5; 77—David Lumpkins, 22:17.8; 84—Maverick Munden, 23;23.85.

NICKERSON—13—Levi Pauley, 18:05.4; 41—Dakota Brinkley, 19:45.09; 49—Andy Huggard, 20:17.3; 54—Taylor Engelland, 20:50.86; 70—Kaden Ketterl, 21:57.5; 72—Logan Stout, 22:06.5; 85—Hayden Nelson, 23:31.5.

3A LAKE BARTON GIRLS (3 TEAMS)

GIRLS TEAM SCORES—1—Norton 31; 2—Holcomb 56; 3—SW Heights 67; 4—Goodland 102; 5—Lakin 112; 6—Lyons 115.

3A GIRLS TOP 10—1—Janae Fugitt, Cim, 19:45.66; 2—Mary Pearce, Kingman, 20:09.51; 3—Faith Hoover, Colby, 20:11.0; 4—Emma Collins, Norton, 20;18.95; 5—Mac Clydesdale, Norton, 20:29.66; 6—Jenera Ardery, Holcomb, 20:43.6; 7—Layla Kisner, SW Hts. 21:09.48; 8—Savana Rumback, Norton, 21;14.29; 9—Hailey Saucedo SW Hts. 21:20.5; 10—Triston Compton, Hoisington, 21:23.0

HOISINGTON—21—Tianna Lutters, 22:49.74; 28—Vada Kaiser, 24;12.23.

2A MEADE GIRLS—Ellinwood (20—Allison Ricker, 24:26.13; 23—Heidi Brauer 24:53.38)

2A MEADE BOYS—Ellinwood (SQ—13—Ryan Pohlman, 18:32.35; 15—Chase Gibson, 18:56.96; 28—Evan Ringwald, 19:37.49; 33—Joe Brauer, 20:05.2; 40—Caleb Zook, 21:22.24; 42—Dallon Luker, 21:27.36)

1A MEADE GIRLS—La Crosse (33—Clara Thielenhaus, 24:37.39; 35—Lillian McGaughey, 24:53.96), Otis-Bison (SQ—13—Destiny Mitchell, 22:06.12; 27—Ava Kenyon, 24:00.67; 37—Abigail Rodriguez, 25:13.36; 39—Emma McMillan, 25:24.51)

1A MEADE BOYS—La Crosse (SQ—22—Triston Nelson, 19:20.28; 33—Sam Fletcher, 20:36.35; 44—Xavier Hiemstra, 21:44.62; 60—Braylen Oborny, 24e:36.26), Macksville, Otis-Bison, St. John (SQ—8—Quade Smith, 18:19.39; SQ—14—Ian Dunn, 18:59.85; 37—Naoto Joboji, 21:03.9; 45—Rafael Gonzalez, 21:47.37; 47—Josh Chapman, 22:13.91; 52—Kaden Foote, 23:16.55)

1A WICHITA BOYS—Central Plains (11—Kale Thompson, 19:43.58; 12—Peyton Ryan, 19:50.26; 38—Camden Stiles, 22:11.34; 53—Alden Metro, 25:14.98); Stafford (SQ—4—Joel Valadez, 18:40.14; 27—Josue Valadez, 21:00.77; 45—Sky Stockham, 23:24.14; 57—Joseph Valadez, 29:29.44)

PAST 5A QUALFIERS Great Bend (Marissa Boone 8th, 17th; Addy Nicholson 15th, 21st, 42nd; Eliana Beckham 25th, 34th, 54th; Morgan Beckwith 30th, 67th; Sienna Smith 45th; Kate Welcher 86th)

PAST 3A QUALIFIERS—Hoisington (Kamden Tarlton 22nd, 43rd; Eli Lewis 57th, Alex Mater 95th, Nathan Norvell 99th)

PAST 2A QUALIFIERS—Ellinwood (Hannah Wingert 72nd, Allison Ricker 79th)

PAST 1A QUALIFIERS—Otis-Bison (Destiny Mitchell (9th, 38th); St. John (Quade Smith 13th, 49th); Central Plains (Peyton Ryan 36th, 39th)