LAKE BARTON – Home sweet home never felt better.
Great Bend’s girls captured back-to-back regional cross country championships Saturday scoring 42 points to beat Maize South (55) for the team trophy. Panther Kaiden Esfeld (15:54.76) recorded his fastest time at Lake Barton, but finished runner-up to Maize's Kaleb Glazier (15:47.41) who ran a course record time.
The Panther girls improved their Lake Barton course times by an average of 69 seconds from their September meet. Marissa Boone (19:45.38), the 17th-place state medalist, improved 1:06 to finish runner-up. Addy Nicholson (19:47.47), the 21st-place state finisher, improved by 54 seconds for a third-place finish. Eliana Beckham (20:34.56), the 25th-place state finisher, improved by 62 seconds and placed 11th. Great Bend captured the third-place 5A state trophy winner at Augusta.
Salina Central’s two-time state track champion Katelyn Rupe shattered the Lake Barton girl's course record (17:24.7) and would've placed ninth in the boys division. Rupe owns the state’s best cross country time (17:21.5).
Boone and Nicholson matched each other stride-for-stride, a strategy that paid dividends.
"Addy and I work together," Boone said. "We feed off the positivity from each other. It's great to compete with someone who know who's rooting for you. Our team worked at our different paces."
Nicholson said she appreciates the heart and toughness Boone exhibits.
"Marissa and I have similar running abilities," Nicholson said. "We match our energy. It's easier to support each other. It makes you feel better to have someone right there with you. The race went well. We like to work together as a team. Our goal was to sit behind someone and run your own race."
Sienna Smith (21:04.05) improved by 2:06 to earn 13th place. Morgan Beckwith (21:18.92) cut 1:56 off her previous time and placed 16th. Also competing were 21st-place Reese King (21:30.99), who improved 44 seconds and 33rd-place Kate Welcher (22:47.99), who improved 16 seconds.
King achieved a challenging "feat," by running half the race without one shoe. King overcame the
"I was excited about the way they ran. The girls ran and executed the race very well to beat Maize South, said Great Bend coach Lyles Lashley. "The girls ran a lot faster than our September meet."
Esfeld earned third 5A medalist honors (15:54.7) at Augusta after winning the 5A regional at Lake Barton (16:29.13) last year. Glazier dashed past Esfeld in the home stretch.
"We knew it'd be a race between Glazier and me," Esfeld said. "It's nice to see good competition today. You've got a good runner who'll push you to a fast time. I improved my time, which I'm happy with. I'm proud of my time improvement."
Coach Lashley was impressed with the high level race.
"Kaiden ran a good course, the fastest he's run at Lake Barton," Lashley said. The Maize runner is a talented kid who has won five of six races. He's a talented kid. They're two of the top five runners in 5A."
Esfeld's teammates improved their times by more than two minutes from September. Tavon Stroup (18:09.36) placed 20th. Thomas Henrikson (18:24.8) placed 28th and improved by 2:01. Bradon Suppes (19:10.9) placed 40th and improved by 2:39. Braylon Moore (19:14.05) placed 41st and improved by 1:50. Brantley Vsetecka (20:16.87) improved by 2:22 to finish 55th.
"It was great to see the boys show so much improvement from early in the season," Lashley said. "Everybody on our team from Kaiden on down improved. I was really impressed with how they ran today."
2A LAKE BARTON – Ellinwood’s Asher Miller (17:59.94) earned a return trip to the 2A state meet with a ninth-place finish. Miller (17:02.6) earned ninth medalist honors at Victoria last year.
Stanton County's defending 2A state champion Kamryn Golub (16:42.9) won the regional championship heading to the 2A state meet at Wamego.
Stanton County’s Chesney Peterson (17:43.44) cruised to medalist honors as the defending state champions won the regional with a 34-point score.
1A – Macksville’s Madison Butler (21:01.8) earned fifth medalist honors last year. Macksville’s Joselin Garcia placed 52ndd and Sheridan Black placed 64thh. Otis-Bison’s Destiny Mitchell finished 38th. Central Plains’ Peyton Ryan placed 37thh last year.
St. John’s Quade Smith won the Central Prairie League followed by third-place Miller and seventh-place Miller.
5A LAKE BARTON x—INDIVIDUALS
GIRLS STATE QUALIFIERS—1—Great Bend 42, 2—Maize South 55; 3—Hays High 71
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—1—x—Rupe, SC, 17:24.7 (course record); 2—Boone, GB, 19:45.38; 3—Nicholson, GB, 19:47.47; 4—x—Grover, MS, 19:55.42; 5—Price, MS, 20:00.69; 6—x—Inskeep, Hutchinson, 20:07.61; 7—Maldonado, Hays, 20:14.53; 8—Shields, MS, 20:30.94; 9—x—Hopper, VC, 20:32.18; 10—Brooks, MS, 20:32.64; 12—x—Grantham, Maize, 20:46.22
GREAT BEND—11—Beckham, 20:34.56; 13—Smith, 21:04.05; 16—Beckwith, 20:18.92; 21—King, 21:30.99; 38—Welcher, 22:47.89
BOYS STATE QUALIFIERS—1—Maize 24; 2—Salina Central 94; 3—Maize South 106
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—1—Glazier, Maize, 15:47.41 (course record); 2—x—Esfeld, GB, 15:54.76; 3—x—Moses, VC, 16:32.78; 4—Ayin, Maize, 16:37.3; 5—Johnson, Maize, 16:42.04; 6—Unruh, Maize, 17:18.01; 7—Deniau-Young, SC, 17:19.03; 8—Schmidt, Maize, 17:23.45; 9—x—McCullough, Hays, 17:26.85; 10—x—Secor, Newton, 17:32.42; 11—x—Kaufman, Newton, 17:36.4
5—GREAT BEND—20—Stroup, 18:09.36; 28—Henrikson, 18:24.8; 40—Suppes, 19:10.9; 1—Moore, 19:14.05; 55—Vsetecka, 20:16.87
2A LAKE BARTON
GIRLS STATE QUALIFIERS—1—Stanton County 34; 2—Oakley 66; 3—Hays-Thomas More Prep 70
5—ELLINWOOD, 131 (27—Ricker, 24:06.68; 35—Brauer, 25:15.84; 39—Schessiger 27:29.73; 41—Winget, 27:44.85; 42—Porter, 27:45.39)
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—1—Peterson, SC, 17:43.44; 2—x—Boydston, Ellis, 19:37.61; 3—x—Sutterfield, Meade, 20:08.35; 4—Farnham, SC, 21:04.17; 5—x—Doney, Meade, 21:09.46; 6—x—Lindenman, Hoxie, 21:13.87; 7—Allen, TMP, 22:15.59; 8—x—Baier, Hoxie, 21:40.55; 9—Rothchild, Trego, 22:06.47; 10—Christian, Hill City, 22:09.28
4—ELLINWOOD, 131 (27—Ricker, 24:06.68; 35—Brauer, 25:15.84; 39—Schlessiger 27:29.73; 41—Winget, 27:44.85; 42—Porter, 27:45.39)
BOYS STATE QUALIFIERS—1—Meade 45; 2—Hoxie 51; 3—Stanton County 65
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—1—Golub, SC, 16:42.9;2—Keith, Meade, 17:07.14; 3—x—Fischer, ML, 17:38.61; 4—x—Miltner, ML, 17:41.12; 5—Diercks, Hoxie, 17:43.68; 6—Zortman, Meade, 17:46.97; 7—Crane, SC, 17:47.8; 8—Vieux, Meade, 17:49.72; 9—x—Miller, Ellinwood, 17:59.94; 10—Haffner, Hoxie, 18:27.16; 14—x—Lindsey, Plainville, 18:48.34; 16—x—rebarchek, Oakley, 18:51.36
4—ELLINWOOD 117—26—Gibson, 19:42.94; 29—Ringwald, 19:53.85; 33—Steffan, 20:17.05; 40—Brauer, 20:41.04
3A GOODLAND
GIRLS STATE QUALIFIERS—1—Norton 53; 2—SW Heights 61; 3—Holcomb 85
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—1—x—Fugitt, Cimarron, 21:08.36; 2—Rumback, Norton, 21:22.3; 3—Trujillo, SW, 21:39.0; 4—Rumback, Norton, 21:44.0; 5—x—Crowdis, Hoisington, 21:51.49; 6—Kisner, SW, 22:15.3; 7—Macias, Holcomb, 22:19.6; 8—x—Ramirez, Lyons, 22:26.9; 9—Saucedo, SW, 22:31.1; 10—Ardery, Holcomb, 22:47.4; 11—x—Trout, Scott City, 22:52.1; 13—x—Ortiz, Lakin, 22:54.9
6—HOISINGTON—25—Sneath, 24:49.6; 27—Grandclair, 24:08.5; 36—Wyant, 25:56.1; 45—Mason, 27:07.1; 49—Kaiser, 27:56.1
LARNED—43—Walker, 26:53.6; 50—Hope, 28:20.7
BOYS STATE QUALIFIERS—1—Holcomb 78; 2—Scott City 82; 3—Norton 102
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—1—x—Luce, Lakin, 17:16.9; 2—x—Ritsema, Lakin, 17:31.2; 3—Deniston, Holcomb, 17:36.31; 4—x—Tarlton, Hoisington, 17;40.41; 5—x—Lundine, Beloit, 17:41.7; 6—x—Johnson, Ellsworth, 17:42.3; 7—Stoppel, Holcomb, 17:45.7; 8—Leonard, Holcomb, 12:29.6; 9—Allen, Phillipsburg, 18:36.9; 10—Villasenor, Lyons, 18:40.1
4—HOISINGTON—23—Wolf, 19:38.9; 28—Lewis, 19:57.0; 29—Hipp, 19:59.8; 34—Mater, 20:11.6; 54—Ball, 21:49.7; 35—Norvell, 20:12.3
LARNED—67—Haney, 23:31.0; 74—Munden, 24:18.7; 76—Lumpkins, 24:27.7
1A NESS CITY C.C.
GIRLS STATE QUALIFIERS—1—Quinter 38; 2—South Gray 40; 3—Ness City 41; 4—Hodgeman County 61
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—1—x—Weiner, GP, 19:10; 2—Stapelton, SG, 21:10.1; 3—Betz, Quinter, 21:29.3; 4—Ruff, HC, 21:30.2; 5—x—Fast, Natoma, 21:34.4; 6—x—Mitchell, Otis-Bison, 21:50.8; 7—Jantz, SG, 21:52.3; 8—Countryman, Quinter, 21:53.9; 9—x—Bunce, Kiowa Co. 22:01.4; 10—Petersilie, NC, 22:10.1; 11—x—Ceniceros, Ashland, 22:18.1
MACKSVILLE—36—Maria Garcia, 24:46.0; 41—Joselin Garcia, 25:15.6; 50—Black, 26:56.0
CENTRAL PLAINS—49—Donecker, 26:45.2
OTIS-BISON—29—Kenyon, 24:15.8
STAFFORD—34—Costa, 24:40.6
BOYS STATE QUALIFIERS—1—Quinter 33; 2—Ness City 47; 3—Brewster 82; 4—Skyline 93
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—1—x—Ellis, Ingalls, 17;24.9; 2—x—Pearce, Wallace Co. 17:31;0; 3—Gall, NC, 17:36.8; 4—Deaton, Quinter, 17;56.0; 5—x—Nelson, Skyline, 18:02.2; 6—Churchwell, NC, 18:08.6; 7—x—Smith, St. John, 18:12.0; 8—x—Chang, Kiowa Co. 18:13.7; 9—x—Martinez, Kiowa Co. 18:14.5; 10—x—Garcia, Satanta, 18:15.5
CENTRAL PLAINS—21—Ryan, 19:04.8; 27—Thompson, 19:28.5; 40—Siemsen, 21:56.4; 54—Rogers, 23:35.9; 59—Frees, 27:18.6
STAFFORD—36—Valadez, 21;21.0
ST. JOHN—45—Gonzalez, 22:17.9; 51—Bunker, 23:25.9; 47—Mawhirter, 22:31.2; 60—Chapman, 28:59.5
