BY JIM MISUNAS
LAKE BARTON – Great Bend’s girls will aim for back-to-back regional cross country championships and Panther Kaiden Esfeld will seek to repeat as 5A regional champion starting at 10 a.m. Saturday. The Lake Barton course is six miles north of Great Bend.
Esfeld broke the Lake Barton course record (16:09.6) on an 84-degree day during the first meet of the season. Esfeld earned third 5A medalist honors (15:54.7) at Augusta after winning the 5A regional at Lake Barton (16:29.13) last year.
The top teams qualify for the 5A state cross country meet Oct. 29 at Lawrence’s Rim Rock course.
GIRLS DIVISION – The Panther girls feature 17th-place medalist Marissa Boone, 21st-place Addy Nicholson and 25th-place Eliana Beckham from last year’s third-place 5A state trophy winner at Augusta. Nicholson, Boone and Beckham finished first, second and fourth during the Lake Barton cross country invitational.
Nicholson won the recent Western Athletic title followed by runner-up Boone, ninth-place Beckham, 10th-place Morgan Beckwith, 11th-place Sienna Smith ad 12th-place Reese King.
“It’s always nice to win WAC,” said Great Bend coach Lyles Lashley. “The girls pretty well. Addy and Marissa have run well all year and push each other back-and-forth. Getting Morgan Beckwith back from last year has been a nice surprise. Sienna Smith has stepped in as a freshman and has worked hard.”
The Great Bend girls improved their times at the 5A regional from the first meet of the season last year. Salina Central’s two-event state track champion Katelyn Rupe has posted the state’s best cross country time (17:21.5) ahead of three-time Stanton County 2A state champion Chesney Peterson, who will run the 2A regional race at 11:20 a.m.
Maize South’s girls return 36th-place Kendall Shields and 74th-place Greenley Brower from last year’s state qualifier.
“Maize South is right there as a co-favorite,” Lashley said. “Their league times rank right there.”
The forecast calls for 60 degrees at 10 a.m.
“Our kids have always loved the cooler weather,” Lashley said. “We couldn’t be happier with the cooler weather.”
BOYS DIVISION – Defending regional champion Esfeld will face a challenge against Maize High’s Kaleb Glazer (15:39.7) who beat Esfeld (15:43.6) at Wichita Carroll.
“They ran a great race down-to-the-wire at Wichita Carroll,” Lashley said. “I expect those two to run a great race.”
Panthers Thomas Henrikson, Braylon Moore, Brantley Vsetecka, Bradon Suppes and Tavon Stroup competed at the WAC meet.
“Braylon Moore has done a good job stepping up,” Lashley said. “He’s worked hard, a kid you like to have around.”
2A – Stanton County’s Chesney Peterson (18:38.8) and Kamryn Golub (16:08) are defending 2A state champions for the Trojans, who swept the 2A team titles.
Ellinwood’s Asher Miller (17:02.6) earned ninth medalist honors at Victoria last year.
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.
SATURDAY’S REGIONAL CROSS COUNTRY
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
ELLINWOOD—Ricker; Brauer; Winget; Schlessiger; Porter
BOYS STATE QUALIFIERS—1—Meade 45; 2—Hoxie 51; 3—Stanton County 65
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)
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 (SUGAR HILLS G.C.) GIRLS 11; BOYS 11:45
GIRLS STATE QUALIFIERS—Beloit, Cimarron, Colby, Ellsworth, Goodland, Hoisington, Holcomb, SW Heights, Lakin, Larned, Lyons, Norton, Phillipsburg, Russell, Scott City
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—
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HOISINGTON—Crowdis; Sneath; Grandclair; Mason
LARNED—Walker; Hope; Corman
BOYS STATE QUALIFIERS—Beloit, Cimarron, Colby, Ellsworth, Goodland, Hoisington, Holcomb, SW Heights, Lakin, Larned, Lyons, Norton, Phillipsburg, Russell, Scott City
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—
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HOISINGTON—Tarlton; Lewis; Hipp; Mater; Ball; Wolf; Norvell
LARNED—McDonald; Haney; Lumpkins
1A NESS CITY C.C. GIRLS 10; BOYS 10:45 a.m.
GIRLS STATE QUALIFIERS—Ashland, Brewster, Bucklin, Central Plains, Deerfield, Kiowa County, Ingalls, Hodgeman County, La Crosse HS, Macksville, Minneola, South Gray, Moscow, Natoma, Ness City, Oberlin, Otis-Bison, Palco, Skyline, Quinter, Golden Plains, Satanta, Wallace County, St. Francis, St. John, Stafford HS, Stockton, Victoria
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—
MACKSVILLE—Butler; Joselin Garcia; Maria Garcia; Adams; Black
CENTRAL PLAINS—Donecker
OTIS-BISON—Mitchell; Kenyon; Rodriguez
BOYS STATE QUALIFIERS—Ashland, Brewster, Bucklin, Central Plains, Deerfield, Kiowa County, Ingalls, Hodgeman County, La Crosse HS, Macksville, Minneola, South Gray, Moscow, Natoma, Ness City, Oberlin, Otis-Bison, Palco, Skyline, Quinter, Golden Plains, Satanta, Wallace County, St. Francis, St. John, Stafford HS, Stockton, Victoria
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—
OTIS-BISON—Tracy
MACKSVILLE—Nava
CENTRAL PLAINS—Ryan; Thompson; Siemsen; Rogers; Frees
OTIS-BISON—Tracy
ST. JOHN—Smith; Gonzalez; Bunker; Mawhirter; Chapman
