BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
LAKE BARTON — Great Bend runner-up Emilia Diaz sparked a near perfect race for the Panther girls. Diaz (20:37.3) finished runner-up for the second consecutive year behind Dodge City's medalist Serenity Larson (20:27.3) in the 5-kilometer race.
The Panthers finished with a team score of 20, just one place away from a perfect score in perfect 80-degree weather and light wind. Dodge City was runner-up with 46 points.
The next four finishers from Great Bend were third-place Diane Alvarez (21:06.1), fourth place Eliana Beckham (21:29.1), fifth place Marissa Boone (21:31.2) and sixth place Addy Nicholson (21:47.7). Nicholson lowered her time by 66 seconds and Beckham improved by 45 seconds from last year.
Diaz traded the lead back and forth in the first mile until Larson took control.
"The first mile was definitely fast,": Diaz said. "In the middle it's sometimes a struggle, but the end is always strong."
Diaz said the preseason training paid off.
"We started off strong as a team," she said. "It was exciting to see our girls run today. It was good to see all the teammates placing high. I'm excited to see how well Diane ran today. She ran a great race. We all ran well and finished where we should've."
Also earning Panther top 15 medals were eighth place Darcy Feist (22:03.9), 11th Emma Loomis (22:15.4) and 12th Reese King (22:19.7).
"Our girls who were back ran really well," said Great Bend coach Lyles Lashley. "Addy Nicholson and Eliana Beckham improved their times. Our four freshmen stepped it up. "We had two freshmen in our top three in their first high school meet."
PANTHER BOYS — Panther medalist Kaiden Esfeld (16:31.3) improved his Lake Barton time by 32 seconds to avenge a loss to Buhler's 4A state champion Tanner Lindahl (16:42.0). Lindahl beat Esfeld by 30 seconds last year.
"It was nice to have someone like Lindahl push the pace," Esfeld said. "It gives you faster times. It mad for a hard workout."
Esfeld passed Lindahl after 1,000 meters on a downhill run. The first two miles were evenly paced. Esfeld maintained control by slowing the pace a little before finishing strong.
This time, Esfeld used his knowledge of Lake Barton to his advantage.
"I've learned the best routes to run the hills to make it easier on yourself,": he said. "This is the best all-around cross country course we run all year with flats, hills and curves. Only Lawrence's Rim Rock has bigger hills where it challenges to see who is best at the hills."
Esfeld started in midseason form.
"Whenever Kaiden and Lindahl run, they put on a great race," Lashley said. "Kaiden had a nice game plan and achieved it. Kaiden made a move to get the lead and kept it."
Buhler's three-time defending 4A state champions won the team title (25) with four top 10 finishers ahead of Garden City (46).
GREAT BEND INVITATIONAL
LAKE BARTON 5K
GIRLS TEAM SCORES—1—Great Bend 20, 2—Dodge City 46, 3—Hays High 96, 4—Buhler 115, 5—Garden City 116, 6—McPherson 161
TOP 15 MEDALISTS—1—Serenity Larson, DC, 20:27.3; 2—Emilia Diaz, GB, 20:37.3; 3—Diane Alvarez, GB, 21:06.1; 4—Eliana Beckham, GB, 21:29.1; 5—Marissa Boone, GB, 21:31.2, 6—Addy Nicholson, GB, 21:47.7; 7—Grace Allen, SS, 21:54.3; 8—Darcy Feist, GB, 22:03.9; 9—Norma Rodrigues, DC, 22:13.9; 10—Ashley Alonso, DC, 22:15.3; 11—Emma Loomis, GB, 22:15.4, 12—Reese King, GB, 22:19.7; 13—Daisy Orozco, DC, 22:21.3; 14—Jocelyn Sosa, GC, 22:23.9; 15—Lindsay Warner, Buhler, 22:52.3
LAKE BARTON 5K
BOYS TEAM SCORES—1—Buhler 25, 2—Garden City 46, 3—Dodge City 75, 4—Salina South, 124; 5—McPherson 127, 6—Hays High`32.
TOP 15 MEDALISTS—1—Kaiden Esfeld, GB., 16:31.3; 2—Tanner Lindahl, Buhler, 16:42.0; 3—Kaden Lohrentz, Buhler, 17:54.0; 4—Hayden Keller, Buhler, 18:05.4; 5—Evan Gurrola, GC, 18:06.6; 6--Devin Chappel, GC, 18:06.6; 7—Kenji Craig, GC, 18:13.9; 8—Isaac Leonard, SS, 18:16.3; 9—Martin Marquez, DC, 18:19.9; 10—Cody Bunce, Buhler, 18:20.9; 11—Vrayden Dressman, Buhler, 18:24.6; 12—Austin Lindahl, Buhler, 18:25.8; 13—Wyatt Bunce, Buhler, 18:27.9; 14—David Ultreras, DC, 18:41.6; 15—Spencer Hines, Buhler, 18:57.1.
GREAT BEND—25—Malachi Wasson, 19:53.2.
JV GIRLS—1—Natalie Guevera, GC, 22:37.1; GREAT BEND JV—3—August Siefkes, 24:27.3; 5—Kate Welcher, 25:37.3; 25—Anna Campbell, 29:11.3.
JV BOYS—1—Taran Castro, GC, 19:34.8; GREAT BEND JV—16—Braylon Moore, 21:41.9; 25—Braden Suppes, 22:49.6.
C BOYS GREAT BEND—1—Trenton Peterson, 12:57.2; 3—Justin Roller, 14:32.9
C GIRLS—1—Teresa Martinez, DC, 16:30.5; GREAT BEND—2—Diana Piedra, 16:32.2; 14—Amy To, 18:33.3.
HOISINGTON INVITATIONAL 5K
BOYS TEAM SCORES—1—Hoisington 10; 2—LaCrosse 29; 3—Macksville 40.
BOYS TOP 10 MEDALISTS—1—Karter Wolf, HHS, 19:07.2; 2—Peyton Ryan, Central Plains, 19:33.4; 3—Elijah Lewis, HHS, 19:51.4; 4—Ian Doss, HHS, 20:13.1; 5—Kamden Tarlton, HHS, 20:18.1; 6—Will Rues, L, 20:22.3; 7—Colton Maneth, L, 20:35.4; 8—Jesse Nava, M, 21:15.1; 9—Triston Nelson, L, 21:16.2; 10—Tyler Lampert, Russell, 22:03.7.
GIRLS TOP 10 MEDALISTS—1—Madison Butler, Macksville, 22:29.4; 2—Kynlie Crowdis, HHS, 24:21.8; 3—Camille Dortland, Russell, 24:49.1; 4—Kadence Kendall, LaCrosse, 25:20.7; 5—Kassy Petersilie, HHS, 25:22.0; 6—Vada Kaiser, HHS, 26:04.9; 7—Abigail Ibarra, Macksville, 26:13.9; 8—Joselin Garcia, Macksville, 26:35.5; 9—Kendall Mason, HHS, 27:08.6; 10—Kiana Grandclair, HHS, 27:25.3.
HOISINGTON—11—Laka Ferguson, 28:12.8; 12—Kayla Wyant, 28:41.0.
MACKSVILLE—13—Sheridyn Black, 31:01.9; 14—Melanie Vargas, 31:02.4.
JV GIRLS—1—Ava Kenyon, Otis-Bison, 29:53.4; 2—Kaylee Hayes, LaCrosse, 33:34.0.
JV BOYS—1—Nathan Norvell, HHS, 26:30.0; 2—Kasey Andereck, HHS, 27:50.2.
C BOYS—Nolan Jacobs, HHS, 16:36.1; 2—Drake Brewer, HHS, 16:37.2; 3—Braxton Nicholas, HHS 16:48.0.
