BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
LAKE BARTON — It may have been 96 degrees, but Great Bend's Mayra Ramirez was smiling all the way to the finish line. Ramirez defended her title (16:51.7) at the Great Bend Invitational to lead the Panther girls to first place. The Panthers placed five runners in the top eight for a 19-point total that outdistanced Garden City (56).
Ramirez backed off the first mile to help her teammates keep pace before tracking down Garden City's runner-up Jocelyn Sosa (17:04.4).
"We had our plan and I trust coach's plan," Ramirez said. "He knows what we can do. We stuck together as a team for a mile to come out strong. After the first mile, I could step on it to see what I could do."
Ramirez yielded a 60-yard lead to Sosa before catching her.
"It was 400 yards left when I passed her," Ramirez said. "I knew when to step on it. Coach wanted us to finish strong. It went really well. Our biggest goal is to always have fun. Our goal was stick together as a team today."
Ramirez was followed by fifth place medalist Emilia Diaz (17:39.8); sixth-place Haley McCormick (17:42.4); seventh-place McKenna Esfeld (17:43.5) and eighth-place Reagan Huslig (17:46.4).
"We had a great day. We executed our game plan really well today," said Great Bend coach Lyles Lashley. "Mayra held back for a mile to lead our other runners. She spotted the leader more than 60 yards. She worked hard to catch her and pass her."
GREAT BEND BOYS — Freshman Kaiden Esfeld made a stunning debut with a third-place finish (14:00.6) to spark the Panthers to first place in the boys division. Garden City's Ethan Fisher (13:51.5) was followed by Hutchinson High runner-up Noah Cole (13:53.9).
"For the first meet in high school, that was a great start," Esfeld said. "I was a little surprised by how I was doing. I was hoping maybe top 5 or top 10, but I was glad by what I was able to do today."
Esfeld was followed by fourth-place medalist Sage Cauley (14:06.8); fifth-place Collin Hammond (14:10.0), sixth-place Alex Smith (14:22.9) and eighth-place Evan Hammond (14:28.4).
"Our goal was to do well as a team and score good," Esfeld said. "I had a good pace until near the end. I imagined that I do this well, but maybe not this year."
Lashley said the Panthers achieved their goal of running in a tight pack.
"The boys ran well and executed the game plan," Lashley said. "Kaiden ran like we hoped he'd run. Evan Hammond came back strong and charged to the finish line. I liked the way the guys started off with a good pace. They didn't force the pace at the start."
GREAT BEND INVITATIONAL
Lake Barton, 4K
BOYS TEAM SCORES—1—Great Bend 21; 2—Garden City 48; 3—Newton 63; 4—Wichita Southeast 124; 5—Salina South 148; 6—McPherson 152; 7—Hays High 166
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—1—Fisher, GC, 13:51.5; 2—Cole, Hutchinson, 13:53.9; 3—Kaiden Esfeld, GB, 14:00.6; 4—Sage Cauley, GB, 14:06.8; 5—Collin Hammond, GB, 14:10.0; 6—Alex Smith, GB, 14:22.9; 7—Jantz, Newton, 14:27.8; 8—Evan Hammond, GB, 14:28.4; 9—Nunez, GC, 14:29.0; 10—Bustillos, GC, 14:38.9
GREAT BEND—19—Matthew Huslig, 15:04.9
GIRLS TEAM SCORES—1—Great Bend, 19; 2—Garden City, 56; 3—Hays High 68; 4—Salina South 91
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—1—Mayra Ramirez, GB, 16:51.7; 2—Sosa, GC, 17:04.4; 3—Foster, Hutchinson, 17:23.4; 4—Inskeep, Hutchinson, 17:36.7; 5—Emilia Diaz, GB, 17:39.8; 6—Haley McCormick, GB, 17:42.4; 7—McKenna Esfeld, 17:43.5; 8—Reagan Huslig, GB, 17:46.4; 9—Dotts, Hays, 18:04.0; 10—Mayes, Newton, 18:04.0
GREAT BEND—13—Emma Loomis, 18:16.9; 18—Briana Perez, 18:53.8; 19—Hannah Loomis, 19:07.6; 26—August Siefkes, 19:49.4
JV BOYS, 2 miles
TEAM TOTALS—1—Garden City 19; 2—Newton 53; 3—Wichita Southeast 90; 4—Hays 104; 5—Salina South 113;
TOP 5 MEDALISTS—1—Craig, GC, 12:26.5; 2—Anderson, Newton, 12:29.8; 3—Arteaga, GC, 12:47.2; 4—Contreas, GC, 12:53.7; 5—Malachi Wasson, GB, 12:55.7
GREAT BEND—16—Ellis Long, 13:48.0
JV GIRLS, 2 miles
TEAM TOTALS—1—Garden City 15; 2—Hutchinson 62; 3—Hays 63
TOP 5 MEDALISTS—1—Hageman, GC, 14:44.6; 2—Aubauer, GC, 14;52.1; 3—Hernandez, GC, 14:55.1; 4—Lobmeyer, GC, 15;24.4; 5—Rodriguez, GC, 15:49.2
GREAT BEND—22—Anna Campbell, 17:42.0; 24—Amy To, 17:58.6
C TEAM GIRLS, 1 mile
MEDALIST—1—Kauffman, Newton, 6:13.2
GREAT BEND—11—Abby White, 8:25.9; 13—Kylie Trendel, 8:52.8
8TH GRADE GIRLS, 1 mile
TEAM TOTALS—1—Great Bend 22; 2—Hays 43; 3—Hoisington 71; 4—Dodge City 100
TOP 5 MEDALISTS—1—Eliana Jackson, GB, 6:36.3; 2—Morgan Beckwith, GB, 6:39.1; 3—Maldonado, Hays, 6:43.7; 4—Addy Nicholson, GB, 6:44.0; 5—Albers, Hays, 6:56.0
GREAT BEND—6—Daisy Gomez, 6:56.8; 9—Clarissa Basehor, 7:13.6; 14—Brooklyn Ramsey, 7:27.2; 16—Melanie Gonzalez, 7:33.5; 21—Teagan Mason, 7:47.5; 27—Eva Ramirez, 8:12.7; 30—Clara Vazquez, 8:26.8; 32—Natalia Ordonez, 8:35.6; 38—Jennifer Enriquez, 8:46.8; 47—Evelyn Luna, 9:09.6; 53—Kiersten Ruble, 9:45.8
HOISINGTON—7—Sheena Gocela, 7:01.1; 11—Vada Kaiser, 7:22.1; 15—Kendall Mason, 7:28.0; 20—Daijah Jones, 7:46.8; 29—Kassy Petersillie, 8:18.3
8TH GRADE BOYS, 1 mile
TEAM TOTALS—1—Hays 15; 2—GC Horace Good 71; 3—Dodge City 83; 4—Great Bend 117; 5—GC Ken Henderson 122; 6—Liberal Eisenhower 141; 7—DC Comanche 195
TOP 5 MEDALISTS—1—Hernandez, Hays, 5:45.6; 2—Dempsey, Hays, 6:00.0; 3—Schumacher, Hays, 6:01.6; 4—Dewald, Hays, 6:09.8; 5—Luck, Hays, 6:14.1
GREAT BEND—14—Braden Suppes, 6:38.7; 22—Kaden Deines, 6;46.0; 26—Braylon Moore, 6:51.3; 28—Pedro Enriquez, 6:56.5; 42—Ben Espinosa, 7:23.6; 50—Brian Peralta, 7:33.4; 59—Dante Curtis, 8:08.3
HOISINGTON—34—Eli Lewis, 7:07.6
7TH GRADE GIRLS, 1 mile
TEAM TOTALS—1—Great Bend 36; 2—GC Horace Good 69; 3—Dodge City 75; 4—Hays 86; 5—GC Ken Henderson 89; 6—Liberal Eisenhower 177
TOP 5 MEDALISTS—1—Alonso, DC, 6:28,7; 2—Darcy Fiest, GB, 6:29.2; 3—Guevara, GCHG, 6:49.1; 4—Sekavec, GCKH, 6:58.0; 5—Diane Alvarez, GB, 6:59.4
GREAT BEND—8—Marissa Boone, 7:14.8; 9—Reese King, 7:15.8; 13—Kate Welcher, 7:41.4; 18—Rosy Flores, 7:59.5; 20—Mayra Gonzales, 8:01.3; 23—Aniyah Merjil, 8:03.2; 27—Raegan Ketch, 8:20.1; 51—Nataly Chavez, 10:49.4
HOISINGTON—16—Josephine Doan, 7:55.1; 58—Alexia Neal, 12:02.0
7TH GRADE BOYS, 1 mile
TEAM TOTALS—1—Hays 38; 2—Great Bend 44;
3—Dodge City 79; 4—Dodge City Comanche 101; 5—GC Horace Good 110; 6—GC Ken Henderson 148
TOP 5 MEDALISTS—1—Banuelos, DC, 6:03.8; 2—Kyler Holinde, GB, 6:04.1; 3—Kamden Tarlton, Hoisington, 6:20.4; 4—Suppes, Hays, 6:20.8; 5—Maupin, Hays, 6:24.3
GREAT BEND—8—Trenton Peterson, 6:39.2; 9—Ben Nicholson, 6:41.2; 17—Darian Sherwood, 6:59.3; 20—Carson Umphres, 7:02.9
HOISINGTON—30—Parker Lewis, 7:33.4; 82—A.J. Thurman, 15:29.7
