BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
EMPORIA – Great Bend’s girls kept their stellar track season rolling.
Makenzie Premer swept the third-fastest 5A 100-meter hurdles (15.52) and second-fastest 5A regional 300-meter hurdles (45.42) heading to state. She anchored the first-place and second-fastest 5A 400-meter relay (50.26) and fastest 5A 1,600-meter relay (4:01.6) to spark the Panthers to Friday’s 5A Emporia track regional title with 1511/2 points.
“We’ve always stressed relays,” said Great Bend coach Lyles Lashley. “Relays build team chemistry. Great baton handling makes up for a lot of things.”
Premer placed runner-up last year in the 300 hurdles (46.31) and fifth in the 100 hurdles (15.6).
The Panther girls qualified 18 entries for the 5A state track meet May 27-28 at Wichita State.
Valarie Luna, Kara Feist and Sadie Spray ran on the 400-meter relay. Eliana Beckham, Spray and Kara Feist joined Premer on the 1,600-meter relay, which placed 10th (4:13.59) last year.
Spray was a 4-event state qualifier with runner-up finishes in the high jump (5-4) and 300-meter hurdles (47.19) after placing ninth last year.
Kyndall Blessing won the javelin (127-4) after placing fourth (117-3) last year. Taryn Warren won the shot put (37-111/4) and placed runner-up (36-81/4) last year.
Runner-up finishes were earned by Kara Feist, 400 (1:02.45); Beckham, 800 (2:27.89); Emilia Diaz, 1,600 (5:30.54); Addy Nicholson, 3,200 (11:47.81) and the 3,200-meter relay (10:18.58) with Emma Loomis, Diane Alvarez, Ellegood and Beckham.
Based on 5A regional times and places, the Panthers are projected to score 64 points at the state meet. The Panther girls captured state outdoor track titles in 1977, 1982, 1983 and 2007.
PANTHER BOYS – Kaiden Esfeld swept the 800 meters (2:01.54) and the third-fastest 1,600 regional (4:28.06) and helped the 1,600-meter relay (3:28.49) place first with Oliver Dominguez, Alex Galindo and Madison Regehr. Esfeld placed eighth in the 1,600 (4:30.72) and 11th in the 800 (2:01.74) in 2021.
Regehr joined Esfeld as a double winner in the 100-meter hurdles (15.57) and 300-meter hurdles (41.07).
The Panthers scored 71 points to finish runner-up behind Hays High (109).
5A EMPORIA REGIONAL (top 4 qualify)
TEAM SCORES—1—Great Bend 1511/2; 2—Salina Central 86; 3—Hays High 601/2; 4—Topeka Seaman 58; 5—Salina South 57; 6—Topeka West 521/2; 7—Newton 47; 8—Valley Center 371/2; 9—Salina South 8
GREAT BEND GIRLS RESULTS
100m hurdles—1—Premer, 15.52; 9—Peterson, 17.63; FS—Sanders
300m hurdles—1—Premer, 45.42; 2—Spray, 47.19; 6—Peterson, 50.48
400m—2—Kara Feist, 1:02.45; 6—Gomez, 1:05.59
800m—2—Beckham, 2:27.89; 3—Emma Loomis, 2:28.41; 5—Welcher, 2:36.42
1,600m—2—Diaz, 5:30.54; 5—Boone, 5:39.14; 11—Beckwith, 6:21.21
3,200m— 2—Nicholson, 11:47.81; 4—Diaz, 11:57.57; 5—Boone, 11:59.99
400m relay—1—Great Bend, 50.26 (Luna, Kara Feist, Spray, Premer)
1,600m relay—Great Bend, 4:01.6 (Beckham, Spray, Kara Feist, Premer)
3,200m relay—2—Great Bend, 10:18.58 (Emma Loomis, Alvarez, Ellegood, Beckham)
High jump—2—Spray, 5-4; 3—Luna, 5-2
Long jump—10—Harbaugh, 15-13/4
Triple jump—9—Ellegood, 31-71/2; 13—Harbaugh, 29-73/4
Shot put—1—Warren, 37-111/4; 9—Blessing, 31-41/4
Discus—4—Duvall, 108-0; 5—Warren, 106-10
Javelin—1—Blessing, 127-4; 4—Nachtigal, 115-7; 11—King, 94-2
Pole vault—5—Kuhlman, 9-0; Sanders, no height; Eliana Teri, no height
5A EMPORIA REGIONAL (top 4 qualify)
TEAM SCORES—1—Hays High 109; 2—Great Bend 71; 3—Valley Center 69; 4—Newton 68; 5—Topeka West 66; 6—Emporia 54; Salina Central 54; 8—Topeka Seaman 46; 9—Salina South 20
GREAT BEND BOYS RESULTS
100m—5—Scheuerman, 11.09; 14—Council, 11.58
110m hurdles—1—Regehr, 15.57
200m—6—Scheuerman, 23.38
300m hurdles—1—Regehr, 41.07
400m—3—Dominguez, 52.18
800m—1—Esfeld, 2:01.54; 4—Galindo, 2:04.99; 9—Enriguez, 2:10.24
1,600m—1—Esfeld, 4:28.06
1,600m relay—1—Great Bend, 3:28.49 (Dominguez, Esfeld, Galindo, Regehr)
High jump—1—Stein, no height
Shot put—5—Mathew Moeder, 45-91/4; 15—Nieto, 39-23/4; 19—Brack, 36-01/4
Discus—6—Mathew Moeder, 127-10; 15—Nieto, 111-0; 20—Schaffer, 100-5
Javelin—3—Mathew Moeder, 153-3; 14—Brack, 125-1; 17—Wedel, 117-2
Pole vault—6—Ruiz, 11-0; 9—McMullen, 10-6
