BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
Fourth-place finisher Great Bend won three events at the 2024 Western Athletic Conference swimming championship at the Barton Community College pool.
Past state qualifier Kasey Kennedy captured the 100-yard butterfly (59.0) and won the 200-yard IM with a season-best time (2:16.18), improving by 1.04 seconds to earn a 5-1A state consideration time. Kennedy has overcame season-long health conditions to compete.
"I came into the season not knowing whether I'd swim," Kennedy said. "But I found a doctor who got me taken care of. Today was my best performance, more than I expected."
Kennedy utilized a tech suit, which helped his time.
"My 200 IM was my best race, cutting time from last year. Everything felt good today," he said. "I wore a tech suit for the first time, which made a difference. One of my goals was to earn state consideration times."
Adam Hall matched his teammate with a victory in the 50-yard freestyle (24.43) with a season-best time improvement by 1.01 seconds to earn a state consideration time. Hall nearly improved by two seconds and earned a season-best time (56.71) with a runner-up finish in the 100-yard freestyle.
"Definitely my 50-yard free was my best race today, cutting more than a second," Hall said. "My 100 free was good. I cut two seconds off my best time. It was nice to compete and do as well as I did especially at a home meet."
Hall believes his tech suit helped his times.
"Tech suits help a lot because it makes you more aerodynamic," Hall said. "The suit is tighter and it makes me faster."
Kennedy and Hall will find out whether their state consideration times deliver a state meet invitation Wednesday.
"I was excited for Kasey Kennedy because he's battled health issues all season," said Great Bend coach Kari Carper. "I was glad he was able to win two events and earn state consideration times in both events. We knew Adam could win the 50. He enjoyed the race of his life. He nailed his turns and kept it going. He's improved 21/2 seconds in the past two meets. His 100 free was 1:01 two weeks ago and earned a state consideration time."
The 200-yard freestyle relay (1:44.93) cut three seconds off their previous best time with Hall, Joshua Sharpe, Andrew McQuade and Kennedy competing.
"The 200 free relay was our best time," Carper said. "Our goal was to swim our best races and most of our guys did that. I'm happy with how the guys competed."
Garden City (553) won the WAC title and Hays High (454) placed runner-up. Garden City's Kaleb Reagle was WAC Swimmer of the Year by winning the 200- and 500-yard freestyles.
WESTERN ATHLETIC *season best
TEAM SCORES–1–Garden City 553; 2–Hays High 454; 3–Liberal 336; 4–Great Bend 294; 5–Dodge City 254
50 freestyle–1–Hall, GB, *24.43; 9–McQuade, 27.27; 12–Heath, *35.27; Armendariz, 41.44
100 butterfly–1–Kennedy, GB, 59.0
100 breaststroke–1–Inigo, DC, *1:14.01; 7–Williams, 1:27.59; 12–Thurman, *1:34.99
100 backstroke–1–Roman, GC, *1:06.01; 5–McQuade, 1:22.17; 13–Kalivoda, 1:52.62
100 freestyle–1–Sneath, GC, *56.51; 2–Hall, *56.71; 12–Heath, *1:26.09; 14–Kalivoda, *1:33.45; Armendariz, *1:42.37;
200 freestyle–1–Reagle, GC, *2:01.06; 6–Sander, *2:27.94; 11–Sharpe, 2:47.1
500 freestyle–1–Reagle, GC, 5:59.35; 3–Williams, *6:45.52; 4–Sander, *6:49.88
200 IM–1–Kennedy, GB, *2:16.18; 7–Thurman, *3:16.62
200 free relay–1–Garden City, *1:41.34; 3–Great Bend A, *1:44.93 (Hall, Sharpe, McQuade, Kennedy); 10– Great Bend B, *2:34.58 (Armendariz, Kalivoda, Heath, Thurman)
200 medley relay–1–Garden City, *1:56.18; 3–Great Bend A, *2:02.93 (McQuade, Williams, Kennedy, Sharpe); 8–Great Bend B, *2:46.42 (Kalivoda, Thurman, Sander, Heath)
400 free relay–1–Garden City, 3:53.08; 5–Great Bend, *4:28.12 (Sharpe, Williams, Sander, Hall)
