BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
Great Bend's Kaiden Esfeld ran confident and with a purpose just like a 5A state contender. It paid off with a Lake Barton course record (16:09.6) that broke the mark by Hays High's Josh Munsch (16:22) in 2010.
Esfeld started out with a lightning-fast first mile (4:47), a shade faster than he preferred. But everything worked when he ran a career-best time to beat Garden City runner-up Devin Chappel by 29 seconds.
"I got the course record. I got the goal I wanted to achieve. I went out pretty fast that first mile — 4:47. I didn't expect that fast," Esfeld said. "I ran a good, true race today. I wanted to start out hard and not wait for someone to run with me. I ran a true pace to see what I could do. Running a pace by myself is a little difficult."
Esfeld paid the price for an all-out effort in an 84 degree heat index. He showed his sheer exhaustion while recovering for a few minutes.
Lashley said Esfeld achieved his first-meet goal.
"To come out and do that is impressive," Lashley said. "We wanted Kaiden to go out hard and run a smooth race. It was definitely tougher than it looked. This course will take it out of you."
The other Panthers finished 36th Ismael Ramirez, 19:54.8; 41st Thomas Henrikson, 20:25.1; 50th Braylon Moore, 21:04.6; and 53rd Bradon Suppes, 21:49.9
LAKE BARTON 5K
BOYS TEAM SCORES—1—Garden City 23; 2—Buhler 56; 3—Dodge City 75; 4—McPherson 119; 5—Hays High 158; 6—Great Bend 171; 7—Derby 186; 8—Salina South 190
TOP 10 MEDALISTS—1—Esfeld, GB, 16:09.6 (course record); 2—Chappel, GC, 16:39.2; 3—Munoz, GC, 16:41.4; 4—Lohrentz, Buhler, 16:57.7; 5—Gurrola, GC, 17:02.4; 6—Weilert-Beymer, GC, 17:06.8; 7—Nemecheck, GC, 17:07.0; 8—Whisler, Buhler, 17:26.4; 9—Castro, GC, 17:50.5; 10—Lamas, DC, 17:50.8
GREAT BEND—36—Ramirez, 19:54.8; 41—Henrikson, 20:25.1; 50—Moore, 21:04.6; 53—Suppes, 21:49.9
C TEAM BOYS—1—Johnson, DC, 13:27.4
JV BOYS (5K)—1—Fry, GC, 18:57.5; 4—Thompson, CP, 20:26.1; 31—Jensen, H, 22:40.43—Vsetecka, GB, 23:38.8; 51—Siemsen, CP, 24:27.4; 54—Andereck, H, 24:33.2; 55—Norvell, H, 25;13.3; 64—Rogers, CP, 25:27.3; 81—Tracy, OB, 32:10.6; 82—Frees, CP, 32:36.6
