BY JIM MISUNAS

jmisunas@gbtribune.com

TOPEKA — Great Bend’s swimmers recorded nine season-best times and finished fourth in the 200-yard medley relay at the 5-1A state swimming championship. The Panthers’ quartet of Tyler Stein, Ellis Long, Kasey Kennedy and Brody Feist finished fourth (1:41.4), just slightly off their season-best time (1:40.21) Friday which broke the Panthers’ school record.

Panther Ellis Long continued to shine with a seventh-place finish (1:00.66) in the 100-yard breaststroke and broke the Panther school record with a season-best time. He qualified eighth (1:01.28).

“With four guys we placed 10th. Tyler, Brody, Ellis, and Kasey swam better than we could ever have imagined,” said Great Bend coach Kari Karper. “This is a great group of guys who will do amazing things in life. Tyler Stein and Brody Feist will be incredibly missed next year.”

Carper was impressed that the Panthers set specific goals and achieved them with tremendos metnal toughness.

“They wanted to come home with hardware and they did.,” she said. “They cut ridiculous amounts of time last week at WAC. They turned around a week later, kept the momentum going and did it again. They set goals for themselves and as a team at the beginning of the season and did everything it took to meet those goals.”

The Panthers’ 200-yard freestyle relay (1:32.68) finished ninth with a season-best time with Stein, Kennedy, Long and Feist competing after a previous best (1:33.8) Friday.

In the 50-yard freestyle, Feist placed 10th (22.8) with a season-best time and Stein finished 11th (22.96). Stein finished 10th in the 100-yard backstroke (57.4) with a season-best time.

The Panthers scored 81 points to finish eighth in the team standings.

5-1A STATE SWIMMING

GREAT BEND RESULTS *season best time

50 freestyle—FINALS—10—Brody Feist, *22.8; 11—Tyler Stein, 22.96; PRELIM—9—Stein, 22.73; 12—Feist, 23.07

100 backstroke—FINALS—10—Stein, *57.4; PRELIM—11—Stein, 57.92

100 breaststroke—FINALS—7—Ellis Long, *1:00,66; PRELIM—8—Long, *1:01.28

100 butterfly—16—Kasey Kennedy, 58.93; 17—Feist, *59.18

100 freestyle—21—Long, *52.72

200 IM—22—Kennedy, 2:20.85

200 free relay—FINALS—9—Great Bend, *1:32.68 (Stein, Kennedy, Long, Feist); PRELIM—9—Great Bend, *1:33.88 (Stein, Kennedy, Long, Feist)

200 medley relay—FINALS—Great Bend, 1:41.4 (Stein, Long, Kennedy, Feist); PRELIM—4—Great Bend, *1:40.21 (Stein, Long, Kennedy, Feist)