WICHITA — Five Great Bend High School swimmers posted state-qualifying times, a school record three in the 100-backstroke at the Wichita Heights swimming meet. The Panthers finished fourth with 196 points in a meet filled with state-quality swimmers. Last year, the Panthers finished 16th with a similar lineup.
PANTHER STATE QUALIFIERS
Isaac Panzer, 100 free
Connor Furrey, 500 free
Dawson Clark, 100 back
Phane Pedigo, 100 back
Jordan Boone, 100 back
“In 29 years of coaching high school swimming, I have never seen three swimmers qualify for state in the same event at the same meet from any school,” said Great Bend coach Steve Beaumont. “ Just incredible! Jordan Boone’s was probably the most surprising as he cut nearly four seconds off his previous best to make state qualifying. He has been swimming the best I have ever seen him swim over the last three weeks.
“Connor Furrey had a great swim in the 500 free. He dropped nearly 10 seconds of his previous best time to make the state qualifying time.
“Isaac Panzer was a bit disappointed in his 50 free time, but he bounced back to swim his fastest 100 free of the season,” Beaumont said. “He bested that time leading off the 400 free relay. He is sprinting well for us and doing it at the right time of the season.”
Beaumont said he was pleased how the Panthers performed in a high-level meet.
“I couldn’t be happier with how the Panther swimmers performed at the toughest competition we will face all season other than the state meet,” Beaumont said. “Anytime you swim in the Wichita area, the competition really is tough. Finishing in fourth place at this meet says a lot about this team, how hard they have worked to improve, and about their competitiveness.
“The growth they have shown this year is phenomenal,” he said. “They have worked so hard, and are really starting to see the results of their efforts. Seventy-seven percent of our swims were season and personal best times. Our relays turned in their best performances of the season so far. We were just firing on all cylinders. It was fun to watch.”
Great Bend is idle until Feb. 4 at Salina.
Defending Class 5-1A state champion Ben Patton of Wichita Trinity won the 100 backstroke and 100 freestyle. Defending state champion Noah Baden of Rose Hill won the 100 breaststroke. Defending state champion Wichita Heights won the 200 free relay and 400 free relay after placing as state runner-up last year.

WICHITA HEIGHTS MEET
TEAM SCORES—1—Wichita East 326; 2—Wichita Heights 320; 3—Maize 29.5; 4—Great Bend 196; 5—Wichita Trinity 155.5; 6—Winfield 153; 7—Newton 127.5; 8—Derby 99; 9—Maize South 95; 10—Wichita NW 88.5; 11—Wichita North 74; 12—Kapaun Mt. Carmel 73; 13—Rose Hill 72; 14—Wichita SE 51; Hutchinson 51; 16—Wichita Collegiate 49; 17—El Dorado 39; 18—Wichita West 36; 19—Wichita Independent 30; 20—Wichita South 18
GREAT BEND RESULTS
50 free—1—Dylan Jensen, Wichita Heights, 22.26; 10—Isaac Panzer, 24.1; 27—Zach Seymour, 23.54; 43—Wyatt Rugan, 27.61
100 butterfly—1—Colton Smith, Wichita Trinity, 54.58; 4—Dawson Clark, 57.34; 26—Allen To, 1:07.15; 33—Cal Kaiser, 1:15.12
100 free—1—High McPherson, Wichita East, 48.64; 10—Isaac Panzer, 53.26; 44—Wyatt Rugan, 1:03.44; 45—Eduardo Prado, 1:04.06
100 back—1—Ben Patton, Wichita Trinity, 52.88; 5—Dawson Clark, 1:02.59; 6—Phane Pedigo, 1:02.79; 7—Jordan Boone, 1:03.28
100 breast—1—Noah Baden, Rose Hill, 1:02.19; 7—Sean Williams, 1:09.23; 23--Malachi Williams, 1:17.96; 51—Jordan Popp, 1:30.41
200 free—1—Ben Patton, Wichita Trinity, 1:46.99; 7—Sean Williams, 2:02.43; 11—Connor Furrey, 2:05.00; 14—Jordan Boone, 2:08.08
200 IM—1—Hugh McPherson, Wichita East, 1:59.86; 11—Phane Pedigo, 2:21.82; 22—Malachi Williams, 2:29.96
500 free—1—Alec Lebeda, Wichita SE, 4:52.2; 9—Connor Furrey, 5:34.34
200 free relay—1—Wichita Heights, 1:31.98; 5--Great Bend, 1:37.34 (Sean Williams, Corey Harbaugh, Phane Pedigo, Isaac Panzer; Great Bend B, 1:52.81 (Jordan Popp, Eduardo Prado, Cal Kaiser, Malachi Williams)
400 free relay—1—Wichita Heights, 3:23.49; 7—Great Bend, 3:38.12 (Isaac Panzer, Corey Harbaugh, Jordan Boone, Dawson Clark); Great Bend B, 3:55.13 (Zach Seymour, Allan To, Wyatt Rugan, Connor Furrey)
200 medley relay—1—Wichita East, 1:41.84; 5—Great Bend, 1:49.31 (Phane Pedigo, Sean Williams, Dawson Clark, Corey Harbaugh); Great Bend B, 2:00.42 (Jordan Boone, Zach Seymour, Allan To, Jordan Popp)