EL DORADO — The Great Bend High School boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams each finished seventh at El Dorado on Saturday afternoon.
The Panthers finished with 207 points in the 19-team field.
The Lady Panthers recorded 210 points, finishing in the middle of the 15-team competition.
“I thought it was a really good finish, considering the level of competition that was at the meet,” GBHS head coach Todd Kaiser said. “There were a lot of good teams at the meet. Both the girls and the boys ran well as a team.”
Chon Chavez finished 14th to lead Great Bend, clocking in at 16 minutes, 29 seconds.
The Panthers’ top six runners finished under 17:30, which Kaiser said he’s happy to see in the final few weeks of the season.
“That’s a real good sign,” Kaiser said of the boys. “The No. 2 to the No. 6 runners closed the gap between them, finishing within 16 seconds of each other. I’m happy for that heading into the last three meets.”
Kaitlynn Tuey led the Lady Panthers, finishing in 26th place with a time of 15:53.
“All but one of the girls either tied or bested their (personal-best times),” Kaiser said. “They ran a really good race.”
On Thursday, Great Bend travels to Garden City for a Western Athletic Conference meet, starting at 4 p.m., to close the regular season.
Great Bend will host a Class 5A regional meet at Lake Barton Golf Course on Saturday, Oct. 20. The girls will race at 11 a.m., and the boys will follow at 11:30.
Hays, Liberal, Maize South, Newton, Salina Central, Salina South and Valley Center will be in attendance.
“We’re down the big three — WAC, regional and state,” Kaiser said, “and I like the direction that we’re heading. It’s not over. The kids know they have got to keep working like they have been. There are still more races to run.”

— Kevin Price

PREP CROSS-COUNTRY

Saturday

At El Dorado

GIRLS

Great Bend results
26. Kaitlynn Tuey, 15:53; 28. Mariah Stein, 16:02; 45. Morgan Harwood, 16:24; 55. Mary Williams, 16:37; 71. Ashley Weingrad, 17:11; 81. Grace Ball, 17:26; 91. Sarah Niederee, 17:57.

Junior varsity
40. Abby Stiner, 18:05.

BOYS

Great Bend results
14. Chon Chavez, 16:29; 41. Cristian Garcia, 17:11; 44. Kole Stiner, 17:12; 54. Chrisitan Graham, 17:19; 58. Cole Mulch, 17:25; 59. Genesis Rose, 17:26; 115. Athony Valenzuela, 19:00.

Junior Varsity
28. Ky Heeke, 18:20; 32. Michael Sullivan, 18:26; 59. Adam Jacobs, 19:35; 84. Daniel Banda, 21:19.

“C” team
3. Bobby Chavez, 18:42; 7. Alex Allende, 19:14; 19. Dodge Nily, 20:45; 54. Easton Hirsh, 26:03; 55. Ethan Lockwood, 27:19.