HAYS — The Great Bend High School track and field teams hit the ground running on Saturday, competing in the season-opening Alex Francis Classic at Fort Hays State University.
The girls’ squad finished second with 102 points, trailing Hays at 185 points.
The boys claimed fourth place with 99 points. Hays won the boys’ competition as well, racking up 202.5 points.
“It was a great first meet, considering what our situation is,” GBHS head coach Todd Kaiser said. “I was tickled to death with how high the girls finished, and really both the girls and boys. Both sides were really having fun.
“I’m ready to keep moving forward with the kids and the coach staff. The kids were out there and excited. They were competing hard, which is exactly what you want to see.”
Leading the way for the Lady Panthers were Kaylie Doll in the triple and long jumps and Selam Ball in the pole vault. Both girls, who have signed to compete for the Fort Hays State University track and field team next year, finished first in their respective events.
Kaylie Doll reached a distance of 15-feet, 9.5 inches in the long jump and 36-1 in the triple jump.
Ball matched her personal-best height of 10-0 in the pole vault.
Shelby Tracy finished second in the long jump at 15-5, and Kelsie Doll, who will also be competing with FHSU next season, placed third in the triple jump (32-11.5).
Freshman Kate Warren locked down the No. 2 spot in the shot put (32-9) and discus (95-2).
Mariah Stein, Mary Williams, Kaitlynn Tuey and Kaylan Lagerman combined for second place in the 4x800-meter relay, clocking in at 4:49.39.
“With the small group out and the small group we took the meet, they did exceed expectations,” Kaiser said. “I’m very proud of how they did. It helps when we score so many points in the field events, but we need more points on the track.
“The Doll girls did a good job in the jumps. Selam did great in the pole vault, and freshman Kate Warren came up big in the throws. Of course, that’s not to say we didn’t score in the races. We had a lot of people finish in that fourth through sixth places, getting points you don’t expect.”
The Panthers turned in three first-place performances. Two of those belonged to Jayce Brack.
Brack hit a distance of 152-0 in the discus and 57-3 in the shot put.
“He PR’d by two feet in one event and missed PR-ing in the other event by a few feet,” Kaiser said. “Coach (Cliff) Burt said that he didn’t look very good today. Imagine what he’ll do when he does look good.”
The other first-place finish came in the 3,200-meter run. Christian Graham crossed the finish line at 10:33.63, leading three top 8 finishers from Great Bend.
Antonio Carrasco placed second in the 400 dash (53.38).
He joined Richard Lara, Ty Yager and Cristian Garcia for a second-place time in the 4x400 relay (3:39.79).
Garcia, Lara, Adam Jacobs and Gustavo Apodaca combined to place second in the 4x800 relay (8:57.96).
“Graham did a good job in the 3,200,” Kaiser said. “We had some good races in the 1,600, but don’t count out our sprinters. The 100-400 runners all had good times for the first meet of the season.
“We’ve just got to find some of the hidden points, in the jumps. We had Keaton Elliott finish in third in the triple jump.”
 
                               — Kevin Price

HIGH SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD
2014 Alex Francis Classic

Saturday

At Hays
Fort Hays State University

GIRLS

Team scores
1. Hays, 185; 2. Great Bend, 102; 3. Goodland, 101; 4. Clay Center, 85.5; 5. Ness City, 74; 6. Phillipsburg, 56.5; 7. Victoria, 33; 8. TMP Marian, 25

Great Bend results
100-meter dash — 4. Makayla Johnson, 13.8; 8. Shelby Tracy, 14.10
200 dash — 3. Tracy, 29.16
400 dash — 6. Stevee Nily, 1:11.88
800 run — 4. Kaylan Lagerman, 2:39.37; 8. Karen Razo, 2:54.30
1,600 run — 5. Mariah Stein, 6:14.63; 6. Razo, 6:15.23; 7. Kaitlynn Tuey, 6:15.79
4x400 relay — 7. GBHS (Nily, Stein, Razo, Lagerman), 4:48.39
4x800 relay — 2. GBHS (Stein, Williams, Tuey, Lagerman), 10:47.23
Shot put — 2. Kate Warren, 32-9
Discus — 2. Warren, 95-2
Long Jump — 1. Kaylie Doll, 15-9.5; 2. Shelby Tracy, 15-5; 8. Kelsie Doll, 14-0.5
Triple Jump — 1. Ka. Doll, 36-1; 3. Ke. Doll, 32-11.5
Pole Vault — 1. Selam Ball, 10-0

BOYS

Team scores
1. Hays, 202.5; 2. Goodland, 124; 3. Phillipsburg, 105; 4. Great Bend, 99; 5. TMP Marian, 50; 6. Clay Center, 37; 7. Ness City, 35; 8. Victoria, 33.5

Great Bend results
100 dash — 5. Cal Marshall, 11.77; 7. Ty Yager, 11.83
200 dash — 4. Antonio Carrasco, 23.95; 7. Cristian Garcia, 24.19
400 dash — 2. Carrasco, 53.38; 5. Garcia, 55.08; 8. Marshall, 56.95
800 run — 8. Bobby Chavez, 2:17.21
1,600 run — 3. Christian Graham, 4:52.72; 4. Quinton Elliott, 4:59.25; 7. Mason YellowWolf, 5:09.89
3,200 run — 1. Graham, 10:33.63; 4. Armando Jaquez, 11:20.79; 7. Chavez, 11:33.94
4x400 relay — 2. GBHS (Garcia, Yager, Richard Lara, Carrasco), 3:39.79
4x800 relay — 2. GBHS (Garcia, Adam Jacobs, Gustavo Apodaca, Lara), 8:57.96
Shot put — 1. Jayce Brack, 57-3
Discus — 1. Brack, 152-0
Triple Jump — 3. Keaton Elliott, 38-10.5