NEWTON — The Great Bend High School cross country team achieved its goal on Saturday at the Class 5A regional meet in Newton.
The boys and girls teams both qualified for the state meet this coming Saturday at Rim Rock Farm, which is located on the outskirts of Lawrence. The GBHS boys finished in second place and the girls placed third, respectively.
“Both teams qualified,” GBHS head coach Todd Kaiser said. “That’s the important thing. That’s what we wanted to do from the start of the season. Both teams get to race again next week.”
Chon Chavez finished at the regional runner up with a time of 16 minutes, 52.50 seconds. Angel Viveros of Liberal took first place in the boys competition with a time of 16:26.03.
“Chon was his usual steady self,” Kaiser said. “ The kid from Liberal is just a really strong runner.”
Cristian Garcia of the Panters also finished in the top 10 to take home a regional medal, finishing with a time of 17:40.56 to take 10th place.
The boys combined for a score of 60 points to take second behind Liberal’s 42 points.
“The boys ran an excellent race,” Kaiser said. “They’re going back to state after a two-year absence, which is great. They left it all on the course, and it paid off for them. I was very pleased with how they ran.”
The girls also had a pair of top 10 medalists.
Kaitlyn Tuey finished in eighth place with a time of 16:15.30.
Hannah Wondra was right behind her in ninth place, crossing the finish line at 16:15.64.
“Hannah ran a good race,” Kaiser said. “Kaitlynn has run better in the past, but she still fought hard. It was a tough field on the girls side. Valley Center has a couple of great runners. Hannah came on strong at the end of the race, which was good to see.”
The girls finished with a score of 76 points.
The surprising result was the Liberal girls finishing in the top spot with 61 points. Valley Center took second with 64.
“That was a big surprise,” Kaiser said of Liberal. “They ran the race of their lives. I was glad to see a (Western Atlhetic Confere) school win. I’d just hoped it would be us, but we made it. That’s the important thing.
“I think the girls were a little disappointed in their finish. They wanted to challenge for first or second.”
The girls team will be heading to the state meet for the fourth straight year.

Class 5A Regional meet
Saturday
Centennial Park
GIRLS
Team standings 
1. Liberal, 61; 2. Valley Center, 64; 3. Great Bend, 76; 4. Newton, 83;  5. Salina South, 97; 6. Andover, 143; 7. Hays, 152.
Top 10 medalists
1. Wedekind, Morgan, Valley Center, 15:11.40; 2. Holloway, Megan, Salina South, 15:37.31; 3. Holloway, Emilee, Salina South, 15:48.81; 4. Lucero, Destyni, Liberal, 15:51.02; 5. Marten, Shelby, Valley Center, 15:58.84; 6. Stucky, Kasey, Newton, 16:03.30; 7. Larson, Elise, Andover, 16:03.57; 8. Tuey, Kaitlynn Great Bend, 16:15.30; 9. Wondra, Hannah, Great Bend, 16:15.64; 10. Sill, Kathryn, Andover, 16:18.45.
Remainder of field
11. Perez, Mercy Liberal, 16 minutes, 22.38 seconds; 12. Barton, Kayla, Valley Center, 16:23.06; 13. Chandler, Alexandria, Liberal, 16:29.64; 14. Glann, Ashlyn, Newton, 16:39.63; 15. Wright, McKenzie, Liberal, 16:45.65; 16. Bergquist, Elyse, Newton, 16:46.75; 17. Stein, Mariah, Great Bend, 16:47.22; 18. Borunda, Janette, Liberal, 16:49.02; 19. Hulse, Lakin, Great Bend, 16:57.67; 20. Bhakta, Karishna, Salina Central, 16:58.01; 21. Langley, Kelsi, Newton, 17:05.24; 22. Martini, Katie, Valley Center, 17:08.44; 23. Cossett, Morgan, Salina South, 17:18.65; 24. Harwood, Morgan, Great Bend, 17:18.98; 25. Smith, Summer, Hays, 17:28.63; 26. Hogan, Bailey, Valley Center, 17:30.40; 27. Matlock, Shelby, Hays, 17:32.65; 28. Petith, Alina, Newton, 17:37.88; 29. Luebbers, Jenna, Hays, 17:38.56; 30. Kondziola, Amy, Newton, 17:39.13; 31. Zuecher, Anna, Salina South, 17:44.58; 32. Heilman, Ali, Great Bend, 17:50.15; 33. McCullough, Morgan, Valley Center, 17:57.36; 34. Niederee, Sarah Great Bend, 17:57.66; 35. Francis, Kim, Liberal, 17:58.80; 36. Hanson, Keegan, Andover, 18:00.88; 37. Kaiser, Reagan, Hays, 18:02.02; 38. Fitzjarrald, Rachel, Newton, 18:02.76; 39. Quinn, Lisa, Hays, 18:13.42; 40. Lopez, Victoria, Salina Central, 18:42.93; 41. Keeler, Allison, Valley Center, 18:47.95; 42. Cairns, Melissa, Salina South, 18:57.95; 43. Keller, Brooke, Salina South, 18:58.35; 44. Olson, Courtney, Salina Central, 19:02.32; 45. Zimmerman, Wendy, Hays, 19:10.71; 46. Sullivan, Kaci, Salina South, 19:17.23; 47. DeLeon, Vanny, Liberal, 19:29.28; 48. Iezek, Jaclyn, Salina Central, 19:40.58; 49. Hantla, Camille, Andover, 20:12.88; 50. Dick, Kelsey, Andover, 20:27.33; 51. Clark, Brittiany, Andover, 20:27.94.
BOYS
Team standings
1. Liberal, 42; 2. Great Bend, 60; 3. Hays, 66; 4. Newton,on, 90; 5. Valley Center, 131; 6. Salina South, 146; 7. Salina Central, 184; 8. Andover,ver, 225;
Top 10 medalists
1. Viveros, Angel, Liberal, 16:26.03; 2. Chavez, Chon Great Bend, 16:52.50; 3. Irish, Tristan Salina South, 17:03.88; 4. Drees, Derek, Hays, 17:12.75; 5. Munoz, Fidel, Liberal, 17:14.48; 6. Minjarez, Eric, Liberal, 17:20.01; 7. Durham, Colton, Valley Center, 17:28.67; 8. Frazier, Daniel, Liberal, 17:33.77; 9. Greene, Joey, Newton,on 17:38.61; 10. Garcia, Cristian, Great Bend, 17:40.56.
Remainder of field
11. Stiner, Kole, Great Bend, 17:46.48; 12. Kaiser, Dallas, Hays, 17:50.41; 13. Boling, Tyler, Salina South, 17:54.09; 14. Brungardt, Joshua, Hays, 17:55.77; 15. Hernandez, Helam, Newton,on, 17:59.85; 16. Heeke, Ky, Great Bend, 18:01.24; 17. Nelson, Jake Hays, 18:02.14; 18. Winter, Dilan, Newton,on, 18:06.97; 19. Munsch, Landon, Hays, 18:10.72; 20. Kelsey, Adam, Newton,on, 18:13.07; 21. Mulch, Cole, Great Bend, 18:14.60; 22. Quintana, Obed, Liberal, 18:15.42; 23. Graham, Christian, Great Bend, 18:17.92; 24. Lawson, Lamar, Salina Central, 18:21.57; 25. Blankenship, Joel, Valley Center, 18:22.59; 26. Kandt, Kendall, Hays, 18:24.13; 27. Espinoza, Marco, Liberal, 18:25.34; 28. Shoemaker, Jerek, Newton,on, 18:27.83; 29. Schad, Daniel, Valley Center, 18:31.95; 30. Mick, Cody, Newton,on, 18:35.36; 31. Bustos, Ricardo, Liberal, 18:36.75; 32. Ioerger, Patrick, Andover,ver, 18:38.09; 33. Friesen, Jaecy, Newton,on, 18:38.70; 34. Lincicome, Josh Valley Center, 18:44.69; 35. Wilson, Mitchell, Salina Central, 18:55.92; 36. Warren, Josh, Valley Center, 19:07.88; 37. Engling, Zachary, Salina Central, 19:11.25; 38. Valenzuela, Anthony, Great Bend, 19:13.60; 39. Chambers, Austin, Hays, 19:15.66; 40. Perez, Sinjin, Salina South, 19:22.80; 41. DeGarmo, Jason, Valley Center, 19:25.48; 42. Villarreal, Daniel, Salina Central, 19:34.76; 43. Dominguez, Jonathan, Salina South, 19:40.02; 44. Lenz, Jared, Andover,ver, 19:43.03; 45. Martini, Justin, Valley Center, 19:45.72; 46. Hemstock, Charles, Salina Central, 20:09.85; 47. Little, Alex, Salina South, 20:10.38; 48. Richerson, Steven, Andover,ver, 20:36.78; 49. Hoskins, Jonathan, Salina South, 20:40.87; 50. Highfill, Jacob, Andover,ver, 20:48.43; 51. Hook, Henry, Andover,ver, 20:50.16; 52. Collazo, Josh, Salina South, 21:01.21; 53. Clausing, Chris, Andover,ver, 21:02.90; 54. Minear, Cale, Andover,ver, 21:17.95; 55. Gordon, Chris, Salina Central, 24:47.63.