Only four points stood between the Great Bend High School boys’ cross-country team and second place on Thursday evening at the Great Bend High School Invitational at Barton Lake.
The Panthers scored 78 points to trail first-place Garden City (46) and second-place Ellinwood (74), which was led by Pedro Montoya’s first-place time of 16 minutes, 26.74 seconds.
The Lady Panthers tied for third with 103 points, but Liberal won the tiebreaker, which is the placement of the sixth runner for each team.
“On the girls’ side, I’m pleased with how things went all the way around from varsity to junior varsity,” Great Bend head coach Todd Kaiser said. “We saw a lot of time improvements.
“There were a lot of positives on the boys’ side. We’re going to be OK. It was a good first meet for us. I have no complaints about it.”
The Great Bend boys’ top finisher was Christian Graham, who took seventh place with a time of 18:07.28.
Cristian Garcia finished right behind him in eighth place (18:08.68), and Eric Vasquez captured 10th (18:47.38).
“We have three boys in the top 10,” Kaiser said. “That’s fantastic. That’s what we’ve got to do. Brett Basye finished 25th. That was his first cross-country match. We need to get Cole Mulch back to where he should be, and we’ll be fine.”
Great Bend senior Kaitlynn Tuey was the top finisher for the Lady Panthers, capturing 11th place (17:45.68).
Freshman Karen Razo rushed in behind her for 12th (17:51.46).
“Kaitlynn Tuey and Karen Razo both ran great races,” Kaiser said. “All of our girls improved their times over their time trials last weekend, which is a good thing. We were without Morgan (Harwood), and she would be in the top 3 or top 4 for us, so we’re OK. I’m not too worried about it.”
Mariah Stein was Great Bend’s No. 3 runner, claiming 22nd (19:05.55).
Harwood was sidelined by a foot injury for the meet. Kaiser said she is working with Great Bend trainer Ryan Zink, and that she should be back this season.
Great Bend travels to Emporia on Saturday, Sept. 14. The meet starts at 9 a.m.

• Ellinwood boys, girls each seize second place at invite
Both Ellinwood teams finished second at the invitational.
The Lady Eagles finished with 65 points, trailing only Garden City, which accounted for the top four finishers on its way to an 18-point total.
“The girls did really well today,” Ellinwood head coach Lyles Lashley said. “Garden City is just great. They’re No. 2 in (Class) 6A. They’re just tough. I thought the girls competed real hard for their first race.”
Freshman Joanna Strecker finished fifth (16:44.46) for the Lady Eagles.
Sophomore Abbie Reichuber claimed seventh place (17:18.43), and senior Brooke Panning secured 14th (18:12.06).
“For her first ever high school race, (Strecker) ran well,” Lashley said. “Abbie was our second runner, she had a great race. They did what they were supposed to. We knew we weren’t going to beat Garden, but they all ran very well.”
The Eagles were led by senior Pedro Montoya, who finished more than a minute ahead of teammate Kyle Oglesbee, who placed second (17:30.62).
Freshman Noah Leon also made it into the top 10, claiming ninth place (18:47.38).
“Obviously, our front three ran very well,” Lashley said. “I thought we had three guys who looked like they were running their first-ever high school race.
“Pedro ran well, and Oglesbee ran very well. Our freshman, Noah Leon, was outstanding.”
Ellinwood is slated to compete on Thursday at Hesston, starting at 4 p.m.

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS-COUNTRY
Great Bend High School Invitational

Thursday

At Great Bend
Barton Lake

GIRLS

Team scores
1. Garden City, 18; 2. Ellinwood, 65; 3. Liberal, 103; 4. Great Bend, 103; 5. Hays, 107; 6. Salina South, 114; 7. Holcomb, 176

Top 10
1. Alexandra Miller, Garden City, 16:01.64; 2. Kayla Doll, Garden City, 16:02.62; 3. Chelsea Jackson, Garden City, 16:31.92; 4. Kathryn Doll, Garden City, 16:41.16; 5. Joanna Strecker, Ellinwood, 16:44.46; 6. Mercy Perez, Liberal, 17:08.59; 7. Abbie Reichuber, Ellinwood, 17:18.43; 8. Maria Rodriguz, Garden City, 17:22.40; 9. Marie Reveles, Hays, 17:30.74; 10. Emilee Holloway, Salina South, 17:30.74

Great Bend results
11. Kaitlynn Tuey, 17:45.68; 12. Karen Razo, 17:51.46; 22. Mariah Stein, 19:05.55; 26. Faith Pumford, 19:35.43; 36. Abby Stiner, 20:26.17; 42. Grace Ball, 20:55.94; 43. Sarah Niederee, 21:06.51

Ellinwood results
14. Brooke Panning, 18:12.06; 20. Shiana Hughes, 19:00.04; 21. McKenna Rugan, 19:01.35; 34. Chelsea Kasper, 20:21.29

BOYS

Team scores
1. Liberal, 46; 2. Ellinwood, 74; 3. Great Bend, 78; 4. Hays, 108; 5. Salina South, 110; 6. Hutchinson, 111; 7. Garden City, 176; 8. Holcomb, 205; 9. Central Christian, 253

Top 10
1. Pedro Montoya, Ellinwood, 16:26.74; 2. Kyle Oglesbee, Ellinwood, 17:30.62; 3. Tristan Irish, Salina South, 17:32.75; 4. Sammy Obando, Liberal, 17:49.75; 5. Gavin Perterman, Hutchinson, 18:04.62; 6. Erving Altamirano, Liberal, 18:06.77; 7. Christian Graham, Great Bend, 18:07.28; 8. Cristian Garcia, Great Bend, 18:08.68; 9. Noah Leon, Ellinwood, 18:35.63; 10. Eric Vasquez, Ellinwood, 18:47.38

Great Bend results
25. Brett Basye, 19.22.26; 28. Cole Mulch, 19:35.42; 32. Adam Jacbos, 19:43.28; 45. Bobby Chavez, 21:02.70

Ellinwood results
23. Jacob Kasselman, 19:19.71; 39. Avery Pike, 20:04.30; 40. Devin Ramsey, 20:14.59