HAYS — Both the Great Bend High School girls’ and boys’ cross-country teams finished in fifth place at the Hays Invitational on Thursday.
The Lady Panthers finished with 122 points, behind first-place  Dodge City, which had 41 points.
“We did OK,” GBHS head coach Todd Kaiser said. “We’re starting to make progress. We’re coming together as a team, and we just need to keep coming together.
“We’re an inexperienced bunch, but the more they run together, the more progress we’ll see from them.”
The Panthers claimed 124 points. Garden City placed first with 48 points.
“We didn’t do as well as we could,” Kaiser said. “Eric (Vazquez) really stepped up. That was great to see. Adam (Jacobs) came along strong at the end. Cole (Mulch) was his usual solid self.
“Kerby (Depenbusch) wasn’t feeling good before the meet, but he stuck in there and ran well.”
Freshman Depenbusch was the highest placer for Great Bend, capturing fourth place with a time of 17:24.
Vazquez also finished in the top 20, seizing 17th place at 18:24.
“The boys have a good chance at qualifying for state,” Kaiser said. “They just need to keep working and moving forward.”
On the girls’ side, Mary Williams placed 10th with a time of 17:27 to lead the Lady Panthers.
Karen Razo crossed the finish line at 17:47, finishing in 16th place.
“(Williams) wasn’t feeling good right before the race,” Kaiser said. “I was really pleased with her effort to tough it out and run as well as she did.
“Karen Razo has started to come around for us. She’s been running well.”
 
PREP CROSS-COUNTRY
Hays Invitational
 
Thursday
 
At Hays
 
BOYS
 
Team scores
1. Garden City, 48; 2. Junction City, 61; 3. Dodge city, 83; 4. Liberal, 88; 5. Great Bend, 124; 6. Hays, 137; 7. Salina Central, 193; 8. Salina South, 204; 9. Maize South, 220
 
GBHS varsity results
4. Kerby Depenbusch, 17:24; 17. Eric Vazquez, 18:24; 28. Adam Jacobs, 18:59; 31. Cole Mulch, 19:11; 44. Isaiah Davis, 19:57; 57. Anthony Martinez, 21:55; 60. Jeffery Muiruri, 22:49
 
GBHS JV results
104. Victor Stoulil, 26:04; 118. Eddie Beach, 27:36; 120. Nate Dawes, 27:49; 127. Jordan Boone, 29:18; 128. Alex Banda, 29:19; 131. Elijah Hutchinson, 30:18
 
GIRLS
 
Team scores
1. Dodge City, 41; 2. Liberal, 71; 3. Hays, 82; 4. Garden City, 110; 5. Great Bend, 122; 6. Junction City, 128; 7. Salina South, 151
 
GBHS varsity results
10. Mary Williams, 17:27; 16. Karen Raxo, 17:47; 28. Mariah Stein, 19:26; 37. Paloma Sandoval, 19:26; 43. Abby Stiner, 19:52; 44. Ashley Weingrad, 19:55; 53. Lizeth Galindo, 21:55
 
GBHS JV results
75. Stevee Nily, 23:36; 80. McKinna Dykes, 23:51; 85. Kira Cook, 24:11; 99. Katelyn Scherer, 26:21