DODGE CITY — The Western Athletic Conference track and field meet was not kind to Great Bend High School on Thursday evening.
Both the girls and boys finished in fifth place at Memorial Stadium.
“The conference is so good to start with,” Great Bend head coach Bo Black said. “There are a lot of teams there that will score a lot of points at the state track meet.
“Our girls are just depleted. We had five girls that didn’t compete today. They would’ve helped out some.”
Garden City won the girls’ competition with 110 points as the Lady Panthers only managed 15.
Hays captured first on the boys’ side with 113 points. Great Bend scored 40.
“This is the same group  of boys who go to a Valley Center meet with eight teams and score 97 points,” Black said. “Then they get to conference and score 40. We just have a strong conference.”
Jayce Brack’s second-place heave in the shot put highlighted the day for the Panthers. He reached a personal-best distance of 53 feet, 10 inches.
Brack finished third in the discus at 150-7, and Nick Warren captured fourth with a throw of 139-8.
Chris Burley finished second in the pole vault with a height of 14-0.
Hannah Middleton led the Lady Panthers with a first-place finish in the pole vault, clearing 10-0.
Selam Ball finished second with a height of 10-0.
“We still had some good things happen,” Black said. “Jayce Brack got another personal best in the shot put. Warren is still coming along. Our pole vaulters on both teams continue to do well.”
Great Bend now prepares for a Class 5A regional meet at Salina Central, set for Friday, May 17.
Andover, Andover Central, Hays, Newton, Salina Central, Salina South and Valley Central will be in attendance.
“That’s something to take away from this meet,” Black said. “The kids continue to improve. The results aren’t pretty, but they are improving. That’s what we’ve got to do.
“We need to get the kids back on track and get them healthy.”

                                                                          — Kevin Price