NEWTON — The Great Bend High School girls’ swimming team was led by a state-qualifying performance by Hannah Hildebrand in the 100-yard backstroke in Newton on Thursday.
Hildebrand turned in a time of one minute, 7.55 seconds, topping the state-qualifying time of 1:08.02. She finished in third place in the event.
“She was very excited,” GBHS head coach Stephanie Maier said of Hildebrand, who reached one of her personal goals she set at the beginning of the season. “She went up to talk to her parents and she was talking to me. Now she wants to qualify for state in the 100 fly.”
The Lady Panthers took second place with 317 points behind Newton, which put up 390.
“Overall, we were very impressed with the way we swam on Thursday,” Maier said. “We dropped a lot of times. The girls swam very well.”
GBHS’ top finishers were Allison Damm, who took second place in the 500 freestyle with a time of 6:11.06 and Taycee Bunn, who earned a second-place finish in the 200 I.M. with a time of 2:46.16.
“She always does well in the distance events,” Maier said. “Among the girls that we swim against, there aren’t too many who can swim distance events well so she always finishes near the top in (the 500 freestyle).”
Damm also took third place in the 200 freestyle, touching in at 2:16.71.
Jessica Kuhlman took third place in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:25.19.
“I let a lot of girls swim in events that they usually don’t swim in,” Maier said. “Kylee Spray did very well in the 200 freestyle. She did better than we expected. Brenna Haines and Katlin Fuel both did exceptional in the 200 I.M.
“Tasha Davis has been working all year on her 500 freestyle and I think she’s cut 30 seconds off of her time over the season.”

HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMING
At Newton
Thursday
GIRLS
Team standings
1. Newton, 390; 2. Great Bend, 317; 3. Maize, 220; 4. Hutchinson, 199; 5. Wichita Trinity Academy, 106; 6. Maize South, 28.
Great Bend results
200-yard medley relay
3. GBHS “A” relay (Taycee Bunn, Jessica Kuhlman, Hannah Hildebrand, Allison Damm), 2:13.32; 6. GBHS “B” relay (Katie Heeke, Brianna Schartz, Malia Disque, Sylvia Ofoma), 2:21.76; 10. GBHS “C” relay (Estella Schumacher, Katlin Fuel, Tasha Davis, Jessica Freund), 2:40.71.
200 freestyle
3. Allison Damm, 2:16.71; 7. Erin Sullivan, 2:29.42; 9. Kylee Spray, 2:32.67.
200 I.M.
2. Taycee Bunn, 2:46.16; 4. Brenna Haines, 2:46.94; 8. Katlin Fuel, 3:04.83.
50 freestyle
7. Sylvia Ofoma, 30.03; 9. Erin Sullivan, 30.41; 13. Malia Disque, 32.54; Jessica Freund, 33.86; Darby Johnson, 34.63; Brianna Schartz, 34.73; Estella Schumacher, 36.86.
100 butterfly
4. Hannah Hildebrand, 1:07.53; 5. Jessica Kuhlman, 1:15.79; 8. Malia Disque, 1:26.59.
100 freestyle
4. Taycee Bunn, 1:05.09; 8. Katie Heeke, 1:07.51; 9. Kylee spray, 1:08.91; Jessica Freund, 1:21.02; Estella Schumacher, 1:22.23; Darby Johnson, 1:22.98.
500 freestyle
2. Allison Damm, 6:11.06; 6. Brenna Haines, 6:53.79; 10. Tasha Davis, 7:30.39.
200 freestyle relay
2. GBHS “A” relay (Allison Damm, Taycee Bunn, Erin Sullivan, Hannah Hildebrand), 1:58.00; 7. GBHS “B” relay (Sylvia Ofoma, Kylee Spray, Katlin Fuel, Brenna Haines), 2:06.67; 9. GBHS “C” relay (Brianna Schartz, Tasha Davis, Darby Johnson, Jessica Freund), 2:19.71.
100 backstroke
3. Hannah Hildebrand, 1:07.55; 5. Katie Heeke, 1:17.66; 12. Tasha Davis, 1:29.62.
100 breaststroke
3. Jessica Kuhlman, 1:25.19; 4. Brianna Schartz, 1:27.58; 10. Katlin, Fuel, 1:37.46.
400 freestyle relay
3. GBHS “A” relay (Jessica Kuhlman, Kylee Spray, Brenna Haines, Katie Heeke), 4:38.63; 7. GBHS “B” relay (Erin Sullivan, Sylvia Ofoma, Estella Schumacher, Malia Disque), 5:00.81.
— Kevin Price­­­