GARDEN CITY — For the 10th staight year, the Great Bend High School girls’ swim team won the WAC crown on Tuesday.
The Lady Panthers beat the Lady Buffaloes by one point.
“It went amazingly well,” GBHS head coach Stephanie Maier said. “Garden City finished in second with 340 points. We finished in first with 341.
“The girls are extremely excited. We are pretty proud of what we did today.”
It was the first time this season that Great Bend was able to top Garden City.
“It is a big deal, especially with competition like Garden City,” Maier said. “We haven’t been able to beat them all year, so it is pretty special for the team.”
The meet came down to the final event — the 400-yard freestyle relay.
“Both Hannah Hildebrand and Allison Damm finished first as individuals in events,” Maier said. “They were also part of the 400 freestyle relay that we needed to do well in order to win. That relay really came through for us.
“What it came down to was the Hays beat Garden City’s ‘B’ relay to give us the two-point swing we needed to win.”
Hildebrand finished first in the 50 freestyle (26.83 seconds) and the 100 backstroke (1:06.38).
Damm claimed first place in the 500 freestyle (6:08.38).
Both Damm and Hildebrand were named first-team All-WAC swimmers.
Great Bend’s 200 medley relay team — Michaela Cape, Brianna Schartz, Hildebrand and Damm — took first place with a time of 2:06.40.
Kylee Spray, Cape, Brenna Haines, Sylvia Ofoma and Maddie Vesta were all selected second-team all-conference.
Garden City’s Kasey Wise was selected as WAC Coach of the Year.
Next, Great Bend competes in the Class 5-1A state meet at Hummer Sports Complex in Topeka on May 17-19.
“I think I will be taking 11 girls to state,” Maier said. “We have all three relays and Hannah as an individual. Then there are five more girls who might qualify as individuals depending on consideration time.”

                                                                                — Kevin Price

HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMING
Western Athletic Conference

At Garden City

Tuesday

GIRLS

Team standings
1. Great Bend, 341; 2. Garden City, 340; 3. Dodge City, 283; 4. Hays, 168; 5. Liberal, 151.

GBHS results
200-yard medley relay
1. GBHS “A” relay (Michaela Cape, Brianna Schartz, Hannah Hildebrand, Allison Damm), 2:06.40; 4. GBHS “B” relay (Katlin Fuel, Brenna Haines, Madeline Vesta, Sylvia Ofoma),  2:16.57; 10. GBHS “C” relay (Tasha Davis, Jillian Martin, Karah Stewart, Estella Schumacher), 2:42.60
200 freestyle
2. Allison Damm, 2:16.99; 5. Brenna Haines, 2:20.92; 11. Jessica Freund, 2:49.32; Rachel Bussen, 2:58.46
200 individual medley
3. Kylee Spray, 2:46.80; 5. Michaela Cape, 2:52.39; 7. Katlin Fuel, 2:57. 56
50 freestyle
1. Hannah Hildebrand, 26.83; 5. Sylvia Ofoma, 29.84; 7. Madeline Vesta, 30.41; Karah Stewart, 34.59; Malia Disque, 34.60; Estella Schumacher, 36.66; Jenna Hertel, 38.82; Mari Erb, 41.52
100 butterfly
3. Madeline Vesta, 1:12.58
100 freestyle
5. Kylee Spray, 1:06.70; 6. Sylvia Ofoma, 1:08.33; 8. Katlin Fuel, 1:10.13; Anna Frizell, 1:18.74; Estella Schumacher, 1:24.23; Jenna Hertel, 1:24.38; Mari Erb, 1:33.55
500 freestyle
1. Allison Damm, 6:08.96; 4. Brenna Haines, 6:26.24; 8. Tasha Davis, 7:33.23
200 freestyle relay
3. GBHS “A” relay (Kylee Spray, Madeline Vesta, Katlin Fuel, Michaela Cape), 1:59.80; 4. GBHS “B” relay (Brianna Schartz, Malia Disque, Jessica Freund, Sylvia Ofoma), 2:05.41; 9. GBHS “C” relay (Anna Frizell, Karah Stewart, Estella Schumacher, Rachel Bussen), 2:23.01
100 backstroke
1. Hannah Hildebrand, 1:06.38; 3. Michaela Cape, 1:13.21; 9. Tasha Davis, 1:27.86; Anna Frizell, 1:30.82
400 freestyle relay
3. GBHS “A” relay (Hannah Hildebrand, Kylee Spray, Brenna Haines, Allison Damm), 4:11.75; 7. GBHS “B” relay (Tasha Davis, Brianna Schartz, Malia Disque, Jessica Freund), 5:01.28; 11. GBHS “C” relay (Anna Frizell, Jenna Hertel, Mari Erb, Rachel Bussen), 5:37.23