By JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
GARDEN CITY — Panther Kira Cook enjoyed the race of the day at the Garden City Swim Invitational with a first-place 200-yard freestyle relay (1:52.42) that edged Dodge City by .01 seconds.
Cook captured the 200 freestyle (2:10.72) and 500 freestyle (6:10.62) and helped the 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay to first-place finishes with state-qualifying times. Camryn Dunekack captured first place in the 50 freestyle (25.65) with a state-qualifying time and the 100 freestyle (56.82) with a state-qualifying time.
The 200 free relay paired Cook with Dunekack, Olivia Mull and Elizabeth Gerdes. Cook joined Dunekack, Katherine Snapp and Calista Long on the 400 free relay.
“We lean heavily on Camryn Dunekack and Kira Cook — they are our leaders,” said Great Bend coach Steve Beaumont. “They were part of six wins for our team. Kira anchored the 200 free relay and a state qualifying time in what was the race of the day. She held off a strong charge from Dodge City to win the event by .01 seconds.”
Great Bend’s Calista Long was runner-up in the 100-yard butterfly (1:14.84).
Other top perfomers—
• Piper Libeer (50/100 free) — her best meet of the season.
• Delaney Buehler (50 free, sixth), newcomer, but is really doing well.
• Olivia Mull — 200 IM, third; 100 breaststroke, third
• Katherine Snapp (backstroke) Liz Gerdes (100 fly); Sheridan Beaumont (100 breast)
Great Bend scored 408.5 points to beat Garden City (363.5) for first place.
“Competing at Garden City is always a challenge,” Beaumont said. “It’s a tough place to swim. We always know it is going to be a close meet. The meet lived up to everything we expected. There were a lot of close races. The girls really had to battle hard to come away with a win.”
Beaumont said he’s pleased with the team’s progress.
“We continue to improve every meet, and that is what we need to do,” he said. “We still have a ways to go and need to continue to drop times in all of our events.”
The Panthers compete April 21 at Salina.
GARDEN CITY INVITATIONAL
TEAM TOTALS—1—Great Bend 408.5; 2—Garden City 363.5; 3—Dodge City 266; 4—Liberal 188
GREAT BEND RESULTS
50 free—1—Camryn Dunekack, 25.65 (SQ); 3—Piper Libeer, 30.38; 6—Delaney Buehler, 30.82; Gentry Schneider, 32.0; Jadon Ward, 35.25; Ema Millard, 36.19; Courtney Barton, 38.37; Darian Harbaugh, 38.61; Hannah Jones, 38.62; Yulisa Sanchez, 44.61; Talaya Stout, 51.94
100 free—1—Camryn Dunekack, 56.82 (SQ); 5—Piper Libeer, 1:09.08; 7—Grace Soupiset, 1:12.49; Hunter Ruppe, 1:16.5; Monica Lang, 1:17.08; Alyssia Strickland, 1:18.99
100 breaststroke—3—Olivia Mull, 1:22.94; 5—Elizabeth Gerdes, 1:29.13; 6—Sheridan Beaumont, 1:29.34; Darian Harbaugh, 1:42.41; Jadon Ward, 2:05.88
100 backstroke—4—Katherine Snapp, 1;15.11; 5—Emma Williams, 1:17.26; 7—Elizabeth Linenberger, 1:29.09; Willow Jones, 1:38.07; Parker Smith, 1:41.49
100 butterfly—2—Calista Long, 1:14.84; 3—Elizabeth Gerdes, 1:18.63; 6—Elizabeth Linenberger, 1:27.03
200 IM—3—Olivia Mull, 2:46.72; 5—Katherine Snapp, 2:54.73; 10— Accacia Pedigo, 3:17.64
200 free—1—Kira Cook, 2:10.72; 5—Emma Williams, 2:31.72; 7—Sheridan Beaumont, 2:42.75; Hunter Ruppe, 2:55.18; Willow Jones, 3:21.09
500 free—1—Kira Cook, 6:10.62; 6—Emma Williams, 6:55.86; 7—Elizabeth Mayhill, 7:16.2
200 free relay—1—Great Bend A, 1:52.42 (SQ) (Camryn Dunekack, Olivia Mull, Elizabeth Gerdes, Kira Cook); 4—Great Bend B, 2:04.43 (Sheridan Beaumont, Delaney Buehler, Grace Soupiset, Piper Libeer); 7—Great Bend C, 2:12.72 (Trista Wilt, Monica Lang, Hunter Ruppe, Accacia Pedigo); Great Bend D, 2:25.61 (Ema Millard, Jadon Ward, Hannah Jones, Alyssia Strickland); Great Bend E, 2:52.51 (Darian Harbaugh, Yulisa Sanchez, Talaya Stout, Courtney Barton)
200 medley relay—3—Great Bend A, 2:17.41 (Emma Williams, Olivia Mull, Calista Long, Piper Libeer); 4—Great Bend B, 2:20.04 (Katherine Snapp, Sheridan Beaumont, Elizabeth Gerdes, Grace Soupiset); 7—Great Bend C, 2:33.95 (Elizabeth Linenberger, Darian Harbaugh, Gentry Schneider, Elizabeth Mayhill); Great Bend D, 2:42.08 (Willow Jones, Accacia Pedigo, Monica Lang, Parker Smith)
400 free relay—1—Great Bend A, 4:06.7 (SQ) (Kira Cook, Camryn Dunekack, Katherine Snapp, Calista Long); 5—Great Bend B, 4:47.27 (Grace Soupiset, Gentry Schneider, Elizabeth Mayhill, Emma Williams); 8—Great Bend C, 5:15.13 (Accacia Pedigo, Hunter Ruppe, Alyssia Strickland, Elizabeth Linenberger); Great Bend D, 5:44.22 (Trista Wilt, Hannah Jones, Willow Jones, Parker Smith)
