WICHITA — High school swimming is not entirely a team sport.
Team scores are kept, but it usually comes down to the individual swimmers improving on their own times.
Such is the case for the Great Bend Panthers as they came away with a 12th-place finish at a Wichita Heights meet on Saturday, according to GBHS head coach Steve Beaumont.
“I thought we swam very well,” Beaumont said. “It doesn’t really reflect in the team score, but we’re a team with a lot of new kids. We saw a lot of improvement out there.
“I think 68 percent of our times were season- or personal-bests. That’s what you want to see.”
Great Bend finished with 88 points, falling well behind Wichita East’s first-place score of 473.
The Panthers ‘A’ relay team, which consists of Ky Heeke, Nick Moyers, Josh Schridde and Justin Kuhlman, finished seventh in the 400-meter relay. They finished at 3:44.02 as the top finisher for Great Bend.
Kuhlman claimed the top finish in an individual event with a time of 59.74 in the 100 backstroke, taking eighth place.
The next top individual was Heeke with a 13th-place finish in the 500 freestyle (5:47.68).
The Panthers host a meet today at 3:30 p.m. Junction City, Haysville Campus, Hays, McPherson and Central Christian of Hutchinson will all be swimming at Kirkman Activity Center.

                                             — Kevin Price

HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMING

BOYS

Saturday

At Wichita Heights

Team results
1. Wichita East, 473; 2. Maize, 311; 3. Wichita Heights, 237; 4. Maize South, 163; 5. Wichita Collegiate, 149; 6. Derby, 144; 7. Newton, 112; 8. Winfield, 109; 9. Wichita Northwest, 104; 10. Wichita Trinity, 95; 11. Hutchinson, 95; 12. Great Bend, 88; 13. Wichita South, 68; 14. Wichita North, 43; 15. El Dorado, 34; 16. Wichita Southeast, 31; 17. Wichita Independent, 30; 18. Wichita West, 23; 19. Rose Hill, 7

Great Bend results
200-meter medley relay — 10. GBHS ‘A’ relay (Nick Moyers, Justin Kuhlman, Ky Heeke, Tristan Yount), 1:55.91; GBHS ‘B’ relay (Jack Pumford, Michael Raymer, Keaton Elliott, Nick Porter), 2:14.44; GBHS ‘C’ relay (Chandler Miller, Zack McHenry, Jake Kohman, Cameron Jackson), 2:31.57
200 freestyle — 18. Moyers, 2:10.08; 31. Nathan Brungardt, 2:24.64
200 individual medley — 8. Kuhlman, 2:17.50; 22. Josh Schridde, 2:34.16
50 freestyle — 13. Heeke, 24.11; 49. Porter, 31.07; 55. McHenry, 34.96
100 butterfly — 25. Elliott, 1:19.33; 32. Kohman, 1:22.99; Austin Levingston, 1:26.83
100 freestyle — 22. Schridde, 59.23; 42. Pumford, 1:06.63; 47. Ryan Romine, 1:10.91
500 freestyle — 13. Heeke, 5:47.68
200 freestyle relay — 17. GBHS ‘A’ relay (Yount, Elliott, Levingston, Schridde), 1:50.63; GBHS ‘B’ relay (Brungardt, Romine, Jackson, Porter), 2:05.01; GBHS ‘C’ relay (Phillip Otten, Chandler Miller, McHenry, Pumford), 2:09.23
100 backstroke — 8. Kuhlman, 59.74; 19. Moyers, 1:07.66; 30. Kohman, 1:17.61
100 breaststroke — 30. Raymer, 1:21.29; 40. Levingston, 1:30.35; 51. McHenry, 1:49.52
400 freestyle relay — 7. GBHS ‘A’ relay (Heeke, Moyers, Schridde, Kuhlman), 3:44.02; GBHS ‘B’ relay (Pumford, Elliott, Brungardt, Porter), 4:27.50; GBHS ‘C’ relay (Romine, Miller, Otten, Raymer), 4:50.08