NEWTON — The Great Bend High School boys’ cross-country team returned from Newton on Saturday with a Class 5A regional meet runners-up trophy.
The Panthers finished with 68 points, taking second place behind Maize South, which scored 49.
“I told them they had to go after Maize South, and for the most part, they didn’t do a very good job of it,” GBHS head coach Todd Kaiser said of the boys’ team. “But they did get the runner-up trophy. They’re going to get to run again, which is the important part.
“Hopefully, we can turn in a good performance next week.”
The Lady Panthers finished in sixth place with 128 points.
“The girls just had a tough regional,” Kaiser said. “I thought it was pretty stacked going in. They didn’t really have a bad race. They just had a lot of good teams to run against.”
The Great Bend boys qualified for the state meet, which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 2, at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence.
For the GBHS girls, only freshman Karen Razo qualified to move on.
“She’s been an outstanding addition to the team,” Kaiser said of Razo. “It’s definitely exciting for her.”
Cristian Garcia led the Panthers, finishing second at 17 minutes, seven seconds.
Christian Graham finished behind him in fourth at 17:18.
Both seniors won an individual medal for their performances.
Razo finished 16th at 16:32.
Kaitlynn Tuey, Great Bend’s No. 2 runner, placed 21st at 16:51. She narrowly missed qualifying for the state meet.
“It was sad for her,” Kaiser said of Tuey. “On top of the three teams that qualify, the next five runners who aren’t in those teams qualify. She was No. 6 on that list, so she just missed qualifying, which is sad because she’s a senior, but she ran a good race. She’s had a good career.”

                             — Kevin Price

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS-COUNTRY
Class 5A Regional Meet

Saturday

At Newton
Centennial Park

GIRLS

Team scores
1. Maize South, 33; 2. Valley Center, 40; 3. Newton, 79; 4. Hays, 118; 5. Salina South, 123; 6. Great Bend, 128; 7. Salina Central, 205

Top 10 medalists
1. Mady Nestor, Maize South, 15:30.12; 2. Jadyn Eddy, Valley Center, 15:44.56; 3. Ashlyn Glann, Newton, 15:54.66; 4. Alyssa Frausto, Maize South, 15:57.88; 5. Kalee Owens, Valley Center, 15:58.78; 6. Kasey Stucky, Newton, 16:01.15; 7. Kayla Barton, Valley Center, 16:03.00; 8. Veronica Sowder, Maize South, 16:05.53; 9. Jenna Brockel, Maize South, 16:11.18; 10. Emilee Holloway, Salina South, 16:15.25

Other state qualifiers
15. Marie Reveles, Hays, 16:27.94; 16. Karen Razo, Great Bend, 16:32.59; 18. Haley George, Hays, 16:37.81; 19. Anna Zuecher, Salina South, 16:46.00

Great Bend results
21. Kaitlynn Tuey, 16:51; 27. Mariah Stein, 17:32; 30. Faith Pumford, 17:53; 37. Grace Ball, 18:37; 44. Abby Stiner, 19:42; 48. Sarah Niederee, 20:21

BOYS

Team scores
1. Maize South, 49; 2. Great Bend, 68; 3. Newton, 79; 4. Hays, 96; 5. Salina South, 103; 6. Wichita Heights, 176; 7. Salina Central, 187; 8. Valley Center, 189

Top 10 medalists
1. Tristan Irish, Salina South, 16:54.18; 2. Cristian Garcia, Great Bend, 17:07.03; 3. Ethan Kossover, Maize South, 17:11.78; 4. Christian Graham, Great Bend, 17:18.25; 5. Daniel Villareal, Salina Central, 17:24.59; 6. Kaleb Lehrman, Wichita Heights, 17:26.41; 7. Hunter Thiessen, Maize South, 17:27.02; 8. Robert Loeffler, Newton, 17:32.44; 9. Thomas Kelso, Newton, 17:32.81; 10. Jake Braschler, Maize South, 17:35.18

Other state qualifiers
11. Josh Reed, Salina South, 17:38.25; 14. Zachary Hopp, Hays, 17:54.18

Great Bend results
16. Cole Mulch, 17:59; 20. Bobby Chavez, 18:12; 26. Eric Vavquez, 18:31; 31. Adam Jacobs, 18:45; 33. Isaiah Davis, 19:01