Rubi Torres, a senior standout at Great Bend High School, highlighted All-Western Athletic Conference selections for the Panthers in the respective fall sports: cross country, tennis, volleyball and soccer.
Torres, a school-record holder in cross country, brought home the ultimate hardware from the WAC, establishing herself as an individual conference champion and runner of the year for the Lady Panthers, who placed five runners on the all-conference list. The other four included: Morgan Harwood, Kaitlynn Tuey, Ali Heilman and Hannah Wondra.
Torres, who was a Class 5A regional champion, along with her Lady Panthers teammates, who captured the regional team crown. Torres established herself as an all-state performer for the third straight year in late October, placing fifth at the state meet at Rim Rock Farm outside of Lawrence in a time of 15 minutes, 57 seconds — her highest finish ever.
Tennis
Jami McVay and Brianna Schartz established themselves as one of the top freshman duos around, placing second at the WAC tournament. The freshmen qualifyied for the state tennis tournament in McPherson.
Volleyball
The Lady Panthers landed two first-team seniors on the All-WAC team — setter Nicole Reiter and back-row specialist Kaitlee Spray — while junior libero Katelyn Henning was an honorable mention selection.
Spray, a three-year varsity player, set a career passing attempts mark with 1,343.
Great Bend finished with a 7-21 record, falling in the opening round of sub-state play.
Soccer
Oscar Torres, Kevin Manase, Noel Rodriguez and Javier Guerra established themselves as an honorable mention selections for the Panthers.