NEWTON — The Great Bend High School girls cross country team joined three members of the Great Bend boys team in qualifying for the Class 5A state meet at Lawrence.
Karen Razo placed third (20:24.34) to lead the girls to third place with 95 points, just three ahead of Newton. Paloma Sandoval (20:58.94) placed 11th. Autumn Weingrad, 22;49.91; Madison Bittner, 22:58.18; Ruth Reyes, 23:27.06; Ashley Weingrad, 23:28.81; Emma Millard, 24:00.44 also qualified. The Class 5A girls race will start at 10 a.m. Oct. 31.
Returning state qualifier Kerby Depenbusch led the boys with a first-place medalist finish (16:14.72). Depenbusch placed seventh in Class 5A last year. The Class 5A boys race will start at 12:15 p.m. Oct. 31.
“It was a bittersweet meet for us,” said Great Bend coach Todd Kaiser. “I was very happy to see the girls get qualified for the state cross country meet. They put together a great race and earned the opportunity to compete next week.
Salina South placed third with 89 points and Great Bend’s boys were fourth (106).
“On the boys side, I was really hoping we would be able to get them qualified as well,” Kaiser said. “We knew we had to go after Salina South for the third-place team placing in order to get qualified but it just didn’t happen. We had opportunities to go after Salina South runners during the race with our No. 4 and No. 5 runners, but we just didn’t take advantage of it.
“On the bright side, we did get three boys qualified as individuals. Kerby Depenbusch, who was the regional champion, Eric Vazquez, who placed 11th and Armando Jaquez, who placed 12th all qualified for the state meet next week. I’m very happy for those three young men but I also feel bad for the rest of the boys team who will miss out on the state meet experience.
NEWTON CLASS 5A
Boys team scores— 1. Andover 38; 2. Newton 62; 3, Salina South 89; 4. Great Bend 106; 5. Emporia 117; 6. Salina Central 159; 7. Wichita Heights 176; 8. Valley Center 204.
Top 5—1. Kerby Depenbusch, GB, 16:14.72; 2. Alex Moen, Andover, 16:15.66; 3. Josh Reed, Salina South, 16:34.53; 4. Rob Loeffler, Newton, 16:43.09; 5. Connor Hawkins, Andover, 16:45.69
GREAT BEND—SQ 11. Eric Vasquez, 17:17.44; SQ 12. Armando Jaquez, 17:22.53; 40. Chandler Miller, 19:20.09; 42. Anthony Martinez, 19:31.75; 51. Jeffrey Muirui, 21:06.41; 52. Rodrigo Miranda, 21:14.88
Girls team scores—1. Valley Center 41; 2. Andover 68; 3. Great Bend 95; 4. Newton 98; 5. Emporia 105; 6. Salina Central 110; 7. Salina South 171
Top 5—Carly Flake, Andover, 19:21.31; 2. Karli Elsner, VC, 19:58.09; 3. Karen Razo, GB, 20:24.34; 4. Kalee Owens, VC, 20:32.25; 5. Linnea Meier, Emporia, 20:36.18
GREAT BEND—11. Paloma Sandoval, 20:58.94; 25. Autumn Weingrad, 22:49.91; 27. Madison Bittner, 22:58.18; 29. Ruth Reyes, 23:27.06; 30. Ashley Weingrad, 23:28.81; 35. Emma Millard, 24:00.44