BUFFS ROUNDUP: Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019
CROSS COUNTRY
The Garden City Buffaloes’ boys cross country team came up with their best performance of the season on Thursday and it couldn’t have come at a better time, as senior Ethan Fisher captured the Western Athletic Conference individual 5,000-meter run in a time of 16:34.74 that propelled his team to the title, narrowly squeaking past Great Bend, 41 points to 43.
The five counting times for the Buffs all finished among the top 13 runners at Sand Plum Trail, the Fort Hays State University cross country course.
Meanwhile, freshman Jocelyn Sosa continued her strong rookie season by placing second in the 4,000-meter girls division, clocking a time of 15:42.21 to finish behind Great Bend senior Mayra Ramirez, who had a time of 15:19.34. The GCHS girls team placed fourth with 101 points while Great Bend captured the team title with 31 points.
The tightly-bunched Buffs’ next highest runner was senior Santiago Nunez, taking sixth in 17:10.80. Brody Hoff had a 10th place finish with a time of 17:34.57 while freshman Devin Chappel was right behind in 11th with a mark of 17:37.19. Another freshman, Evan Gurrola, took 13th in a time of 17:55.77 that rounded out the counting times. Senior Austin Hess took 19th in 18:14.65 and sophomore Kenji Craig was 23rd in 18:33.08.
Senior Kaety Kohlhorst was the next highest finisher in the girls race, placing 23rd in a time of 17:30.22. Destiny Avila was 25th in 17:33.19; Ana Casados and Andrea Hernandez were 27th and 28th in times of 17:34.20 and 17:34.28. Anna Lobmeyer placed 31st in 18:01.91 and Kalia Aubauer was 33rd in 18:23.51.
Next up for the teams will be the Class 6A regional on Saturday, Oct. 26, when they travel to Wichita where they will compete at the Cessna Activity Center. The top 3 teams will qualify for the state meet, to be held Nov. 2, at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence.
The girls race will commence at 10 a.m. with the boys to follow at approximately 10:40 a.m. Other teams entered there include Derby, Dodge City, Haysville-Campus, Liberal, Wichita East, Wichita South, Wichita Southeast and Wichita West.
BOYS SOCCER
The GCHS boys soccer team continued to struggle scoring goals late this season on Thursday, falling to Wichita Trinity Academy, 1-0, in Pool Play of the Wichita North Cup.
Trinity scored the lone goal in the game in the 23rd minute of the first half by Cole Matthews.
The Buffs out-shot Trinity, 9-5, but couldn’t find the net on any of their shots. Chris Barragan had two saves off five shots by Trinity.
On Saturday, Oct. 19, the Buffs will play for fifth place at 9 a.m. against an undetermined opponent. They will close out their regular season on Monday, Oct. 21, against TMP-Marian. The pitch will begin at 6 p.m. and there will be no junior varsity game. Class 6A postseason play will begin the week of Oct. 28. Brackets will be determined on Sat., Oct. 26.
GIRLS TENNIS
The Garden City High School Lady Buffs tennis team was to begin play on Friday, Oct. 18, at the Class 6A state tournament in Topeka at the Kossover Tennis Center.
All six of the Lady Buffs qualified for the state at last Saturday’s regional tournament in Garden City. Sage Riggs and Carson Linenberger placed second and third in singles while the doubles teams of Hannah Kipp/Carole Galia took second and Ashleigh Chappel/Brooke Ptacek placed fourth.
GIRLS GOLF
The Lady Buffs golf team, fresh off a regional individual and team championship at Macdonald Park Golf Course in Wichita on Monday, Oct. 14, will now take the road to Hutchinson for the first round on Monday, Oct. 21, of the Class 6A state tourney.
The event, to be played at Carey Park Golf Course, will feature 12 teams and other individual qualifiers.
By virtue of a change in format approved earlier this year by the KSHSAA Board of Directors, the state tourney is now a two-day, 36-hole event. After day one, the field will be cut to the lowest six team scores and the next 18 lowest individual scorers. The final round will be on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
Team and individual champions will be determined by the lowest two-day, 36-hole scores. In the team portion, the lowest four scores each day will figure into the team total.
Members of the Lady Buffs are Alyssa McMillen, Grace Yi, Ryann Warren, Emma Kells, Rian Linenberger and Allie Sandoval. They are coached by Trent Specht and Carlos Prieto.
Garden City High School 