Great Bend’s girls nearly perfect at WAC cross country

Lady Panthers’ Nicholson repeats as Runner of the Year

After a pair of dominating Western Athletic Conference cross country championships in 2021 and 2022, Great Bend girls’ coach Lyles Lashley wasn’t sure what a three-peat or encore performance might look like in 2023.

Never fear, though, Lashley’s experienced and deep  squad found a way to be even better when the 2023 championship for the WAC were run at their home layout – Lake Barton Golf Course – on Oct. 12.

With senior Addy Nicholson repeating her 2022 individual championship (see below), the Lady Panthers came within a whisper of a perfect cross country score, finishing with 19 points to runner-up Hays’ 67 points.

The Lady Panthers finished first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth to grab all but two of the all-WAC first team selections. To top it off, the WAC allows more than the usual seven varsity runners to compete and the Lady Panthers also secured the 10th, 11th, 13th and 14th positions to nab four second-team honors. The winning team earned Lashley WAC Coach of the Year honors, too.

“We knew we had a strong group of returners, including some freshmen who have really stepped in and bought into the program,” Lashley said. “But the biggest addition was Makenzie Premer. She has been one of our steadiest runners all season.”

Premer, a senior, came out for the first time and immediately became a big contributor to the Lady Panthers. At the WAC Championship, Premer finished third overall behind Nicholson and Hays’ Arely Maldonado.

“Our success really begins in the summer with the workouts then,” Lashley said. “The girls never complain, but they know that I’m not gonna hear them. They just come and bust their tails.”

Lashley prides his program on develop a family team-like atmosphere with many different activities.

“We do a lot of team stuff, something called tag-a-long where it’s a hard workout, but we are always working together,” Lashley said. “Your team is only as good as your fifth, sixth and seventh runners. Our goal is to not only improve individually, but improve as a group.”

Lashley also credits his team for doing many of the little things off the course that go into a winning attitude.

“We believe that each individual should doing their best for the team,” Lashley said. “Eating correctly, getting enough rest, hydrating, doing all the right things. It’s kind of like a rocket ship — getting rocket fuel by doing a lot of the right things. We don’t eat fried foods but eat the healthiest foods we can.”

Lashley said that in his tenure at Great Bend, he has built a program that uses its tradition to pass the baton to the next generation of runners.

“We always have a group of seniors and they work hard in communicating and encouraging the incoming freshmen and sophomores,” Lashley said. “If somebody is having a bad day, it is the seniors who are helping them out.”

Lashley had high praise for his top runner in Nicholson, calling her “One of the hardest workers I’ve had. Her level of effort and leadership is difficult to express in words, but she does it by action. She is the one who sets the example for others. She’s definitely one of the top runners I’ve coached.”

The WAC championship was the first of three important late-season meets for the Panthers. On Saturday, Oct. 21, it was the second of what Lashley calls the “Championship Cycle.”

Once again, running on their home course at Lake Barton, the Lady Panthers secured No. 2 in the Cycle by winning the Class 5A regional with 29 points, easily finishing ahead of runner-up Salina South with 79 points. WAC runner-up Hays placed third in the team standings with 90.

After Salina Central took the top two individual spots, it was Nicholson finishing third, Maldonado fourth and then four Lady Panthers going 5-6-7-8 to win in dominating fashion. How impressive was it? Premer didn’t run as she was playing on the Great Bend volleyball team that was competing in the sub-state championship on their home floor. Premer will, however, be in the state lineup.

A year ago, the Lady Panthers placed fifth at state, behind private schools St. James Academy, St. Thomas Aquinas and Wichita-Kapaun Mt. Carmel as well as Topeka-Seaman. All of those teams are in the field for this year’s state meet on Saturday, Oct. 28 at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence.

Lashley said that he can only control what his own team does, and he’s pleased with the work ethic provided by his current squad.

“I don’t see kids changing as much as I see society changing,” Lashley said. “This group of girls I have now are as hard-working as any team I’ve had. As a coach, you have to harvest the culture, raise the expectation. Kids still want to win, and they want to enjoy what they’re doing.”

Great Bend’s Nicholson caps off stellar senior season with WAC repeat

Senior Addy Nicholson was confident that her Great Bend teammates would provide her with a memorable final year of running cross country.

And why not? Nicholson, the reigning Western Athletic Conference Runner of the Year after claiming the individual title in 2022 as a junior, was the motivating factor to see how much better she and her team could be.

The Lady Panthers also were hosting the WAC Championship on Oct. 12 at their home layout – Lake Barton Golf Course.

“I think we knew we had a great opportunity to do something special, but I’m not sure we could have envisioned this,” Nicholson said after the near clean sweep of the top seven spots. 

Only Hays’ Arely Maldonado and Liberal’s Daniela Cerda nabbed the other two first-team places, finishing second and seventh, respectively.

For Nicholson, winning in her final season didn’t feel a lot different than a year earlier.

“Knowing that we had won made it easier for us to work harder so we could have a good confident feeling going into WAC,” Nicholson said. “We have such a strong group of runners; it just makes you responsible to work as hard as possible to get better.”

Nicholson said she felt off-season workouts and lifting weights had made her stronger for the 2023 season.

“I think I have been able to get out stronger at the start,” Nicholson said. “The middle of the race is always the toughest, but overall, I’ve gained more confidence. The 3-to-4 K (Kilometer) part of the race is where you just must tell yourself that you’re more than halfway through. It feels at times like it’s taking forever, so you must pump yourself up, and just say ‘I might as well keep going. Going across the finish line first – there’s no other feeling like it.”

Nicholson said she is undecided at the current time about where she will attend college, and if she will continue her running career.

“It all depends on the academics,” said Nicholson, who plans to be a biology major with a future in optometry. “I always thought it would be cool to be a doctor, but now I think it would be cool to learn about one body part and how the environment can affect that part.”

Nicholson said that she and her teammates are motivated daily by their coach, who makes sure everyone gets a dosage of motivation.

“We let coach do the talking and he mostly tells us to make the race yours and not worry about others,” Nicholson said.

Nicholson said she has gone from a timid freshman to a more outspoken leader for her team during her high school career.

“I’ve just got more confidence and there has been a certain amount of joy in helping to create the team I’ve always wanted,” Nicholson said. “When I was a sophomore and that group of seniors left, I had to resort to being a new leader and I think that just comes naturally with the expectation from Coach Lashley. There are no excuses whatsoever from him. You can never have one.”

Western Athletic Conference
Girls Cross Country

PLACE	TEAM	POINTS
1	Great Bend	19
2	Hays	67
3	Dodge City	86
4	Liberal	91
5	Garden City	103

WAC All-Conference