Lady Panthers run away to 5th straight crown
When the Great Bend Lady Panthers won the 2024 Western Athletic Conference cross country championship for the fourth consecutive year, highly successful head coach Lyles Lashley was already looking into his crystal ball to the 2025 campaign.
That’s because he would have five of the seven Lady Panther runners back for a run at a coveted fifth crown.
Little did he realize how different his roster would look by the time the ’25 season kicked off in mid-August with preseason workouts.
First, senior Sienna Smith suffered an injury that would keep her out for the entire season; would be junior Teegan Guerra opted to focus on soccer and Teah King simply didn’t return for her junior year, Lashley said.
That left junior Bella Long and sophomore Samantha Negaard to carry the flag for the Lady Panthers, who were joined by a group of heralded freshmen that Lashley had already predicted would have an impact in 2025.
When the Panthers hosted the first meet of the season, all Lashley could muster was a seven-runner roster and that’s how the season unfolded.
Even with the minimum number of runners to comprise a varsity roster, the freshman group was every bit as good as expected…maybe even more so.
Led by rookie Decorah Schroeter’s individual victory over the 4-kilometer layout at Liberal’s Willow Tree Golf Course, the Lady Pantehrs surged to another WAC crowns, giving them a handful and first-place finishes.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with the girls,” Lashley said. “We had a a lot of turnover and not knowing up front who might be our 4-5 runners (scores on based upon a team’s top five runners). We had three freshman newcomers.”
What Lashley did know is that his small group put in a solid summer of off-season workouts to prepare for the rigors of the fall schedule.
“They bought in and put in a good summer,” said Lashley. “Basically, we are always looking for anybody who wants to come out. We have great work habits and the girls are very competitive. They have an incredible work ethic and yet they have a good time.”
When the race results were finalized at Willow Tree, the Lady Panthers had scored 31 points while runner-up Dodge City was at 46, closing the gap from the previous season.
“Dodge has some outstanding young runners, too,” Lashley said. “We had lost to them at Rim Rock (Lawrence) a couple of weeks earlier, so we knew it was going to be a tough battle.”
It was the freshman Schroeter who led the way with a time of 16:20.23 over the 4-kilomter course. Long was rock solid, finishing second at 16:35.37 and another freshman, Sydney Stein, was fourth with a time of 16:54.55. Sophomore Samantha Negaard took eighth and yet another of the fab freshmen, Makenzie Gwin, placed 16th to round out the scoring times.
A pair of sophomores–Sydney James and Alyssa Prendergast rounded out the winning team’s finishes in 26th and 30th.
“We’ve had a long year and considering our lack of depth, we’ve performed very well,” Lashley said. “In the past we’ve usually had about a dozen or so girls out, but this group just kept getting better every week and they bonded so well considering how young they are.”
If Lashley had his Aladdin Lamp to rub, he would ask for his 4-5-6 runners to start moving their times closer to the top three.
“I really can’t complain because some of them really stepped up for where we thought we might be,” Lashley said. “We don’t look too far ahead and just go week to week and stay as healthy as possible.”
Garden City’s Liliana Romero, a sophomore, broke up the Lady Panthers potential sweep by placing third with a time of 16:39.72. Three Dodge City underclassmen — freshmen Olivia Springer and Anna Clevenger, and sophomore Krishna Perez Martinez — rounded out the top seven for first-team all-WAC.
Schroeder sparkles in WAC meet to grab Runner of Year Award
Great Bend freshman stepped in and led Lady Panthers
When she started summer training for the 2025 fall high school cross country season, Great Bend’s Decorah Schroeter took time to think about what her debut campaign in high school might look like.
Though just a freshman, Schroeter said she had thoughts that if the season went well, she might compete for the individual championship at the Western Athletic Conference meet late in the calendar.
She accomplished that goal by posting a winning 4-kilometer time of 16:20.23 to out-pace sophomore teammate Bella Long, who was second at 16:35.37. Another teammate, Sydney Stein, was fourth (16:54.55).
“Getting WAC Runner of the Year feels good and honestly I was thinking about this as the season progressed,” Schroeter said. “I’ve been training hard and have been healthy and had a good season.”
Long, the elder statesman of the group, has been the team leader, Schroeter said and that has encouraged not only her but the other freshmen.
“She’s our leader and give us rides and encourages us,” Schroeter said.
The WAC runs a 4-kilometer race instead of the traditional 5-kilometer but Schroeter said the shorter distance doesn’t really affect her.
“You just have to realize the race is shorter and plan your pace differently,” Schroeter said. “I did some 5-k races on my own this summer, so this fall hasn’t seemed so bad. In some ways I think I surprised myself and it encourages me to work even harder.”
In assessing her race strategy, Schroeter said that her first mile is usually her strongest.
“It’s my best and I think the second mile is the hardest to hold my pace,” she said. “If you’re in the lead it’s just hard to keep the right place. When other teammates are up there with you, it’s a lot easier.”
In the 5-k races, the third and final mile is perhaps the biggest challenge, Schroeter said.
“I usually do fine with it, but you just use the rest of what you have left to get to the finish line,” Schroeter said.
Schroeder said she prefers cooler weather as well as a flatter course upon which to run.
“I don’t like really hot or really cold,” Schroeter said. “Maybe something around 70 degrees.”
Now that the WAC is complete, Schroeter and her teammates will turn their attention to the Class 5A Regional which they will host Saturday (Oct. 25) at Lake Barton. The top three teams will qualify for the state meet on Nov. 1 at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence.
Western Athletic Conference
Girls’ Cross Country Championship
Thursday, October 16, At Willow Tree Golf Course/Liberal
Team Scores
Great Bend, 31
Dodge City, 46
Garden City, 71
Hays, 86
Liberal, 110
All-WAC 1st Team
Decorah Schroeter, Great Bend, Fr. 16:20.23
Bella Long, Great Bend, Jr., 16:35.37
Liliana Romero, Garden City, So., 16:39.72
Sydney Stein, Great Bend, Fr., 16:54.55
Olivia Springer, Dodge City, Fr., 17:14.83
Anna Clevenger, Dodge City, Fr., 17:36.89
Krishna Perez Martinez, Dodge City, So., 17:39.08
All-Wac 2nd Team
Samantha Negaard, Great Bend, So., 18:24.31
Sofia Lucena, Liberal, Sr., 18:24.86
Alexa Cooley, Hays, Fr., 18:25.40
Valeria Ontiveros, Liberal, Fr., 18:30.57
Cara Wiese, Garden City, Jr., 18:44.02
Liliana Arroyo Alba, Dodge City, Sr., 19:02.10
Isabela Guevara, Garden City, Jr., 19:02.40
Runner of the Year – Decorah Schroeter, Great Bend, Fr.
Coach of the Year – Lyles Lashley, Great Bend
