HAYS — Great Bend tennis coach Chris Manning earned Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors after the Panthers lost a 3-way tie for the WAC title based on game winning percentage.
Garden City (58%) and Dodge City (54%) edged Great Bend (45%) after the teams tied with nine points.
"We implemented a new tiebreaker, and because of that we took third," Manning said.
Great Bend's No. 1 doubles Jacob Parks/Kai Britt (10-5) defeated Hays High's Cyler Luck/Camden Luck, 8-5 for first place.
"Jacob and Kia really stepped up in their final WAC tournament to come away as WAC champions," Manning said, "They've come a long ways since freshman year. I'm proud of them."
No. 1 singles Aiden Stacey (18-10) placed runner-up with an 8-0 loss to Garden City's Zane Storer. No. 2 singles Aaron Ramirez placed third with an 8-7 (7-3) tiebreaker over Hays High's Larry Denning.
"Aiden Stacey placed second and fought hard all day even though he didn't play his best," Manning said. "Aaron Ramirez placed third and got us valuable points."
WESTERN ATHLETIC
TEAM SCORES—1—Garden City 9 (58%); 2—Dodge City 9 (54%); 3—Great Bend 9 (45%); 4—Liberal 7; 5—Hays High 6.
NO. 1 SINGLES—1—Zane Storer, GC def. Aiden Stacey, GB, 8-0; 3—Aaron Duque, Lib def. DC, 8-3; Stacey, GB def. Duque, Lib, 8-5; Stacey, GB def. DC, 8-7 (7-3); Stacey, GB def. Brooks Dixon, Hays, 8-6
NO. 2 SINGLES—1—Kevin Nguyen, GC def. DC, 8-0; 3—Aaron Ramirez, GB def Larry Denning, Hays, 8-7 (7-3); GC def. Ramirez, GB, 8-0; DC def. Ramirez, GB, 8-2; Ramirez, GB def. Frankie Landers, Lib, 8-3
NO. 1 DOUBLES—1—Jacob Parks/Kai Britt, GB def. Cyler Luck/Camden Luck, Hays, 8-5; 3—DC def. Lib, 8-4; Parks/Britt, GB def. DC, 8-5; Parks/Britt GB def. Diego Flores/Aron Munoz, Lib 8-7 (7-2); Parks/Britt GB def. Alan Lopez/Eleazar Sanchez, GC, 8-0
NO. 2 DOUBLES—1—E.J. Contreras/J'Kobe Contreras, Lib def. DC, 8-7 (7-4); 3—Cyrus Randle/Damian Guzman, Hays def. Law Htoo/Brodie Snodgrass, GC, 8-4; Contreras/Contreras, Lib def. Chase Stout/Santiago Velasco, GB, 8-2; DC def. Stout/Velsco, GB, 8-3; Randle/Guzman, Hays def. Stout/Velasco, GB, 8-0; Htoo/Snodgrass, GC def. Stout/Velasco, GB, 8-5
