By NICK McQUEEN

nmcqueen@dailynews.net

To beat Western Athletic Conference girls' swimming powerhouse Great Bend, it takes an 'A' game with a little help.

A senior-laden Hays High School squad, in its final meet of 2008, gave everything it had Tuesday at the Center for Health Improvement Pool. It just wasn't enough.

A deep Panther team brought its 'A' game and a little bit more in winning the WAC crown with 316 points, 111 better than runner-up Garden City. Hays High finished third with 189.

"Between second and third, it was definitely as competitive as we thought it would be," said Hays High coach Chris Channell. "I really expected both (Garden City and Hays High) to be a little closer to Great Bend.

"They just had an unbelievably good meet," he added.

Two weeks ago in the same pool, Hays High claimed its first meet title under Channell in five seasons, and Tuesday had the usual suspects putting points on the board.

On Senior Day, standout senior Hollie Rohn put up two gold medals, and co-captain and senior Megan Thyfault put up a gold and silver in her individual competition.

Thyfaul won the 100-yard breaststroke in 1 minute, 20.60 seconds, and was second in the 200-yard freestyle, an event she was in much of last season, but not this year.

"I don't swim that a lot, but I felt pretty good about it," she said. "I knew I probably wouldn't beat (Great Bend's McKenna Rondeau), but I tried to stay with her.

"The breaststroke, I really look forward to every time out, and got a pretty good one today," she added.

Thyfault's win in the breaststroke, along with Rohn's 2:33.77 gold-medal performance in the 200 individual medley and a 1:08.28 win in the 100 butterfly were Hays High's only golds, but the second and third place team finishes were decided by just a few events.

"Garden City out-touched us on a couple events that would have made it a lot tighter of a race," Channell said. "I was really hoping the girls had that experience to move up the ladder and get a least into second place in the WAC."

In the 200-yard medley relay, Hays High's team was edged by two Garden City teams. The Buffs' 'B' team took third by .17 over Hays High, which would have caused a four-point swing in the standings.

"We were hoping to be closer to Great Bend in this meet, but it's always fun to come out here against great competition," Thyfault said.

In the other events, Great Bend's depth just kept taking points away from both teams.

"We did as well as we could have done in those events in Great Bend," Channell said.

In all, the Panthers took home top honors in seven events.

"That just goes to Great Bend having such a deep team and all of them swim well, from top to bottom," Channell said.

Still, a third-place finish couldn't put a damper on one of the most successful teams under Channell, a team that honored 10 seniors during intermission Tuesday.

"I am so proud of the girls today," said Thyfault, a three-year varsity swimmer. "We've been working really hard and we had a lot of new girls. They've come out with such great drive and that's so awesome to have on a team."

One of those seniors, Robyn Creel, claimed a second- and third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle and 100-yard backtstroke, respectively. The Indians' 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay each took second place, both with Rohn swimming the first leg.

"Hollie was way out ahead of everyone and wasn't really challenged," Channell said.

While Rohn will continue her season by competing in the 100-yard butterfly at the Class 5A state meet in Topeka on May 16, her teammates were in their final meet in Hays. Both the 200 relays earned state consideration times and will make the trip to Topeka. They have a slight chance at competing.

"This was, by far, the most exciting season I've coached," Channell said. "We've had teams that have probably qualified for state, but this team was just really awesome to work with. They swam as one team, supported each other and really backed each other up."