Because it was the first meet, there were no team scores kept.
Two participants from Paynesville, Amber Michaelis and Gina Benson, had a very pleasant surprise in the triple jump. Benson received second with a jump of 30'5-1/2" and Michaelis finished third with a jump of 29'3". Michaelis had some more great jumps in the long jump, which gave her a first place with a jump of 15'4-1/2". Another event in which they did well was the high jump. Michaelis jumped 4'10" and finished fourth. Benson jumped 4'10" as well and placed third. Good job, girls.
A newcomer on this year's team, Melissa Bachman, set a new school record in the pole vault, breaking the old record of 6'6", that was set in 1998. Bachman jumped a height of 7'6". Overall, Bachman finished in fifth place. Another Paynesville jumper also did well. Joy Hemmesch placed 11th with a jump of 6'6". Hemmesch tied the record set last year.
In the 55-meter dash, Courtney Karsch had a great time in her race, but did not make it to the finals. Her time was 8.09, which gave her an overall place of 11th.
Heidi Jansen had a good throw of 25'7" in the shot put. Her throw placed her in 19th place in a field of over 50 participants.
Tiff Rausch received second place in the 400-meter run and her time was 1.04.75. Like everyone else, Rausch had some good competition and ran a great race.
In a longer distance, the 800-meter run, Carin Frenchick ran a time of 2.38.82, which gave her fourth place.
Jenny Hess, a freshman, ran an excellent race in the mile. She received first place with a time of 5.38.31. The closest time to her was 5.51.82. She won that race by a long shot.
Another school record was broken, this time by the 3,200-meter relay team. The team members are: Hess, Amanda Mayer, Erin Aagesen, and Frenchick. Their time was 10.22.54 and that earned them third place. The old record was 10.24.9. Hess had the fastest split with 2.23.
A relay that only occurs in the indoor meets is the sprint medley. The distances that are run are a 100-, 100-, 200-, and 400-meters. The team members for this relay are: Karsch, Cindy Lang, Rausch, and Amy Mueller. The team ran well and had great hand-offs. They received fifth place with a time of 2.10.60.
The third record that was broken was in the mile relay. The team members are: Hess, Mayer, Rausch, and Aagesen. The old record was 4.30.5 and the new record, which earned them a second place, was a time of 4.29.99. "I am really pleased with all the relay results," said coach Dave Randgaard.
"We had an outstanding meet against top-level competition. We placed fourth or higher in eight events. Great start, girls," Randgaard added.
There was high competition because of the 18 schools that were there.
Individual results:
55-meter dash: Courtney Karsch, 11th, 8.09; Melissa Bachman,19th, 8.24; Heidi Jansen, 24th, 8.55; Jaime Teicher, 49th, 9.3;
55-meter hurdles: Amber Michaelis, 9th, 10.39; Cindy Lang, 17th, 10.81; Bachman, 20th, 11.00; Katrina Orbeck, 27th, 11.59;
400-meter dash: Tiff Rausch, 2nd, 1.04.75;
800-meter dash: Carin Frenchick, 4th, 2.3882;
1600-meter run: Jen Hess, 1st, 5.38.31;
Mile relay: Hess, Amanda Mayer, Rausch, Frenchick, 2nd, 4.29.99;
400-meter relay: Karsch, Lang, Bachman, Jansen, 6th, .56.49;
Sprint medley: Karsch, Lang, Rausch, Amy Mueller, 5th, 2.10.60;
3,200-meter relay: Hess, Mayer, Erin Aagesen, Frenchick, 3rd, 10.22.54;
Shot put: Jansen, 19th, 28'7"; Teicher, 38th, 21'8"; Rebecca Rondeau, 40th, 20'0"; Orbeck, 41st, 19'11";
Pole vault: Bachman, 5th, 7'6"; Joy Hemmesch, 11th, 6' 6";
Long jump: Michaelis, 1st, 15' 4-1/2"; Angie Ahrens, 17th, 11' 3-1/2";
Triple jump: Gina Benson, 2nd, 30' 5-1/2", Michaelis, 3rd, 29' 11";
High jump: Benson, 3rd, 4'10"; Michaelis, 4th, 4'10"; Ashley Wall, 11th, 4' 6"; Ahrens, 17th, 4' 3".
The girls have their next meet at St. John's University on Friday, March 26, at 7 p.m. This is a new complex so come and see the girls.