The track season got under way this past Saturday with their first meet at St. Cloud State University. Paynesville competed against 13 schools from around the area. Team scores were not kept.
Paynesville had athletes place in the top eight in 11 out of 15 events. This was more than any other team that competed at the meet.
The biggest highlight of the day was when senior Luke Trees cleared 6' 6" in the high jump, which is a new school indoor record. Trees cleared the height on his first jump quite easily. The judges had to get a tape measure out to make sure it was at the correct height. Luke attempted the height of 6'7", but just barely missed the jump.
Other highlights included the 1600-meter relay taking third place. This team consisted of Jeff Voss, Nic Glenz, Travis Flanders, and Eric Rausch. The young men ran a time of 3:42. This time was believed to be the school record, but further study discovered that the record had been beaten by last year's team but not yet recorded.
Team members placing in the top eight in an event are listed below. Also competing at SCSU but not placing in the top eight were: Cody Wiig, Ryan Whitcomb, Andrew Jones, and Ryan Flanders.
The team is looking forward to another successful season and is hoping to win many meets and put some people into the state meet.
The track team has another indoor meet on Saturday at St. John's University at 7:30 p.m.
Individual results
400-meter run: Eric Rausch, fourth, 55.67;
800-meter run: Eric Korman, sixth, 2:15;
1,600-meter run: Adam Utsch, sixth, 5:01;
3,200-meter run: Clayton Lang, fifth, 10:23;
55-meter hurdles: Jeff Voss, fifth, 8.43;
400-meter relay: Mike Smith, Adam Schaefer, John Brady, Scott Thompson, sixth, 51.56;
Sprint medley relay: Josh Trees, Voss, Nic Glenz, Luke Trees, sixth, 1:45.02;
1,600-meter relay: Travis Flanders, Voss, Glenz, Rausch, third, 3:42;
3,200-meter relay: Flanders, Korman, Dan Pearson, Lang, seventh, 9:13;
Pole vault: Glenz, fifth, 11' 6";
High Jump: Luke Trees, first, 6' 6" (school record); J. Trees, sixth, 5' 10".