The Paynesville girls' track team had two outstanding meets last week. With lots of the girls placing in the top three, the girls won at home and took second at Minnewaska. Six personal bests helped the girls win their home meet on Friday. To do so, they had to defeat the talented team from Long Prairie-Grey Eagle. "Long Prairie hadn't been beaten by any team this season so far. It took a great effort for our team to defeat them," said coach Dave Randgaard.
Sophomore Melissa Bachman set three personal bests, including a new school record in the pole vault. She bettered her old school record by three inches with a jump of 10' 3".
In the 100 hurdles, Bachman ran her personal best with a time of 18.26 to earn second place. In fifth was Katrina Orbeck with her best time of the season at 18.6.
Courtney Karsch and Tiffany Rausch ran their personal bests in the 100-meter dash. Karsch ran a 13.17 for third place and Rausch was right behind her with a time of 13.19 for a fourth place. Rausch also broke 27 seconds for the first time in the 200-meter dash as she took first place in front of a talented LPGE runner. Karsch ran her best 200-meter dash ever in a time of 27.36 for third.
In the mile race, Jenny Hess came back after being absent earlier in the week and won with a time of 5:12. Hess is still undefeated in all her races. Rachel Koehn gave a gutsy performance in the mile after she was asked to run it for the team.
Danielle Lieser (pictured)was fourth in the 3,200-meter run, and she also was the surprise of the meet in the long jump. She leaped a personal best 15' 5" for second place behind Melrose's Amanda Thieschafer, the defending state champ.
In the 800-meter run, Leanne Kolb and Sara Lieser scored some important points for the team. Kolb was fifth, and Lieser, running the 800 for the first time, was sixth. Carin Frenchick won the race for Paynesville.
Joy Hemmesch was second in the pole vault with a jump of 7' 6".
The Bulldogs scored 117 points in the running events and 54 in the field events. "We had a really nice balance of points scored between our running and field events. Our captains also continue to lead by setting examples," said Randgaard.
The Bulldogs competed at ACGC yesterday. They will be at NL-S on Thursday.
Team scores
1. Paynesville -171
2. LPGE -163
3. Melrose -90.5
4. New London-Spicer- 84.5
5. EV-W/Kimball -28.5
6. BBE -11.5
Individual results
100-meter hurdles: Melissa Bachman, second, 18.26 (personal best); Katrina Orbeck, fifth, 18.6 (best time of season);
100-meter dash: Courtney Karsch, third, 13.17(personal best); Tiffany Rausch, fourth, 13.19 (personal best);
200-meter dash: Rausch, first, 26.9; Karsch, third, 27.36 (personal best);
400-meter dash: Rausch, first, 1:02; Danielle Lieser, fourth, 1:06;
800-meter run: Carin Frenchick, first, 2:31.8; Leanne Kolb, fifth, 2:47.2; Sara Lieser, sixth, 2:47.9;
1,600-meter run: Jenny Hess, first, 5:12;
3,200-meter run: Hess, first, 11:12.8; D. Lieser, fourth, 13:55;
400-meter relay: Karsch, Heidi Jansen, Joy Hemmesch, Carla Hemmesch, second, 54.24 (best time of the season);
800-meter relay: C. Hemmesch, Jansen, J. Hemmesch, Morgan Martinson, second, 1:58.9;
1,600-meter relay: Frenchick, S. Lieser, Kolb, Hannah Braun, second, 4:34.8;
3,200-meter relay: Frenchick, D. Lieser, Kolb, Jana Zumwalde, third, 10:47;
Discus: J. Hemmesch, third, 86' 5"; Martinson, sixth, 79' 11" (personal best);
Shot put: J. Hemmesch, fourth, 31' 0"; Jansen, sixth, 31' 6";
Long jump: D. Lieser, second, 15' 5" (personal best); Bachman, third, 14' 9"; Rausch, fourth, 14' 3";
Triple jump: Bachman, third, 32' 11" (personal best);
Pole vault: Bachman, first, 10' 3" (new school record); J. Hemmesch, second, 7' 6".
Minnewaska Meet The Bulldogs were edged by the host Lakers 146-141 at the Minnewaska meet on Tuesday, April 25.
A couple of the underclassmen really made great progress as they scored first places for the team. Danielle Lieser jumped 14' 11.5" in the long jump and Amanda Mayer jumped 30'4" in the triple jump for their first places. Lieser reached her personal best with her jump.
Senior Carin Frenchick ran the 800-meter run in 2:31.28 for second place.
Heidi Jansen threw the shot put 31'1" to give her a second place for the team. Joy Hemmesch, also from Paynesville, was one inch behind Jansen for third. The throw was a personal best for Hemmesch, who also jumped her best in the pole vault with a jump of 7'6".
In the sprints, Tiff Rausch took second in the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter dash. Courtney Karsch took third in the 100-meter dash when she ran her best time so far this year.
"The girls had an outstanding meet against the tough Minnewaska team," said coach Randgaard.
Team scores
1. Minnewaska- 146
2. Paynesville- 141
3. NL-S - 87
4. Morris- 72
5. Ottertail County Central- 42
6. West Central Area -37
7. BBE -39
Individual results
100-meter hurdles: Bachman, fourth, 18.24;
100-meter dash: Karsch, third, 13.35; Rausch, fifth, 13.57;
200-meter dash: Rausch, second, 27.51; Karsch, fifth, 28.88;
400-meter dash: Rausch, second, 1:02.19; D. Lieser, fourth, 1:06.40;
800-meter run: Frenchick, second, 2:31.28; Mayer, fifth, 2:37.56;
1,600-meter run: Mayer, fifth, 5:54.53;
3,200-meter run: Jana Zumwalde, fifth, 14:21;
400-meter relay: Karsch, Jansen, J. Hemmesch, Carla Hemmesch, third, 56.03;
800-meter relay: Katrina Orbeck, Jansen, Sara Lieser, Hannah Braun, fourth, 2:00.50;
1,600-meter relay: second, 4:28.53;
3,200-meter relay: second, 10:50.94;
Discus: J. Hemmesch, fourth, 89' 5";
Shot put: Jansen, second, 31' 1"; J. Hemmesch, third, 31' 0";
High jump: Ashley Wall, sixth, 4' 6";
Long jump: D. Lieser, first, 14' 11.5"; Bachman, third, 14' 3.5"; Wall, sixth, 13' 6";
Triple jump: Mayer, first, 30' 11"; Bachman, third, 30' 4";
Pole vault: Bachman, second, 10' 0"; J. Hemmesch, fourth, 7' 6"; Braun, fifth, 7' 6".