Halfway through their season, the girls track team continues to excel by reaching personal bests and breaking records. As a team, the girls had to settle for a pair of fifth-place finishes at ACGC on Tuesday and at New London-Spicer on Thursday.At ACGC, on May 2, the girls had several members absent or out with injuries. "This was a meet with the top teams in the area, and we weren't full strength, which you need to be in this type of meet," said coach Dave Randgaard.
Paynesville had three first place finishers: Jenny Hess in both the 1,600-meter and the 3,200-meter runs, and Tiff Rausch (pictured at right) in the 400-meter dash. Rausch ran her best time of the season (1:00.94) in the 400. She also was second in the 200-meter dash.
The Bulldogs' top relay finish was in the 3,200-meter relay. The team members are Carin Frenchick. Danielle Lieser, Sara Lieser, and Leanne Kolb. They were third with a time of 10:55.
Three personal bests were set in the field events. Hannah Braun, a ninth grader, jumped her highest in the pole vault at 7' 6". She was eighth.
Morgan Martinson, also a ninth grader, reached a personal best in the discus. She threw a 83' 11" for eighth.
Heidi Jansen threw her personal best in the shot put. Her throw of 32' 0" gave her fifth place.
Team scores
1. Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City -148
2. Willmar -118
3. Litchfield -97
4. New London-Spicer -96
5. Paynesville -91.5
6. BDRSH -89.5
7. Montevideo -56
8. Winsted Holy Trinity -4
Individual Results
100-meter dash: Rausch, fourth, 13.56; Courtney Karsch, sixth, 13.6;
200-meter dash: Rausch, second, 27.4;
400-meter dash: Rausch, first, 1:00.94;
800-meter run: Frenchick, fourth, 2:31.6; Kolb, eighth, 2:43;
1,600-meter run: Hess, first, 5:10.91;
3,200-meter run: Hess, first, 11:05;
400-meter relay: Karsch, Jansen, Joy Hemmesch, Carla Hemmesch, fourth, 55.0;
800 meter relay: C. Hemmesch, Jansen, S. Lieser, Martinson, sixth, 2:00;
1,600-meter relay: Frenchick, D. Lieser, Kolb, S. Lieser, sixth, 4:27;
3,200-meter relay: Frenchick, D. Lieser, S. Lieser, Kolb, third, 10:55;
Discus: Martinson, eighth, 83' 11" (personal best );
Shot put: Jansen, fifth, 32' 0" (personal best); J. Hemmesch, sixth, 30' 4";
High jump: Ashley Wall, fourth, 4' 8";
Pole vault: Braun, eighth, 7' 6" (personal best).
Little Crow Meet On Tuesday, May 2, right at the beginning of the hot weather, the girls traveled to New London for the biggest meet so far this year. In addition to battling the hot weather, the girls took on competitors from a dozen schools.
Three Paynesville athletes broke Little Crow records as the Bulldogs took fifth.
Jenny Hess broke a number of records in taking first in both the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs. Her time of 5:05.9 in the 1,600 broke Tina Lang's school record of 5:08.7 set in 1994. Hess also broke the Little Crow Invitational record of 5:10.83 that was set back in 1983 by Michelle Marthaler, a state champion for Brooten.
Hess also set a new Little Crow record in the 3,200-meter run. The old record was 11:10 by Marthaler in 1986, and Hess ran it in 11:05.56.
Tiff Rausch also broke the meet record in winning the 400-meter dash. The old record was 1:00.08, and Rausch ran a 1:00.0. This was the second best time for Rausch in her career.
She also was second in the 200-meter dash.
Team scores
1. ACGC -95.5
2. Minnewaska -86.5
3. New London -83.5
4. BDRSH -82
5. Paynesville -69.5
6. Litchfield -58
7. Melrose -57
8. Morris -53
9. Benson -44
10. Annandale -41
11. Eden Valley -32
12. BBE -9
Individual Results
100-meter dash: Karsch, fourth, 13.3; Rausch, sixth, 13.4;
200-meter dash: Rausch, second, 27.0; Karsch, seventh, 28.2;
400-meter dash: Rausch, first, 60.00; D. Lieser, eighth, 1:05;
800-meter run: Frenchick, fifth, 2:32;
1,600-meter run: Hess, first, 5:05.9;
3,200-meter run: Hess, first, 11:05.5;
1,600-meter relay: D. Lieser, Kolb, C. Hemmesch, Frenchick, fifth, 4:28;
3,200-meter relay: Frenchick, D. Lieser, Kolb, Jana Zumwalde, fourth, 10:50.