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It is the sixth subsection title in the past ten years for the Bulldogs, according to coach Dave Randgaard. The top four individuals and top two relays in each event advanced to the Section 5A meet.

The Dogs had three individual winners and two winning relays. Junior Tara Schmidt won the 200-meter dash, eighth grader Bri Jaeger won the 400-meter dash, and sophomore Kacy Nehowig won the 3,200-meter run. Schmidt and Nehowig advanced to state last year in the 200-meter dash and 3,200-meter run respectively.

The Dogs, looking for individual state berths, loaded their relays and came away with two wins and a runner-up finish. The Dogs' 1,600-meter relay - eighth grader Kally Felling, senior Kendra Johnson, ninth grader Kaitlyn Frenchick, and Jaeger - won by nearly five seconds. The Dogs' 3,200-meter relay - ninth grader Leah Felling, Frenchick, ninth grader Melanie Koerner, and Nehowig - won by 10 seconds.

The Dogs' 800-meter relay - Kally Felling, Jaeger, Johnson, and Schmidt - were edged by ACGC by 16 hundreths of a second and finished as the subsection runners-up. It was the first time this relay team has been beaten this year. They ran nearly a second slower than their school record in this event at subsections.

Other runner-up finishes for the Bulldogs were: Johnson in the 300-meter hurdles; Frenchick in the 800-meter run; and sophomore Tanis Beireis in the pole vault, where she tied for second with a personal best.

Third-place finishes for the Dogs were: Schmidt in the 100-meter dash; Kally Felling in the 400-meter dash; and Johnson in the high jump. Fourth-place finishes were: Beireis in the 1,600-meter run and Frenchick in the triple jump.

Sophomore Kirsten Miller was fifth in the 300-meter hurdles, just missing a section berth by a fraction of a second.

"We went into this meet with the goal of getting as many girls to sections as possible, and not concentrating on the team score as much," said Randgaard. "We mixed up our lineup, and the girls really responded in a positive manner. To win the subsection title is a deserving award for this team."

The nine section qualifiers competed at the Section 5A meet at St. John's University on Wednesday, June 1. The top two individuals and the top relay in each event, as well as any individual or relay meeting the state standard, will advance to the state meet, which will be held at the National Sports Center in Blaine on Friday, June 10, and Saturday, June 11.

Team Scores
1. Paynesville 131
2. Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball 120
3. Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 112
4. Annandale 109
5. Maple Lake 106
6. New London-Spicer 58.5
7. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 51.5

Individual Results
100-meter hurdles: Anna Kotten, eighth, 19.81;
300-meter hurdles: Kendra Johnson, second, 49.21 (section qualifier); Kirsten Miller, fifth, 54.28;
100-meter dash: Tara Schmidt, third, 13.53 (section qualifier);
200-meter dash: Schmidt, first, 27.51 (section qualifier);
400-meter dash: Bri Jaeger, first, 1:03.31 (section qualifier); Kally Felling, third, 1:03.61 (section qualifier) (personal best);
800-meter run: Kaitlyn Frenchick, second, 2:29.78 (section qualifier); Leah Felling, sixth, 2:46.10;
1,600-meter run: Tanis Beireis, fourth, 5:59.04 (section qualifier);
3,200-meter run: Kacy Nehowig, first, 12:40.08 (section qualifier);
400-meter relay: Leah Felling, Natalie Leadem, Kirsten Miller, and Randi Schaefer, sixth, 56.11;
800-meter relay: Kally Felling, Jaeger, Johnson, and Schmidt, second, 1:49.71 (section qualifier);
1,600-meter relay: Kally Felling, Johnson, Frenchick, and Jaeger, first, 4:24.94 (section qualifier);
3,200-meter relay: Leah Felling, Frenchick, Melanie Koerner, and Kacy Nehowig, first, 10:25.82 (section qualifier);
Discus: Leadem, seventh, 93'; Schaefer, eighth, 91' 9";
Shot put: Leadem, eighth, 28' 11 1/2";
High jump: Johnson, third, 4' 10" (section qualifier); Schaefer, eighth, 4' 6"; Long jump: Rachael Wendlandt, sixth, 13' 11"; Triple jump: Frenchick, fourth, 31' 11 1/2" (section qualifier); Pole vault: Beireis, second, 8' (section qualifier) (personal best); Tina Liestman, sixth, 7'.