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The Dogs turned their focus to running long enough to cover the five-kilometer course and to take first place ahead of Sauk Centre, LPGE, Litchfield, and BBE.v Only Will Enns of LPGE was able to top the Bulldogs' Dan Pearson, who came in second on the hilly course. Next to cross the finish line was Paynesville's Riley Flanders in third. Just 14 seconds later, Jesse Rien (pictured at right) finished in fifth place for the Dogs.

In a meet with a small number of competitors, Jamie Wendlandt, Freddie Stock, and Tommy Flannigan pushed each other. Wendlandt came in 14th place. Stock finished one second later in 15th. Flannigan came in one second after Stock in 16th place.

It should be fun to watch these three improve together.

"It was hard to focus on running today," said Stock.

Jason Wendroth took 20th place in his second varsity race. As a freshman, Wendroth has a lot of time to improve on already impressive performances.

On a day filled with so much negative, it was nice to have a meet to go to and to think about something else for a little while.

Team Scores
1. Paynesville 39
2. Sauk Centre 51
3. LPGE 71
4. Litchfield 89
BBE Inc.

Individual Results
2. Dan Pearson 18:05
3. Riley Flanders 18:34
5. Jesse Rien 18:48
14. Jamie Wendlandt 19:43
15. Freddie Stock 19:44
16. Thomas Flannigan 19:45
20. Jason Wendroth 19:53

Little Crow Meet
The Paynesville boys' cross country team won its third straight meet on Thursday, Sept. 13, at Little Crow Golf Course. between New London and Spicer.

"It was a great meet," said coach Darrel Carstens. Paynesville won the 11-team meet by 20 points. Paynesville's Dan Pearson ran with Josh Benson of Willmar most of the race and even passed him near the finish, but Benson's final surge put him just ahead of Pearson. Pearson finished second with a time of 16:49. Jesse Rien finished near the front once again, coming in third with a time of 17:15. Rien has been running near the front consistently. Riley Flanders dropped back from Pearson and Rein a bit, finishing 10th. After a disappointing race at LPGE, Chad Wyffels ran very well at this meet hosted by NL-S. Wyffels finished in 23rd in 18:39, one second in front of Tommy Flannigan, who is continuing to run stronger after returning from a knee injury. Flannigan finished 24th.

Filling in the sixth spot for Paynesville was Jamie Wendlandt. Wendlandt came in 27th for the Dogs. Freddie Stock finished in an even 19 minutes to take 33rd.

The Dogs now have eight days in a row to train before their next meet at Princeton on Saturday, Sept. 22. Coach Carstens said the time is improving. "It's time for a good week of training to move to the next level," he added.

The Princeton meet - dubbed "the world's largest cross country meet" - is actually held in Milaca and starts at 9 a.m. It features top runners and top teams from across the state.

Team Scores
1. Paynesville 62
2. Annandale 82
3. Morris Area 102
4. NL-S 103
5. Litchfield 158
6. Willmar 169
7. Lac Qui Parle Valley 170
8. Redwood Valley 172
9. BOLD 181
ACGC Inc.
Minnewaska Inc.

Individual Results
2. Dan Pearson 16:49
3. Jesse Rien 17:15
10. Riley Flanders 17:48
23. Chad Wyffels 18:39
24. Thomas Flannigan 18:40
27. Jamie Wendlandt 18:50
33. Freddie Stock 19:00