Girls track team finishes second at St. John's

This article submitted by Courtney Karsch on 3/31/99.

The Paynesville varsity girls' track team had their second and last indoor meet on Friday at St. John's University.

Because of a school trip to Germany, many of the key players on the team were absent. This didn't hold back the team from getting second in the team score. "I was impressed with the newcomers on the team and our veterans that provided great leadership," said coach Dave Randgaard.

A lot of great races were run, a lot of personal best were made, and another school record was broken as well.

Katrina Orbeck ran her personal best in the 55-meter hurdles. She received third place with a time of 10.6. Not far behind her was Melissa Bachman in seventh place with a time of 11.0.

In the 55-meter dash, Courtney Karsch dropped her time from the previous meet. She ran it in 7.9 and got fourth place.

Jenny Hess had a great night. Hess broke the school record in the two-mile run. She ran her two miles in 11:55.1 and broke the old record by 44 seconds! Hess received first place in this race. She also got first place in the mile run. She ran it in 5:31.6. The closest girl behind her was still 30 seconds away.

Not too far behind Hess was eighth grader Amanda Mayer in third place with a time of 6:03.9. Great job girls.

In a shorter distance, the 400-meter run, Tiffany Rausch ran an excellent race with a time of 62.4. She also dropped her time since the last meet. Her run got her a first place in that event. Also running the 400 was Amy Mueller and Leanne Kolb. They ran their personal best times. Mueller ran a 71.9 and Kolb ran a 73.4.

In a newer event, the girls pole vault, Paynesville swept the top two spots. Bachman got first place with a height of 7' 0" and Joy Hemmesch jumped 7' 0" as well and got second place.

The last event of the evening was really exciting for the girls. That event is the mile relay. The team members are: Hess, Kolb, Rausch and Carin Frenchick. They all ran well. It was down to the last few strides until they were defeated. Paynesville had a time of 4:32.5 and the first place team had a time of 4:32.4. So it was really close.

"There was gutsy and outstanding efforts by the team and they just gave it an all out effort for this meet," said Randgaard.

The girls have their next and first outdoor meet, at home, on April 12 starting around 4:15 p.m.

Team Scores:
Benilde-St.Margaret - 134
Paynesville - 129
Atwater-Grove City-Cosmos - 108
BOLD - 69
Sauk Rapids - 45
Brainerd - 13

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