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The meet was scheduled for Monday, April 11, but was moved back a day due to rain.

Bachman's and Binsfeld's first-place finishes highlighted the team's 14 placewinners. Bachman was also seventh in the 110-meter hurdles, and Binsfeld was also eighth in the discus.

Sophomore Dugan Flanders finished second in the 3,200-meter run, and he also earned a medal by helping the 3,200-meter relay team place third. Also running legs on that relay were senior Matt Mehr, sophomore Curt Forster, and eighth grader Jamison Wall.

Senior Josh Binsfeld hurls the shot put on Tuesday, April 1, at the home track meet. He tied for first with a throw of 40' 10" in that meet.

The Dogs' 400-meter relay (Forster, senior Eric Hansen, ninth grader Bill Thompson, and sophomore Bryce Fischbach) and their 800-meter relay (sophomore Alex Jewell, Fischbach, sophomore Travis Flannigan, and ninth grader Alex Svejkovsky) both placed fourth, just missing a medal. The 400-meter relay team finished just a second behind third place.

Flannigan also placed fifth in the 110-meter hurdles, and Forster placed fifth in the 300-meter hurdles.

"We continue to improve with each meet," said coach Todd Spanier. "We beat EV-W/Kimball, a team we had lost to last week at ACGC. We continue to get healthy, getting Matt Mehr and Bryce Fischbach into the lineup for the first time."

The team, added Spanier, had three eighth graders move up and contribute: Wall scored points in both the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter relays; Nathan Friederichs scored in both the high jump (tying with Flannigan for seventh) and the 1,600-meter relay; and Kody Nehowig was part of the 1,600-meter relay.

"Having them in the lineup helped us to put someone in all the events, something we weren't able to do in the first two meets," explained Spanier.

"I'm really pleased to have a team full of guys who will sacrifice a little bit of what they want to do to help out the team, and it really showed by our improved score," said Spanier, noting that Forster ran legs in two relays and still placed fifth in his hurdle race.

This week, the Dogs will compete at Melrose on Thursday. Next week, they will run at LPGE on Tuesday, April 26.

Team Scores
1. Annandale 169.5
2. Minnewaska 106.5
3. Melrose 92.5
4. ACGC 92
5. Maple Lake 72
6. Paynesville 58.5
7. BBE 56.5
8. EV-W/Kimball 41.5

Individual Results
110-meter hurdles: Travis Flannigan, fifth, 18.2; Aaron Bachman, seventh, 19.4;
300-meter hurdles: Curt Forster, fifth, 45.8;
3,200-meter run: Dugan Flanders, second, 11:32;
400-meter relay: Forster, Eric Hansen, Bill Thompson, and Bryce Fischbach, fourth;
800-meter relay: Alex Jewell, Fischbach, Flannigan, and Alex Svejkovsky, fourth;
1,600-meter relay: Jewell, Jamison Wall, Kody Nehowig, and Nathan Friederichs, seventh, 4:29;
3,200-meter relay: Matt Mehr, Forster, Wall, and Flanders, third;
Discus: Josh Binsfeld, eighth, 98' 5";
Shot put: Binsfeld, first, 40' 10";
High jump: Flannigan, seventh, 5' 2"; Friederichs, seventh, 5' 2";
Long jump: Hansen, eighth, 17' 1";
Pole vault: Bachman, first, 10' 6".

Willmar Optimist The Bulldogs finished ninth at the ten-team Willmar Optimist on Thursday.

The team treated Willmar as more of a fun meet, according to coach Todd Spanier. With so many runners in individual events - with unlimited entries, schools the size of Willmar and Marshall could enter lots of individuals - we decided to stack our relay teams, added Spanier.

The Dogs had five placers at the meet, including its two short relays. The 400-meter relay (sophomore Curt Forster, senior Eric Hansen, ninth grader Bill Thompson, and sophomore Bryce Fischbach) and the 800-meter relay (ninth grader Alex Svejkovsky, Hansen, Thomp-son, and Fischbach) both placed fifth. The Dogs' 1,600-meter relay team (Forster, senior Matt Mehr, Svejkovsky, and Fischbach) also ran well but didn't place, Spanier added.

Individually, senior Josh Binsfeld was fourth in the shot put, junior Aaron Bachman was fourth in the pole vault, and Forster was eighth in the 300-meter hurdles. Bachman and Binsfeld have placed in every meet so far this year in the pole vault and shot put respectively.

"We also had guys try some new events," said Spanier. "Eric Hansen did the triple jump for the first time and did well, but again with all the participants couldn't break the top eight. Alex Svejkovsky ran in the open 800 against some great runners from Marshall and Willmar. He didn't place but did run against some of the top runners in the state."

Team Scores
1. Willmar 205
2. New London-Spicer 116
3. Marshall 88
4. Montevideo 73
5. MACCRAY 64
6. ACGC 48
7. BOLD 44.5
8. Renville County West 37
9. Paynesville 17
10. BBE 8.5

Individual Results
300-meter hurdles: Curt Forster, eighth, 46.78;
400-meter relay: Forster, Eric Hansen, Bill Thompson, and Bryce Fischbach, fifth;
800-meter relay: Alex Svejkovsky, Hansen, Thompson, and Fischbach, fifth;
Shot put: Josh Binsfeld, fourth, 39' 5";
Pole vault: Aaron Bachman, fourth, 11'.