Return to Sports Archives

The Bulldogs won the ten-team meet at Holdingford with 510 points, beating BOLD (458), Osakis (451.5), and ACGC (439). The state true team meet will be held on Saturday, May 22, in Blaine.

In true team, each team enters two individuals in running and field events and one team in each relay. Every entry earns team points, with the format geared to judge teams on their overall talent and depth.

In a typical meet, only the top six or eight placers will earn team points. In true team sections (with 10 girls' teams), first-place finishers earned 20 points, second place earned 19, etc., with the 20th finisher earning one point. Relays earned 30 points for first place, down to three points for 10th place.

Eighth grader Kaitlyn Frenchick placed third in the 3,200-meter run last week and ran a leg on the Dogs' winning 3,200-meter relay.

True team track is sponsored by the Minnesota State Track and Field Coaches Association, not the Minnesota State High School League, which sponsors most state meets in Minnesota.

The Bulldogs scored 355 points in running events at true team sections and 155 in field events.

If an average team scores 21 points in an event (either taking first and 20th or 10th and 11th, etc.), Paynesville scored more than the average in 16 of the 18 events. (And in the other two, they scored 19 and 18 points, too, respectible totals.)

In eight events, the Dogs scored more than 30 points. Leading the way were the 200-meter dash, the 1,600-meter run, and the high jump, events where Paynesville had two top-five finishers. In the 200-meter dash, sophomore Tara Schmidt placed second, and junior Kendra Johnson placed fifth. Schmidt placed second in three events (the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, and 400-meter dash) and also won the long jump, scoring 77 team points. Johnson won the 300-meter hurdles, took second in the 100-meter hurdles and the high jump, and placed fifth in the 200-meter dash, scoring 74 team points.

In addition to Johnson, junior Brittany Lieser was fifth in the high jump, giving the Dogs 35 points in that event.

In the 1,600-meter run, ninth grader Kacy Nehowig was third, and ninth grader Tanis Beireis was fourth, scoring 35 points.

Eighth grader Leah Felling hands the baton to seventh grader Brianna Jaeger during the 800-meter relay, which ran a season-best time last week.

In five events, the Dogs placed one in the top five and another in the top ten: 100-meter dash (Schmidt, second, and seventh grader Bri Jaeger, ninth); 400-meter dash (Schmidt, second, and eighth grader Melanie Koerner, eighth); 800-meter run (Beiries, fifth, and Nehowig, eighth); 3,200-meter run (eighth grader Kaitlyn Frenchick, third, and eighth grader Rheanne Zimmerman, sixth); and the 300-meter hurdles (Johnson, first, and sophomore Ashley Lieser, eighth).

In addition, the Dogs placed three relays in the top three, including the winning 3,200-meter relay (seventh grader Kally Felling, Zimmerman, Koerner, and Frenchick).

"We came into this meet as the favorite, having defeated all the other teams during the season, but this meet - you get your best effort to try to win the state berth," said coach Dave Randgaard. "The girls' team was up to the challenge and had an outstanding performance!"

"We really did do our best in many of the events and made no mistakes in this meet," Randgaard added. "The girls were really focused throughout the meet, and it paid off with a 'state' berth."

Junio Brittany Lieser placed in three events at the section true team meet last week, placing fifth in the high jump, tenth in the triple jump, and 13th in the shot put at the ten-team meet.

While Johnson and Schmidt placed in four individual events, three girls placed in three events: Beireis (800-meter run, 1,600-meter run, and pole vault), senior Jessica Paul (discus, shot put, and pole vault), and Brittany Lieser (high jump, shot put, and triple jump).

Three girls also placed in two individual events: Frenchick (3,200-meter run and triple jump); Ashley Lieser (100-meter hurdles and 300-meter hurdles); and Nehowig (800-meter run and 1,600-meter run).

The Bulldogs had finished second at the section true team meet for the past three years, trailing Mayer Lutheran, the three-time defending state champ. This year, Mayer Lutheran was moved to a different section.

The Bulldogs girls' track team previously competed at state in true team in 1995 and 1996.

The state true team meet will be held at the National Sports Center in Blaine on Saturday, May 22, starting at 10 a.m.

This week, the Dogs competed at Benson on Tuesday. They will travel to Maple Lake on Thursday.

Team scores
1. Paynesville 510
2. BOLD 458
3. Osakis 451.5
4. ACGC 439
5. Holdingford 410.5
6. Renville County West 357
7. Yellow Medicine East 335
8. Ortonville 189.5
9. Morris Area 184
10. St. John's Prep 173.5

Individual Results
100-meter hurdles: Kendra Johnson, second, 16.67; Ashley Lieser, 11th, 18.39; 29 team points.
300-meter hurdles: Johnson, first, 47.45; Lieser, eighth, 52.21; 33 points.
100-meter dash: Tara Schmidt, second, 13.1; Bri Jaeger, ninth, 13.82; 31 points.
200-meter dash: Schmidt, second, 27.06; Johnson, fifth, 28.24; 35 points.
400-meter dash: Schmidt, second, 1:03.8 (personal best); Melanie Koerner, eighth, 1:06.38; 32 points.
800-meter run: Tanis Beireis, fifth, 2:35.89; Kacy Nehowig, eighth, 2:38.11; 29 points.
1,600-meter run: Nehowig, third, 5:34.64; Beireis, fourth, 5:41.57 (personal best); 35 points.
3,200-meter run: Kaitlyn Frenchick, third, 12:43.26; Rheanne Zimmerman, sixth, 13:22.73 (personal best); 33 points.
400-meter relay: Kacie Wander, Randi Schaefer, Jaeger, and Jess Paul, third, 55.18; 24 points.
800-meter relay: Lieser, Kally Felling, Leah Felling, and Jaeger, second, 1:56.88 (season best); 27 points.
1,600-meter relay: Koerner, Leah Felling, Kally Felling, and Beireis, fifth, 4:33.13; 18 points.
3,200-meter relay: Kally Felling, Zimmerman, Koerner, and Frenchick, first, 10:45.63; 30 points.
Discus: Paul, seventh, 93' 8"; Peggy Thompson, tenth, 88' 2"; 25 points.
Shot put: Paul, tenth, 28' 9 1/2"; Brittany Lieser, 13th, 27' 11"; 19 points.
High jump: Johnson, second, 4' 10"; Lieser, fifth, 4' 6"; 35 points.
Long jump: Schmidt, first, 14' 9"; Megan Reeck, 14th, 12' 11"; 27 points.
Triple jump: Frenchick, ninth, 30' 1"; Lieser, tenth, 30'; 23 points.
Pole vault: Paul, seventh, 8'; Beireis, ninth, 5' 6". 26 points.