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Paynesville Press - June 26, 2002

Dogs record 14th straight winning season

The Paynesville girls' track team finished their season with a 48-5 record. This is their 14th consecutive winning season.

The team won five championships: St John's (Indoor), Paynesville Invite, Annandale, Koronis Invite, Belgrade.

The girls also had three second place finishes: Willmar's Optimist, Section 4A true team, West Central Conference.

The team finished third in Subsection 20A, sixth at Section 5A, and sixth at state, which was the highest place at state in school history.

The girls set three indoor records this season. Senior Missy Bachman broke her own record in the pole vault, with a vault of 9' 9". Senior Jen Hess broke her own record in the 1,600-meter run, running a time of 5:14.2. And the team broke the school record for team points at an indoor meet, with a total of 146.5 at St. John's.

The girls also set two outdoor records. Bachman vaulted 10' 6" at the section meet, breaking her own school record, and senior Heidi Jansen putted the shot 36' 6" in winning the conference meet.

The team presented the following girls with these awards following the season. Hess - the state champion in the 3,200-meter run and the runner-up in the 1,600-meter run - received her fourth MVP award.

The dedication award went to Hess and to Bachman, who took fourth place in her third trip to state in the pole vault.

The "team" award went to senior Rachel Koehn and junior Mandy Mayer. Most Improved went to Jansen, ninth grader Kendra Johnson, and eighth grader Brooke Schmitz.

The team had eight members receive All-Conference recognition. They were Bachman, senior Carla Hemmesch, Hess, Jansen, Johnson, junior Morgan Martinson, eighth grader Tara Schmidt, and Schmitz.

"The team really had an outstanding season. We knew with 18 returning letterwinners that we had the talent to be very successful and the girls did this for the 2002 season," said head coach Dave Randgaard.

Some of the highlights for the year, according to Randgaard, were: •Breaking the indoor record for team points by scoring. The old record of 131 points was set in 1992. •Finishing second at the Section 4A true team meet to Mayer Lutheran, the eventual state true team champion.

•Battling a strong St. Cloud Cathedral team for the West Central Conference North title, losing by a half point.

The team loses seven seniors to graduation: Bachman, Hemmesch, Hess, Jansen, Koehn, Sara Lieser, and Ashley Wall. "These seniors have had a very successful career in track, winning three conference titles, two conference runner-up finishes, two subsection titles, and two runners-up," said Randgaard.

The girls' track team won 38 track meets over their five years on the varsity.

"We will really miss the outstanding leadership this group of girls has given the program. They are very talented and a bunch of winners," said Randgaard. "I was impressed with their competitive spirit and desire to be the best, which they were. This is one of the best senior classes we have ever had for girls track."



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