Dogs take 15th at "world's largest cross country meet"

The competition was as tough as the Dogs will face this year. Even though the competition was tough and the Dogs were missing a varsity runner, they ran well and enjoyed a great day to run.

Saturday morning was a beautiful day for running: sunny, cool, with only a slight breeze. With such great weather, Paynesville had fun and finished 15th out of 46 teams in Class A.

The Dogs ran together and had a strong pack again.

The leader of Paynesville's pack was senior Riley Flanders, who ended up in 42nd place. Flanders ran strong even though he had an injured foot that was very uncomfortable to run on.

Behind him was senior Tommy Flannigan who finished in 73rd place. Right behind Flannigan was senior Freddie Stock, only three seconds behind him, but seven places back in 80th place.

Next in line for the team was sophomore Jason Wendroth, who finished just two seconds ahead of sophomore Matt Mehr. They finished 142nd and 145th, as Paynesville's fourth and fifth runners.

Sophomore Chris Utsch was Paynesville's sixth runner across the finish line. He placed 209th in the field of over 300 runners.

The Dogs' seventh position was filled very well by eighth grader Dugan Flanders. Flanders ran his second varsity race as junior Chad Wyffels couldn't make the meet on Saturday. Dugan ran very well, finishing 212th.

Even though the Bulldogs didn't have every runner at the meet and they ran against good competition, they ran in packs and did very well.

This week, the Dogs will run on Thursday in their only home meet of the season. The Dogs' home meet, during Homecoming week, will be held at Koronis Hills Golf Course and will start at 4:30 p.m.

Team Scores
1. Staples-Motley 68
2. St. Cloud Cathedral 203
3. United South Central 284
4. Perham 292
5. Sauk Centre 312
6. Mayer Lutheran 340
7. Canby 348
8. Minnehaha Academy 378
9. Mora 378
10. Annandale 393
11. Plainville 421
12. HBLEE 432
13. Albany 436
14. Pine City 470
15. Paynesville 482
16. Carlton-Wrenshall 487
17. Hinckley 525
18. New London-Spicer 581
19. Kingsland 615
20. Lake City 666
21. Redwood Valley 752
22. Mesabi East 753
23. Madelia-Truman 833
24. Blooming Prairie 843
25. Lakeview 846
26. BBE 995
27. Rush City 1,081
19 schools had incomplete scores.

Individual Results
42. Riley Flanders 17:50
73. Tommy Flannigan 18:12
80. Freddie Stock 18:15
142. Jason Wendroth 18:59
145. Matt Mehr 19:01
209. Chris Utsch 20:05
212. Dugan Flanders 20:16