By JIM LUTGENS
Sports Editor
The best part about the Waseca Invitational, according to NRHEG track and field coach Duey Ferber, is that it gives the Panthers a chance to see competition they otherwise would not.
The worst part, this year anyway, is that it was the third meet of the week for many of the NRHEG girls, who finished third among six teams at Waseca Thursday, May 18.
Waseca won with 155.9 points, followed by Austin at 145.2. NRHEG 72.7, New Ulm 79, WEM 63 and Blue Earth Area 57.2
"It was a fun night for our girls getting to com- pete against teams we haven't seen yet," said Ferber. "We had some good performances even though this was the third meet of the week for many of our girls."
The Panthers picked up two first places, by Lauren Cowell, who threw the discus 110-1, and Anika Ladlie, who cleared 4-10 in the high jump.
Evelyn Nydegger was second in the triple jump, second in the 300 intermediate hurdles and fourth in the 110 high hurdles. Cowell was fourth in the shot put.
Other places; Quinn VanMaldeghem, 4th, 800; 4x400 relay, 4th (Keira Lenort, Sierra Misgen, Elise Aronson, VanMaldeghem); 4x100, 5th (Josie Strom, Holly Bartness, Chloe Riewer, Paige Johnson); McKenzie Mueller, 5th, discus; Olivia Kofstad, 5th, triple jump; Gabby Schlaak, 6th, 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles; Malonna Wilson, 6th, shot put; Riewer, 6th, long jump; Strom, 7th, 100 and 8th, triple jump; Misgen, 7th, 400; 4x200, 7th (Misgen, Bartness, Riewer, Clara Buendorf; Kyra Spies, 8th, 100; Buendorf, 8th, 800; Lenort, 8th, high jump. "This was a nice meet to prepare for next week's sub-section meet," said Ferber. The NRHEG boys faced some stellar competition at Waseca, where the home team won going away with 171 points. Following: Austin 112, New Ulm 104, Blue Earth Area 84, NRHEG 66.5, WEM 47.5 The Panthers had no first-place finishers, though Levin Kitzer was second in the 110 hur- dles and Parker Bunn tooks second in the 300 intermediates.
Others: Sawyer Prigge, 3rd, high jump; Will Tuttle, 3rd, triple jump; Lucas Hanna, 3rd, discus and 6th, shot put; 4x800, 3rd (Sam Christensen, Jacob Karl, Devon Nelton, Gavin Sletten); Sletten, 4th, 800; Bunn, 4th, 110 hurdles; Kitzer, 4th, 300 hurdles; Harbor Cromwell, 4th, pole vault; Charlie Fuller, 5th, triple jump; Karl, 6th, 1600; 4x200, 7th (Bunn, Brendan Schmidt, Cromwell, Cohen Riewer).
"We didn't run at full strength tonight," said Ferber. "We're trying to get some of the guys healthy for next week. Our hurdlers, throwers and middle-distance runners had a good night."