Golfers prepare for opener next week

The Panther golfers were able to get outside this week to hit some balls, but the course is not open yet so they were hitting balls just south of the football field at the high school.

“It helps to get outside and hit the ball,” said Panther assistant coach Roger Benson.

The golf teams, like most of the Panther athletic teams this spring, are short on experience but have good numbers and some good athletes participating. The squad is pointing toward the opening meet against Westbrook-Walnut Grove Tuesday at Tracy.

Track athletes get in first indoor action

There was a small contingent of Panther athletes that participated in the Dan Lennon Invitational held at the Dakota Dome in Vermillion, South Dakota on Monday.

“We placed in two events,” said Panther Coach Monica Headlee. “Not bad at all for the first meet and for a meet this size.”

The boys’ 4 X 200M relay team of Brandon Kirk, Steve Paradis, John Swenhaugen and Drew Nelson placed sixth with a time of 1:38 and Josh Hook placed fourth in the pole vault with a vault of 12’-0”. Brandon Kirk ran a 7:54 60 meter race and missed the semi-finals by only 1/10 of a second. Ryan Tholen ran the 1600 meter race in a time of 4:50 and Andrew Prairie hit 39’5” in the shot put.

“It was a beautiful day-too bad the meet was inside,” said Drew Nelson. “There were a lot of very good athletes participating and they had good times and distances.”

The track teams will participate in the Invitational at Mankato State Saturday and a meet at Luverne next Tuesday before opening at home in the Panther I Meet on Tuesday, April 10.

Younger kids ready for chances

The Panther baseball team returns only three regulars from last season. They are Taylor Rignell, David Schmidt and Anthony Dolan.

“We have a number of good athletes on the team. They just do not have much varsity experience,” said Panther Coach Bill Tauer. “The same is true of our pitching. We have kids with good arms but they do not have a lot of game experience.”

The Panthers have good numbers in the program and the players have been able to gain experience playing on the B-squad and in the VFW summer program. The baseball team opens its season against Canby on Thursday, April 5 at Canby.

The first home appearance will be against Renville County West on Tuesday, April 10. The varsity will play at Tracy and the B-squad at Milroy.