Second Annual Belgrade Lions Track and Field Invite Takes Place, Well attended with Great Action All Around --- Jaguars Baseball Beats Maple Lake 9-5

Today under full sunshine the second annual Belgrade Lions Invite took place without a hitch at the high school sports complex. With around 20 helpful local Lions Club members on hand, eight area teams joined our B-B-E boys and girls track and field squads for the four-hour long event: Hancock, Maple Lake, Rockford, Holdingford, Kimball/Eden Valley-Watkins, St.John's Prep, Sauk Centre, and Osakis. The Post-Prom Committee served concessions in the pressbox, also finding success while serving 99 pizzas to the athletes and fans at the meet.

A few examples of strong performances from B-B-E athletes include: Austin Jasmer earning fourth place in the 1600m Run as well as the 3200m Run (also setting a new personal best in the 3200 with a time of 11:06) - April Hansen finished in third place in the Triple jump - Kelsey Kampsen finished in fifth place in the 3200m Run - Ashley Lensing took first place in the High jump (while also setting a new personal best at 5'5") as well as the Pole vault - finally, Aaron Rooney won the Pole vault on the boys side with a jump of 11'6".

Meanwhile, both diamond squads were also in action today. The Jaguars baseball team found success at Maple Lake, taking the conference series from the Irish with a 9-5 road win. The Lady Jaguars softball team hosted Maple Lake, and though they played hard they fell 6-3. The Maple Lake softball team is currently 12-1 overall (8-0 CMC) and ranked fifth in the Class AA coaches poll.

Up next for B-B-E teams, Thursday action: Softball @ Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted, Baseball hosts Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted (5:00, Elrosa), Track and Field squads are at the annual Little Crow Invitational at NL-S (3:15), Boys Golf is at Pierz.

The baseball game in Elrosa is a key game for the Jaguars, as they fight to shake off their recent 1-5 stretch where some tough, close losses sent their record there games below .500. The team they host on Thursday, the Lakers from Howard Lake, is 5-1 based on information I have, with a 5-0 CMC record. They barely got past the Jaguars in their first meeting, a 4-3 loss for B-B-E. In the Section 5A-South standings, the Jaguars (4-6) sit in fourth place in the eight-team sub-section. Collecting more wins over AA teams will not only solidify a high seed and home game for the playoff opener, but they could move as high as second and give themselves a real shot at making a sub-section championship game for the first time since 1995.

See you at Saints Field!

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