MANKATO &045; Everyone picking the NRHEG Panthers as the odds-on favorite to win another Gopher Conference girls’ track and field championship may have to re-evaluate.

The Panthers finished second to United South Central in the conference indoor meet.

&uot;USC performed well,&uot; said Panthers co-coach Duey Ferber. &uot;We will have to work hard to beat them outdoors.&uot;

The Rebels won with 140.4 points, followed by NRHEG with 118.8, WEM 97.5, Alden-Conger 54.5, Blooming Prairie 51, Medford 37 and JWP 23.

The Panthers had three firsts, by Camille Kyte in the 200-meter dash, Nicole Lonning in the shot put, and the 4×200 relay team of Alison Anderson, Brandis Hagen, Kelsie Hansen and Kyte.

Second places were by Anderson in the 55 dash, Kyte in the triple jump, Jean Raimann in the shot put, and the 4×800 relay team of Brianna Blouin, Alicia Kaplan, Melissa Barber and Karla Lewer.

Other NRHEG places: Kyte, third, 55 dash; Hansen, third, high jump and 55 low hurdles and fourth, 55 high hurdles; Anderson, third, 200 and sixth, long jump; Lewer, third, 3200; sprint medley relay, fourth (Steph Bell, Megan Groskreutz, Barber, Jessica Brouwers); Kyree Wobbrock, fourth, shot put; 4×400 relay, fourth (Jasmine Brouwers, Bell, Britny Berglund, Jessica Knudson); Mackenzie Tappe, fourth, high jump; Hagen, fourth, high jump; Barber, fifth, pole vault; Blouin, sixth, 1600.

The Panthers competed without Kalisha Anthony, one of their top hurdlers and a state entrant in the pole vault.

&uot;We saw some good things,&uot; said Ferber. &uot;We have some new additions to the team, especially the new junior high runners. Shot put and sprints are going to be strong for us all year.&uot;

The NRHEG boys finished fourth out of seven teams with 49 points. USC won with 185.

Placing for the NRHEG boys: Sonny Berg, second, long jump, third, 55 dash and fifth, 55 intermediate hurdles; 4×200 relay, second (Berg, Geoff Stiegelbauer, Dustin Schriever, Brian Bos); medley relay, third (Schriever, Bill Root, Tom Bartness, Tim Rysavy); Matt Reiter, third, 1600 and fourth, 3200; Bos, third, 800; Root, fourth, shot put; Rysavy, fifth, 800.