The Ottumwa Bulldogs joined a very competitive field at the Panther Relays at Randy Wilson Field in Knoxville Thursday night and even with their star thrower out of action, the Bulldogs finished third with 86 points. It was a gray, gloomy and windy night at the beginning of the meet, but the wind subsided as the running events began. That change got the juices flowing and the athletes responded with some spectacular races and personal best times. “It was just a great night of track,” Bulldog Coach Richard Tanner said. “I was very happy with our team and their efforts. We had lots of personal records and we doubled in some events. Yes, we gave our thrower a night off. She has been throwing hard and sometimes meets so close together begin to wear on you. We felt that this was a good time to let her recharge and we know that she will be back as strong as ever next meet.” Pella won the meet with 229 points while the home standing Knoxville team pulled off a second-place finish with 96. Trailing the Bulldogs were Pella Christian with 82, PCM with 77, Des Moines Christian with 64, Van Meter had 41 and Belmond-Klemme wrapped it up with 23. The lone Ottumwa win came in the high jump when Eve Rust topped the bar at five-foot, two and one half inches to claim the gold. The only runner-up finish for the Bulldogs came in the 100-meter hurdles when Anaka Chukwumezie ran 16.69 for the Silver. Ottumwa used its relay strength to notch a trio of top-three finishes. The sprint medley foursome of Autam Damm, Kendra Cole, Lea Baroma and Blythe Schmidt ran 2:02.65 for third as did the 4×800 unit of Kylee Hill, Kaelin McElderry, Tamsin McElderry and Bailey Baxter in 11:24.51 and the 4×200 relay crew of Damm, Kenleigh Burton, Heaven Colyer and Baroma in 1:54.57. Individual thirds for Ottumwa came from went to Colyer in the high jump and Katie McKinnon in the long jump. Jordin Mayson also finished fourth for the Bulldogs in the long jump. The Bulldogs will be back in action Tuesday night with the Don Newell Invitational.