The heat didn't seem to bother either the ACGC girls' or boys' cross country teams on Thursday, as they both finished second at the Audubon Invitational. The Charger girls scored 55 points to finish behind Panorama's 39 in the six team field. Kate Crawford continued her individual streak, winning her fifth consecutive meet of the year in a time of 20:07. Noah Nelson led the Charger boys, finishing second in a time of 17:42, leading the Chargers to a second place finish with 52 points, trailing only Nodaway Valley which scored 27.

Coach Colin Shawgo praised the girls' efforts, saying, "Both teams had a very good showing, making a big statement. The girls were pretty banged up, with six of our eighteen girls unable to run. Despite the loss of some big contributors, the girls finished second, losing to ninth ranked Panorama, but winning over fourteenth ranked Tri-Center. Lauren Embleton (23:07) finished fifth in the meet, while several girls really stepped up to fill spots vacated by injury."

Keely Vasey (26:02) and Jackie Trujillo-Garcia (26:18) finished in the 14th and 16th spots, while Makenzie Reinhart (27:45), Malena Rumelhart (27:52), and Kennedy Young (28:09) finished 26th, 27th, and 28th respectively. Other girls competing for the Chargers were Sabrina Ure (28:35-31st), Reagan Rumelhart (28:59-32nd), Alyson Embleton (30:17-38th), Madi Suhr (33:23-50th), and Mia Schreck (37:59-53rd).

Shawgo was equally pleased with the boys' performance, as he punned, "The boys really are starting to find their stride. This was their best overall performance of the season, finishing second to top ranked Nodaway Valley and finishing ahead of number twelve Tri-Center. We had five boys in the top twenty and eight in the top twenty five. I challenged the team to go out and show people what they are made of, and they responded. It gives us a lot of momentum to finish the season strong."

Clay Billheimer (19:05-8th) and Garrett Young (19:09-9th) both finished in the top ten, while Qeunton Spack (19:33-16th) and Easton Benson (19:35-17th) also figured in the team scoring.

Eleven other runners competed for the Chargers, including Ben Young (20:13-23rd), Carter Schildberg (20:15-24th), Donnie Swanson (20:16-25th), Gunnar larsen (20:33-27th), Blaine Beeler (22:17-44th), Matt Hanner (22:30-45th), Joe Davis (22:48-49th), Sam Madsen (22:58-50th), Nash Ayers (23:04-54th), Noah Sargent (23:21-57th), Zach Fees (23:49-62nd), and Seth Danker (24:14-68th).

The Chargers will next compete on Thursday, September 28 at the 5x80 golf course located just off Interstate 80 near Menlo. First race begns at 4:30

Team Scores: Girls Team Scores: Boys

Panorama 39 Nodaway Valley 27

ACGC 55 ACGC 52

Tri-Center 56 Tri-Center 64

Riverside 122 Panorama 112

Nodaway Valley 128 IKM-Manning 125

Audubon 138 Riverside 187