The ACGC girls' track season got underway yesterday as coach Colin Shawgo took twelve girls to the statewide indoor meet in Ames yesterday. There was no scoring for the meet, and it was open to all classes of Iowa high schools, so the Chargers faced some keen competition.

Three Chargers finished in the top fifteen in their respective individual events, with Kate Crawford finishing tenth out of 79 runners in the 3000 meter run with a time of 11:03. 51. Mady Smith finished twelfth of 126 hurdlers in the 60 meter hurdles in a time of 10.13 seconds, and shot putter Mady McDermott finished thirteenth out of 112 participants with a put of 34'10.5".

Savana Fuller led off the competition with a time of 8.742 in the 60 meter dash, good for 37th place out of 146 sprinters. Two Chargers competed in the 800 meter run, with Sophie Danker turning in a time of 2:50 which placed her 84th among the 126 runners, and MacKenzie Reinhart finished in 96th place in 2:58.54.

Distance runners Emma Swanson and Rylee Sloss both ran in the 1500 meter run, while Lauryn Embleton competed in the 3000 meter run. Swanson finished 55th out of 108 runners in 6:01.12, with Sloss finishing 76th with a time of 6:19.35. Embleton ran the 3000 in 12:15.98, good for 33rd place.

Olivia Laabs ran the 60 meter hurdles in 10.72 which placed her 33rd out of 126 participants. Sarah Schmeling had a leap of 13 feet, 9.5 inches in the long jump to place 36 out of 88 girls.

Three relay teams ran for the Chargers, with the sprint medley team of Laabs, Fuller, Schmeling, and Smith turning in a time of 2:08.49 which placed them 49th out of 76 teams. The 4x800 relay finished 36th out of 52 teams in 11:55.42 with Swanson, Danker, Reinhart, and Sloss each running a leg. The Charger 4x400 team ran in a time of 4:40.49 to finish 23rd out of 44 teams. Laabs, Fuller, Regan Rumelhart, and Smith each ran a 400 in the relay.

Coach Shawgo has high expectations for the team. "We should be pretty good this year and our performances in Ames weren't too bad for this time of year, especially with just two weeks of practice. Kate Crawford, Mady Smith and Mady McDermott all turned in good performances yesterday."

The team will next compete in the Greene County Relays in Jefferson on Monday, March 26th.