On an evening that became just a bit cool, the Charger track teams were hotter than the dickens on Thursday as the girls won the Gonzales-Parrish Invitational on the Charger oval and the boys' team finished a close second to IKM-Manning.

A season high in first place finishes enabled the local teams to "bring home the gold." The girls garnered six individual gold medals, while the boys also won six individual first places in addition to two relay firsts. While involved in winning both relay and individual events, Kate Crawford and Clay Billheimer also managed to set records in individual events.

Crawford had a banner day for the Chargers, as she took first in both the 1500 meters and the 3000 meters and in the process broke records in both events. Her time of 5:10.28 in the 1500 set a new record for the G-P meet, breaking the old mark by just under four seconds. But it was in the 3000 that she dazzled, as she shattered both the meet and stadium records by twenty three and eighteen seconds respectively. A day not to be forgotten by Kate!

Savana Fuller led the sprinter corps as she took first in both the 100 and 200 meters in her best performance of the season. Fuller ran the 100 in 13.47 and the 200 in 27.93, edging out the second place finisher by one hundredth of a second in the 200!

Madison McDermott added to her stash of gold as she took first in both the shot put and discus throw. Her put of 37'9" bested the other twelve entrants and her discus throw of 113'4" also gained her the top spot.

Although the boys did not capture the team title, they had an outstanding day as well. Including Billheimer's record setting performance in the 800 meter run, the Chargers and IKM-Manning battle back and forth for the top spot, with IKM-M edging out the Chargers at the end.

Billheimer had a busy day as he was involved in four winning performances, including the 800 and 1600 meter individual runs. He also anchored both the 3200 meter relay and the 1600 medley relays to first place finishes. But it was his performance in the 800 that especially got the crowd's attention, as he broke his own record in the event. His time of 2:05.27 set the G-P meet record, breaking his own record, set two years ago, by nearly two seconds.

While finishing second to Billheimer in both the 800 and 1500, Noah Nelson continued his mastery in the 3200 meter run, taking the event in 10:17.95.

While Billheimer and Nelson mopped up the distance races, Dylan Soper did the same for the home team in the sprints. Soper bested the field in the 100 meters with a winning time of 11.67 and duplicated the feat in the 200 with a time of 23.62. Quynton Younker rounded out the individual first place performances by capturing first in the shot put with a put of 44'11".

In addition to the six individual first place finishes, the 3200 meter and 1600 medley relay teams also won gold for the Chargers. With Charlie Crawford leading off, and Gabe Rowley and Noah Nelson running second and third, Billheimer anchored the 3200 team to the tape in a time of 8:48.79. In the distance medley Soper led off, followed by Rowley and Wierick, with Billheimer again on the anchor. The team put together a time of 3:51.33, besting its nearest competitor by nearly ten seconds.

The excellent performances by the Chargers came at a good time, as the WCAC is next on the schedule. All twelve teams in the conference will make the trip to Panorama this coming Tuesday, April 30. First events are scheduled for 4 PM. Go Chargers!

Charger girls' complete results: Charger boys' complete results:

Shot put: Madison McDermott, 1st, 37'9"; Shot put: Quynton Younker, 1st, 44'11";

Madalyn Kelsey, 5th, 32'3.25" Sam Madsen, 2nd, 44'1"; Victor Gonzales,

Discus: Madison McDermott, 1st, 113'4"; NS, 37'0"

Madalyn Kelsey, 8th, 69'4" Discus: Quentin Younker, 2nd, 122'4"; Bryce

High jump: Chloe Largent, 2nd, 4'10"; Littler, 4th, 105'9"; Sam Madsen, NS, 102'9

Keely Vasey, 3rd, 4'6" High jump: Clayton Warden, DNP

Long jump: Chloe Largent, 4th, 13'9" Long jump: Charlie Crawford, 4th, 18'8";

100 meters: Savana Fuller, 1st, 13.47; Reagan Gabe Rowley, 5th, 18'4"

Rumelhart, 5th, 14.27; Kennedy Young, NS, 15.76 100 meters: Dylan Soper, 1st, 11.67; Jacob

200 meters: Savana Fuller, 1st, 27.93; Reagan Fox, 5th, 12.34

Rumelhart, 5th, 29.54; Belle Policky, NS, 31.30 200 meters: Dylan Soper, 1st, 23.62; Austin

400 meters: Jorja Hoover, 6th, 1:11.36; Chelsea Wierick, 7th, 24.96

Larsen, 7th, 1:14.27 400 meters: Charlie Crawford, 3rd, 58.14,

800 meters: Kate Crawford, 2nd, 2:32.19; Audrey Austin Wierick, DNP, 1:03.02

Stowe, 5th, 2:40.52; Kylie Young, NS, 3:03.19; 800 meters: Clay Billheimer, 1st, 2:05.27;

Chelsea Larsen, NS, 3:16.76; Kailey Eivens, NS, Noah Nelson, 2nd, 2:09.30

3:26.06 1600 meters: Clay Billheimer, 1st, 4:48.73;

1500 meters: Kate Crawford, 1st, 5:10.28; Lauryn Noah Nelson, 2nd, 4:42.73; Kaden

Embleton, 3rd, 5:49.26; Rylee Sloss, NS, 5:37.63; Thompson, NS, 5:27.82

Jackie Trujillo-Garcia, NS, 6:22.11; Keely Vasey, 3200 meters: Noah Nelson, 1st, 10:17.95;

NS, 6:34.58 Donnie Swanson, 4th, 12:06.65

3000 meters: Kate Crawford, 1st,10:54.82; Lauryn 110 meter hurdles: Clayton Warden,7th, 22.69

Embleton, 4th, 12:48,99; Jackie Trujillo-Garcia, 400 meter hurdles: Kolby Jacobe, 5th, 1:06.40

NS, 14:25.57 400 relay: Jacob Fox, Kolby Jacobe, Ben King-

100 meter hurdles: Jenna Stringer, 7th, 19.98; try, Cayden Jensen, 5th, 48.51; Bryce Littler,

Charlotte Colling, DNP, 21.56 Reid Rumelhart, Quynton Younker, Darvon

400 meter hurdles: Jorja Hoover, 2nd, 1:18.53; Grubbs, NS, 50.56

Paxton Schneider, 6th, 1:33.06 800 relay: Jacob Fox, Clayton Wardyn, Lucas

400 relay: Reagan Rumelhart, Kendra Campbell, Marsh, Ben Kingery, 3rd, 1:41.76; Bryce

Belle Policky, Kennedy Young, 4th, 58.10; Jackie Littler, Darvon Grubbs, Seth Danker, Zach

Trujillo-Garcia, Keely Vasey, Kylie Young, Emma Moon, NS, 1:47.09

Vogl, NS, 1:01.37 1600 relay: Charlie Crawford, Zach Moon,

800 relay: Belle Policky, Emma Vogl, Kennedy Seth Danker, Lucas Marsh, 4th, 3:58.13

Young, Jenna Stringer, 6th, 2:10.26; Mia Schreck, 3200 relay: Charlie Crawford, Gabe Rowley,

Charlotte Colling, Kylie Young, Jenna Stringer, Noah Nelson, Clay Billheimer, 1st, 8:48.79;

NS, 2:11.04 Kaden Thompson, Zach Moon, Carter

1600 relay: Sophie Danker, Audrey Stowe, Jorja Hansen, Donnie Swanson, NS, 10:06.40

Hoover, Savana Fuller, 4th, 4:44.90 800 medley: Austin Wierick, Gabe Rowley,

3200 relay: Audrey Stowe, Jorja Hoover, Rylee Dylan Soper, Zach Moon, 3rd, 1:45.21

Sloss, Kate Crawford, 2nd, 10:32.09; Chelsea 1600 medley: Dylan Soper, Gabe Rowley,

Larsen, Sophie Danker, Kailey Eivens, Kendra Austin Wierick, Clay Billheimer, 1st, 3:51.33

Campbell, NS, 12:14.42 Shuttle hurdle: Clayton Warden, Seth Danker,

800 medley: Kendra Campbell, Emma Vogl, Kolby Jacobe, Cayden Jensen, 1:13.61

Belle Policky, Sophie Danker, 5th, 2:11.29

1600 medley: Reagen Rumelhart, Savana

Fuller, Rylee Sloss, Audrey Stowe, 2nd, 4:49.16

Shuttle hurdle: Charlotte Colling, Paxton Schneider,

Mia Schreck, Jenna Stringer, 3rd, 1:24.14