Those of us in the "over the hill" age range wouldn't be very successful in carrying out our exercise regimen after a nearly three week layoff. It's a little different when you are sixteen or seventeen. Although the Charger cross country teams didn't just sit around for the last nineteen days, as they continued with their workouts, it had been just short of three weeks since the girls and boys had seen any competition. It was somewhat unpredictable as to how the teams would perform after the cancellation of several meets.

We found out yesterday. Charger mentor Colin Shawgo said it best when he offered these comments following yesterday's Charger Invitational. "After a long wait the Charger cross country teams were able to get a meet in, and the results were well worth the wait. The girls' team, top to bottom, was very good with almost every runner getting a personal best for the year. With a total team score of nineteen, we were able to beat our record low score.

"This was also a record breaking night for the boys, as they won the Charger Invitational for the fourth year in a row, while getting the lowest points ever by scoring just seventeen points."

Both the Charger girls' and boys' teams easily outran their opponents in sweeping the meets. Of the eleven teams invited to the event, only six teams brought runners and only four of those were able to field a full team. The Chargers dominated with first place finishes going to Kate Crawford and Trevin Suhr in their respective meets.

The veteran Crawford ran the ACGC course in 20:45.01 while sophomore Suhr did it in 18:37.50. Junior Rylee Sloss turned in a third place finish for the girls with a time of 21:31.17 with freshman Kirsten Knobbe finishing fourth with a time of 23:22.73. Other Charger girl who figured in the scoring were Jorja Hoover (6th; 24:46.32), and Alyson Embleton (6th: 24:57.86).

Other Charger girls who competed but did not figure in the scoring were Mia Ocheltree (25:26.07), Jenna Stringer (25:34.84), Taylor Lemke (25:42.99), Jackie Trujillo-Garcia (25:49.06), Keely Vasey (26:47.60), Mackenzie Reinhart (27:11.14), Kendra Campbell (27:22.56), Reagan Remelhart (28:14.16), Belle Policky (29:04.91), and Kennedy Young (29:19.25).

In addition to Suhr's fist place finish, the Charger boys took five of the next six places, led by second place finisher Ben Young (19:10.52). Others figuring in the scoring included Miles Kading (3rd:10:13.69), Justin Reinhart (5th:19:37.83), and Eli Kading (6th:19:49.79). Close behind were Kaden Thompson (1950.42), and Donnie Swanson (19.54.09). Also running for ACGC were Jackson Sloss (20:17.21), Austin Wetzel (20:39.57), Zach Moon (21:37.06), Nash Ayers (21:43.39), Zander Kenyon (23:10.59), Lane Sheeder (23:28.28, Conner Larsen (24:14.33), Justin Davis (25:01.76), and Brennan Pederson (25:15.75).

"Overall this meet was exceptionally exciting for us to watch. The Chargers' growth and focus was evident with such dominant performances. The teams worked hard to be ready for their chance, and we took advantage of it tonight," Shawgo concluded.

The Charger teams will next see action next Thursday, October 3 at West Central Valley with a start time of 4:30. The ACGC website indicates that the meet will be held at the West Central Valley Middle School. Go Chargers!

Girls' Team Scores Boys' Team Scores

ACGC 19 ACGC 17

Perry 58 Perry 59

MStM 77 CAM 82

CAM 80 MStM 93