Chargers Record Three Place Finishers at State Track Meet

The ACGC state track qualifiers made a good showing at the state meet at Drake University in Des Moines last week. The Chargers qualified in seven events--two girls' events and five boys' events. Of those seven events three were able to finish in the top eight in their respective events.

Junior Chloe Largent earned a fourth place finish in the high jump on Saturday when she went over the bar at 5'2". Long distance standout Trevin Suhr, also a junior, turned in a career best in the 800 meter run when he broke the two minute mark at 1:59.86, good for a fourth finish in the event. The boys' 4X800 relay team also placed when they finished eighth with a time of 8:27.69.

Suhr led off the relay, with Kaden Thompson and Zach Moon running the middle legs, and Charlie Crawford running the anchor.

Clayton Wardyn ran the 110 hurdles in :15.77, good for eleventh place out of the twenty four qualifiers. The versatile senior also finished nineteenth in the high jump with a leap of 5'9". Senior Rylee Sloss finished in the top half of the competition when she took twelfth in the girls' 3000 meter run with a time of 11:13.72. Suhr completed the Charger running when he ran the 1600 meters in 4:36.72.

Charger girls' coach Colin Shawgo had good things to say about Sloss' and Largent's performances. "Rylee's final race as a Charger was a ten second personal best in the three thousand. We were hoping for a little better than a twelfth place finish, but knocking that much time off of her time is a major accomplishment, especially with the emotions that go along with a final high school race.

"Chloe competed hard to earn herself a fourth place medal. We knew going into the weekend that she would need to clear every height up to five feet four inches to give herself a shot at a top five medal, and that is what she did. Overall it was a great weekend for the Lady Chargers, despite taking only two competitors."

Boys' coach Cody Matthewson was just as upbeat in his season analysis. "After the 2020 season was cancelled, we all wondered what could have been with a team that had so much potential. But this year's team did everything to take advantage of this spring's opportunity. With forty boys on the roster, we captured six meet titles, and had both of our seniors--Clayton Wardyn and Zach Moon--qualify for state. The team set ten new school records, and thirty eight boys will return for next year."