LINDEN — Spring can officially start now. That is the agreement that Mother Nature and Charger track and field coach Josh Thompson have. Friday night at North Montgomery the Chargers hosted the 52nd annual Charger Relays and while the temperatures were higher than normal, mother nature still made her impact felt as gusty winds hammered Charger field.
All four area teams were in action with Crawfordsville, Southmont, North Montgomery and Fountain Central raced against the wind and the opposing competition. Due to the constant rain throughout the week, there were no field events that took palce.
There were bright spots for all four schools in the non-scoring meet.
Crawfordsville girls showed off their depth and talent. All the events for CHS were top three finishes. In the 4x100 Lily Hummel, Ally Strickland, Ruth Garcia, and Bea Swick placed third with a time of 54.90. In the 4x200 relay Garcia, Swick, Strickland, and Aubrey Lowe placed third with a 1:57.10. Maesa Horton, Guinevere Schmitzer-Torbert, Olivia Jett, and Caroline Melevage took first with a 4:26.50. In the 4x800 both Sophia and Caroline Melevage, Jett, and Caroline Novak took second.
CHS also wasn’t at full strength as some of their top runners incluindg Na’arah Byard, Max Brumett, and Ryan Miller all didn’t compete. Still first yeaer coach Amanda Elizondo saw some great runs from her team.
“We had a lot of kids step up tonight because we weren’t quite at full strength,” Elizondo said. “Some kids were under the weather and we were making last minute changed to our lineup. We came away very pleased wiht how tonight went in a lot of areas as some kids had some great times and had some great comebacks in a few events.”
The Mountie boys showcased their talent as well. Nolan Boyer, Vince Reimondo, Hayden Hess, Avery Stadler and others helped anchor the boys team. Layla Gomez, Emily Link, and DeLorean Mason, and Shelby Chiepo helped the girls team compete on Friday. First year coach Shelley Allen, just like Elizondo, noted how she was proud of her team.
“We saw some great highs and then had some lows from both teams,” Allen said. “With an event like this you don’t quite kno who might step up and there some individuals who surprised me with how well they ran. That really makes me look forward to how we’re going to be the rest of the season.”
North Montgomery great performances by the likes of Gabe Shirar, Owen Utterback,and Kelby Harwood for the boys while Macee Norman, Mady Holt, Sarah Hopper and Katelyn Woolwine were key runners for the Charger girls. Thompson, just like both Allen and Elizondo spoke on how his team did have some great races while also looking towards the big picutre latet this season.
“Our kids competed well and have competed well in both our meets this past week,” Thompson said. “In track there’s always something that you’re competing against whether that be the person next to you or the clock to try and improve your time. We battled the wind all night. They come to practice and have worked really hard so far this year and are buying into what we’re telling them. Our goal is always to make sure we’re at our best for county, conference and the sectional. Our team is going to do what we can do get a few individuals out and set them up for success.”
It was only the second meet of the season for all three county schools as they’ve battled the weather in the early part of the spring. Crawfordsville is slated to travel to Clinton Prairie for a three team meet with the Gophers and Traders Point on Monday. North Montgomery travels to Harrison on Tuesday and Southmont travels to McCutcheon on Tuesday for a three-team meet with the Mavericks and Twin Lakes.
