On Saturday, May 3rd, the Charger Track Team competed at the Nike Spring Invitational, held at Westfield, in one of their final tune-ups for the postseason.  Running in the twilight conditions, the Chargers enjoyed a strong meet, complete with a slew of post-season qualifiers and seasonal bests.

The sprint squad enjoyed the greatest level of success for the team.  In the 100m dash alone, eight different members earned post-season qualifiers.  For the boys, senior Raymond Urrutia continued his strong season with two personal bests, earning state qualifiers in the 100m (11.19) and 200m (22.54) dashes.  Juniors Auston Eckert (11.80) and Torrian Pace (11.81) and freshman Mohammed Labor-Koroma (11.80) also earned district qualfiers in the 100m dash.  Amira Idria also had a stellar meet, winning the Freshman 100m dash in a personal best and state qualifying time of 12.39.  She also improved upon her 200m dash mark (25.90), which also earns her a trip to regionals.  Sophomore Genevieve Manley earned a regional qualfier in the 100m dash (12.80), while freshman Tiffany Mitchell (13.05) and sophomore Meera Abdul-Malek (13.26) earned district qualifiers, all in personal best times.  Senior Robert Herrity also had a career meet, with personal best marks in the 110m (15.31) and 300m (41.19) hurdle events, both just missing out on state qualifying marks.

In the field events, junior Wes Sun continues to shine in the pole vault.  He finished 2nd in the event, in a seasonal best mark of 13' 6".  Junior Kyle Cantrell also jumped well for 3rd place.  Junior Josh Trikakis also had a solid day, with a personal best in the long jump.

The distance runners continued to show strength, but struggled somewhat in the windy conditions.  Nevertheless, personal best marks were earned by senior Eric Palmer (4:31.05), junior Ethan Gramstad (5:00.49), sophomore Jenna Marlette (5:58.83) and freshman Heather Guryansky (6:20) in the 1600m run. In the 800m run, personal bests were earned by senior Mike Holton (2:03.64), junior Ben Polandick (2:17.83), sophomore Hanna Dickinson (2:47) and freshman Hannah Strub (2:34).

The Chargers final regular season meets take place next weekend, with the elite Southern Track Classic in Richmond on Friday, and the TJ Penultimate Challenge on Saturday, May 10th.  The Concorde District Championships take place at Westfield on Thursday-Friday, May 15th & 16th.

Please check www.chargercctrack.com for complete results and photos, courtesty of Tom Foley.