(Guthrie Center) ACGC is among the elite boys teams at Treynor’s State Qualifying Track Meet on Thursday.
Charger coach Cody Matthewson lists Treynor, Underwood, and Clarinda as some of the heavy hitters. In Class 2A, two entries automatically qualify from each site plus the next eight best marks statewide. “You can look at it in a positive way. We are going to have our guys pushed in their competitions. We are looking at moving some things around and changing stuff up. Things that we’ve been toying around with here recently. I’m pretty pleased with where we are at right now and where we are getting to. I’m pretty pleased with who we get to compete against. At large is going to be a really big advantage for us.”
A big and talented junior class gives ACGC plenty of options for what events they want to load up. “The idea is not just to get to state, but to get to state and place and score points and medal. We have some kids in our lineup that could qualify in certain events, but they are going to get there and be a 17th, 18th, or 19th place finisher whereas we could pull them from that event, put them in a relay, and that relay could be a top five time.”
The Chargers have enjoyed a breakout year. Coach Matthewson gives a lot of credit to the team’s senior leaders. Clayton Wardyn and Zach Moon are the team’s lone seniors and both have contributed in several areas.