Charter girls track team blows away competition

Photo by ROGER LALONDE

Mary Beth Schneller Eagle Contributor In an incredible finish, Charter sixth grader Rosie Poling leads the way for an Eagles 1-2-3 finish in the 800 meters race at the quad meet with Manatee, Oakridge, and East Naples middle schools. Right behind her are eighth graders Jen Carter and Christy Thorstenson. Poling won the 800, 1600 and 3200 meter races with Carter coming in second in all three. Thorstenson won the 400 meter race.

Photo by ROGER LALONDE

Mary Beth Schneller Eagle Contributor Charter's Casey Mendel concentrates as she readies to throw the discus in the quadrangular meet, including Manatee, East Naples and Oakridge on Saturday

Photo by ROGER LALONDE

Mary Beth Schneller Eagle Contributor Charter's Lauren Hanscom hands baton off to Lexie Lindquist with a comfortable lead as the Lady Eagles went on to win the 4X400 relay with teammates Taylor Fetzer and Christy Thorstenson at a quad meet with Manatee, Oakridge, and East Naples.

Photo by ROGER LALONDE

Mary Beth Schneller Charter's Madison Smith tosses the shot in competition at the quadrangular meet, including Charter School, Manatee, East Naples and Oakridge.

The Marco Island Charter Middle School track teams traveled to Manatee on Saturday for a quad meet with Manatee, Oakridge, and East Naples.

The boys have a small team this season and have a difficult time competing against their much larger schools. Patrick Michel had another outstanding meet, placing in the long jump, 100 meter and 200 meter dashes..

Trevor Dye and Tanner Fulcher had good meets as well. The boys final results, including finishing places and scores, were not available after the meet.

The girls also had a their hands full on Saturday. Manatee had previously defeated the Eagles by a single point and Oakridge had bested the Eagles by 8 points just prior to spring break.

Saturday was a different day and the locals came out to reverse the previous results.

Sixth gradder Rosie Poling won an incredible triple by placing first in the 3200 meter, 1600 meter, and 800 meter races. This is 3.5 miles of hard running!

Jen Carter ran the same three races and finished right behind Rosie in all three. These two young ladies ran one of the most difficult triples in track and did a fantastic job.

Christy Thorstenson and Lauren Hanscom had super days, finishing 1-2 respectively in the 400 and combining with Taylor Fetzer and Lexie Lundquist on the winning 4x400 meter relay team.

Samantha Jennings ran well in the sprints and the trio of Madison Smith, Casey Mendel, and Alyssa Stolinas are all getting stronger in the shot put.

The final tally had the Eagles girls winning with 88 points to 66 for Oakridge and Manatee, with East Naples finishing fourth. This was an outstanding team effort!

The championship season began on Tuesday with the Charter School competing in the Sunshine Conference Invitational at First Baptist Academy. Check for results in the Eagle as they become available.

On Saturday both teams travel to Lely for the South Collier County Athletic Conference Invitational. The top four in each event advance to the Collier County Championship at Golden Gate High School on April 16.