By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

The ACGC boys track and field team competed at the Earlham Early Bird on Tuesday, March 31. ACGC did not have any champions but did collect five silver medals, two bronzes and several other top-10 placements. Third-place finishes went to Preston Kent in the 1,600-meter run and the 4×100-meter relay team of Joe Crawford, Talon Noland, Thomas Skram and Brexton Schneider. Silvers went to Schneider in the 110-meter hurdles, Ryan Martens in the 200-meter dash, Morgun Nolte in the 400-meter hurdles, Nolte, Collin Stringham, William Skram and Schnieder in the 4×110-meter shuttle hurdle, and Noland, Martens, Lane Stringer and Andrew Baumert in the 4×400-meter relay. A link to the full results can be found HERE.

The Chargers next meet was meant to be the Ogden Early Bird Coed on Thursday, April 2 but was cancelled due to the weather. The next meet for ACGC is the Panorama Kip Janvrin Coed Invite on Tuesday, April 7. Other teams competing are Audubon, Central Decatur, Coon Rapids-Bayard, Glidden-Ralston, Greene County, Mount Ayr, Ogden, Panorama, West Central Valley, Woodbine and Woodward-Granger.

Photos by Mark Reno.

Click images to enlarge.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

The Panorama boys and girls track and field teams compete at the Earlham Early Bird today, Tuesday, March 31. The boys hit the blocks against ACGC, Earlham, East Union, Greene County, Interstate 35, Madrid, Mount Ayr, St. Edmond, Treynor, Van Meter, Wayne and West Central Valley. The girls compete against ACGC, Atlantic, Earlham, Greene County, Madrid, Mount Ayr, St. Edmond, Van Meter, West Central Valley and Woodward-Granger.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

The Panorama boys soccer season is officially cancelled with the school citing low participation numbers. The boys were scheduled to begin their season on Friday, April 3, against West Central Valley.

“After careful consideration and conversations between administration and coaches, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the boys’ soccer season this year due to low participation numbers. Despite our efforts to encourage involvement and build a roster, we did not have enough student-athletes to safely and effectively field a team.

“Our coaches did an outstanding job recruiting and encouraging students to participate in the program. We genuinely appreciate their time, energy and commitment. We are committed to continuing to promote soccer and will explore opportunities to rebuild excitement, interest, and participation for future seasons,” Panorama said in a statement.

Ahead of our Spring Sports Guide, we interviewed the Panorama boys soccer coach, Matt Fronapfel, who told us he was directed to get 15 players on the roster in order to field a team this season, but potentially did not have 15 “primary” players. We reached out to Panorama Activities Director Bruce Dahlhauser for further clarification. He said his response is also the district’s words, not just his own.

“We’ve actually always asked our dual-sport athletes to indicate a ‘primary’ or priority sport. It’s a useful communication tool that a lot of schools utilize. In a school like ours, where kids are involved in a lot of things during the spring season, it’s the only way to help coaches coordinate schedules and avoid putting the student in the middle of a conflict when two events fall on the same night,” Dahlhauser said.

“The benchmark of 15 was set to maintain a safe and competitive program throughout a season. There always needs to be a ‘buffer’ of players who are available for every practice and match. After reviewing the final numbers, we found that fewer than 15 athletes committed to the program, so we collectively decided that we truly didn’t have enough athletes to hold a season.”

When asked if players who were still interested in competing in spring soccer could co-op with another school, Dahlhauser offered the following:

“We are currently exploring our options. If we have players that would be interested in that, we will certainly do what we can to try and make it happen,” Dahlhauser said.

Dahlhauser added that their focus is now on supporting the students and looking at how they can build a more sustainable foundation for the program in the future.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

The ACGC boys and girls cross country teams travel to Earlham today, Tuesday, March 31, for the Earlham Early Bird. The boys face Earlham, East Union, Greene County, Interstate 35, Madrid, Mount Ayr, Panorama, St. Edmond, Treynor, Van Meter, Wayne and West Central Valley. The girls compete against Atlantic, Earlham, Greene County, Madrid, Mount Ayr, Panorama, St. Edmond, Van Meter, West Central Valley and Woodward-Granger.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

ACGC recently announced the hiring of William Shull to be the new head football coach and Taylor Tiernan as the new activities’ director.

Shull is a familiar face to ACGC fans and family. He has been appointed as the PE teacher, strength and condition coach and head football coach for ACGC high school and Guthrie Center Elementary. Shull also serves as the head girls golf coach and had been an assistant coach on the football team.

Tiernan is the new 7-12 activities and at-risk coordinator for ACGC High School. She is currently the special education teacher and assistant softball coach at Waukee High School. She has 11 years of previous coaching experience and a master’s degree in educational leadership.