The Charger track and field teams competed in the Dakota Wesleyan Early Bird meet Saturday in Mitchell, South Dakota. The day was highlighted by seven individual first place finishes and a top place finish by the Charger men's team.
 
The meet featured just two other teams in Dakota Wesleyan and Morningside. The Charger men finished with 133 team points and the women's team had 72
 
On the men's side, the Chargers had first place finishes in the 200-meter, 400-meter and 600-meter dash. 
 
Ben Jefferies ran his 400-meter in 50.31, placing first while Paxon Fleming (53.40) and Ramon Harkins (53.51) finished third and fourth, respectively. Robert Amaro won the 600-meter at 1:28.24. Jalen Cook was third in the 600 with a time of 1:29.27. Caleb Sassman (1:45.22) was fifth and Jeremiah Brown (1:50.29) finished sixth. 
 
The Chargers held the top four finishes in the 200-meter dash with Angel Juardo's crossing the finish line first in 23.21. Dominic Archer (23.63) was second, Tulsa Janish (23.64) finished third and Cook (23.91) placed fourth. Moises Lupercio was one of two athletes to compete in the 3000-meter, finishing in 10:56.72.
 
Byrnden Kinnaman's shot put of 13.68m was good for a third-place finish.
 
"Today overall wasn't what we were hoping for on the clock and distances, but we competed very well," said head coach Scott Barnes. "Despite not doing what we are capable of in many areas, our men won the meet, which I think is showing the depth we have that we haven't in previous years."
 
The Charger women had three of the top four finishers in the 60-meter dash as Jasmine Joseph won with a time of 8.20. Ariyah Williams finished third at 8.70 and Breionna Goodman was fourth with a 8.88. 
 
Joseph also took first place in the 200-meter with a time of 28.18 and Kiana Vereen was second with a time of 28.27. Vereen's time of 1:06.00 in the 400-meter was good for a first place finish. 
 
In the field events, Hope Wagner notched a first-place finish with a throw of 12.13m in the shot put, while Isabel Slayer finished second in the triple jump with her leap of 10.32m.
 
"We aren't anywhere near full strength as we had a lot of sickness that has held us back not having some of our big competitors," said Barnes. "We had a lot of great finishes on the girls side as well and scored a good amount of points."
 
The Chargers will have an extended break before returning to action after the New Year. BC will head to Yankton, South Dakota for the Mount Marty Opener on January 15.