Congratulations to the 70 ACS middle school and high school students who competed in the Tri-State Christian Athletic Conference Track Meet on Thursday, May 12 and earned medals and top team honors. All four ACS teams — the High School Boys’ and Girls’ teams and the Middle School Boys’ and Girls’ teams — finished in first place with the highest number of points earned among the teams from six other regional Christian schools who participated.
The day-long event, held under cloudy skies, saw ACS receive 64 first place medals — the Middle School Girls earned 15, the Middle School Boys earned 14, the High School Girls earned 20, and the High School Boys earned 15. 12th grader Caeli Barbour set a school record in the high school girls’ 3200 meter, with a time of 14:17.
ACS relay teams won 9 out the 12 relay races. In field events, ACS athletes also excelled. At the middle school level, Natalia Flores won first place in the long jump, reaching 13 feet, 4 inches, and Skyler Shivers won first place in the shot put, throwing the ball 25 feet. At the high school level, 12th grader Destiny Brewer won first place in the long jump, with 14 feet, 3 inches, and 11th grader Evan Pearson won first place in the shot put, throwing the ball 35 feet, 2 inches.
“I’m very grateful for the outstanding efforts of the entire ACS family that all worked together, using their various gifts and talents, to make this track meet a success,” said Athletic Director Pam Hitchner, who organized the meet. This is the 15th year that ACS has hosted the Tri-State Christian Athletic Conference track at its campus. The other schools participating in the meet were: Abundant Life Academy, Ambassador Christian Academy, Cumberland Christian School, Gloucester County Christian School, King’s Christian School, and The Pilgrim Academy.
Several middle school and high school athletes also made significant contributions to their teams. 7th grader Kiara Loo scored 9 points for her Middle School Girls’ team and 8th grader Mikayla Cubbage and 7th grader Natalia Flores each scored 8 points. For the Middle School Boys’ team, 7th grader Micah D’Anna scored 14 points and 8th grader Erik Preisner scored 8 points. On the High School Girls’ team, 11th grader Reyna Lewis led the team with 15 points, 12th grader Caeli Barbour scored 11 points, and 11th grader Eden Wilson scored 9 points. For the High School Boys, 9th grader Jayden Sanchez scored 11 points, 12th graders Aaron Glancey and Cole Lewis each scored 10 points, and 11th grader Cruz Lewis scored 9 points. Collectively, the three Lewis siblings scored 34 points over the course of the meet.
A large volunteer team of students, alumni, and parents helped manage the 20 track and field events in the meet, serving as timers, working at the scorer’s table, and cooking and serving at the concessions stand. In particular, Hitchner recognized and thanked several individuals for their efforts: PE teacher Kaylee Breunig, who served as Hitchner’s assistant; alumni parent Larry Martin, who oversaw the scorer’s table; substitute teacher Mike Bohs, who served as the official starter of all the races; Jeff Wolf, who served as the “Clerk of Course.” and PTF President Terry Vogel, who headed up the concessions stand that raised funds to support the ACS Athletic Department.
