Tamaqua and Jim Thorpe have certainly got to know each other during the early stages of the track season.

The two teams have already competed together at the Palisades Invitational, the Blue Raider Invitational and the Jim Thorpe Invitational.Despite the familiarity,Wednesday afternoon marked the first time the Raiders and Olympians have waged a head-to-head battle.In the girls meet, Tamaqua won 14 of the 18 events to take home a 97-52 victory, while on the boys side, Jim Thorpe captured 10 first-place finishes, en route to a 84-65 victory over the host Blue Raiders.The win improves the Lady Raiders to 2-1 (2-1 league) on the season, while the Olympians upped their record to 3-1 (2-1 league).To no one's surprise, the Tamaqua girls were once again led by the championship tag team of Kayla Hope and Christine Streisel. The two defending State champions combined for six individual first-place finishes and took part on the winning 400-meter relay team.Hope's successes came in the 100 (12.7), long jump (16-9 ) and triple jump (31-10 1/2), while Streisel dominated the throwing events with first-place finishes in the shot put (36-8 1/2), discus (111-8) and javelin (153-3).Streisel is ranked second in the country in girls javelin with a personal-best throw of 160-11 (at the Blue Raider Invitational). Haley Crouser, a junior from Gresham High School in Oregon is ranked first with a throw of 181-2 (accomplished last Friday at the Aloha Relays), which is the National Javelin Record.Joining Streisel and Hope as multiple-event winners was Caitlin Trainer, who won the 200 and 300 intermediate hurdles, while also taking part on the winning 400 relay team."Caitlin (Trainer) is overlooked a lot because of Kayla and Christine, but she's done so much for our team," praised Tamaqua head coach Tom Kanger. "She's versatile and she can be plugged in to multiple events. Today, she won the 300 hurdles and then came right back and won the 200 in the very next event, which is just amazing."Also gaining first-place finishes for Tamaqua were: Cecily Kohlmeir (400), Kelsey Patrick (3200), Maria Streisel (high jump) and Rebecca Minehan (pole vault).On the boys side, Tamaqua's Tyler Hope (100, 200) and Eric Hertzog (110 high hurdles, 300 intermediate hurdles) won two events apiece, but it was Jim Thorpe's balance and depth that allowed it to come out on top. In addition to two relay wins, Jim Thorpe won eight individual events, with eight different Olympians contributing first-place finishes.The Olympians gained the victory despite not having Khaaliq Lynch available, who was held out with a minor hamstring strain."We knew it would be a close meet, especially with Khaaliq out, and we told the kids on the bus that they all needed to step up, run some events that they weren't accostumed to and try to score some points for us," said Jim Thorpe head coach Frank Miller.Jim Thorpe did the majority of its damage in the distance events (outscoring Tamaqua 24-3) and in the jumps (outscoring Tamaqua 23-3)."Our areas of strength is our sprints (especially when we have Khaaliq) and our jumps, which is also Tamaqua's strengths," added Miller. "With that being said, we put a lot on the distance kids to go out there and win the races and fight for places because we thought those points would be huge in determining who would win the meet today."First-place finishers for the Olympians were: Bob Taylor (800), Jake Saxon (1600), Jonathon Condly (3200), Ben Moore (javelin), P.J. Johnson (long jump), Mike Harleston (triple jump), Kenny Baombolia (high jump) and Sean Mendez (pole vault).With the losses, the Jim Thorpe girls fall to 2-2 (1-2 league), while the Tamaqua boys remain winless at 0-3 (0-3 league).BOYSJim Thorpe 84, Tamaqua 65100 - 1. Tyler Hope (T) 11.4, 2. P.J. Johnson (JT), 3. Sean Mendez (JT); 200 - 1. Tyler Hope (T) 23.4, 2. P.J. Johnson (JT), 3. Eric Hertzog (T); 400 - 1. Zack Oliver (T) 55.1, 2. Eugene Revzin (JT), 3. Sam Gilkes (JT); 800 - 1. Bob Taylor (JT) 2:14.2, 2. Lance Williams (T), 3. Darren Gehres (JT); 1600 - 1. Jake Saxon (JT) 5:05.4, 2. Benny Mazzella (JT), 3. Christian Fields (JT); 3200 - 1. Jonathan Condly (JT) 11:09.7, 2. Jake Saxon (JT), 3. Christian Fields (JT); 110 HH - 1. Eric Hertzog (T) 15.2, 2. Jake Wenzel (T), 3. Kenny Baombolia (JT); 300 IH - 1. Eric Hertzog (T) 42.4,2. Scott Lignore (JT), 3. Kenny Baombolia (JT); 400 Relay - 1. Tamaqua (Zack Ruba, Tyler Hope, Lance Williams, Eric Hertzog) 45.0; 1600 Relay - 1. Jim Thorpe (Scott Lignore, Kenny Baombolia, Sam Gilkes, Eugene Revzin) 3:49.8; 3200 Relay - 1 Jim Thorpe (Scott Lignore, Eugene Revzin, Darren Gehres, Bob Taylor) 9:26.5; Shot Put - 1. Jake Wenzel (T) 37-11 1/2, 2. Trevor Skripko (T), 3. Pete Conforti (T); Discus - 1. Pete Conforti (T) 118-3, 2. Jason Sylvester (T), 3. Ben Moore (JT); Javelin - 1. Ben Moore (JT) 171-6 1/2, 2. Tyler Hope (T), 3. Zach Zuccatti (T); Long Jump - 1. P.J. Johnson (JT) 19-9, 2. Lance Williams (T), 3. Mike Harleston (JT); Triple Jump - 1. Mike Harleston (JT) 37-10, 2. Mike Malatak (JT), 3. Deonte St. Hill (JT); High Jump - 1. Kenny Baombolia (JT) 5-0, 2. P.J. Johnson (JT); Pole Vault - 1. Sean Mendez (JT) 11-6, 2. Brenden Bugge (T), 3. (tie) Mike Kelly (T) and Eric Smarr (T).GIRLSTamaqua 97, Jim Thorpe 52100 - 1. Kayla Hope (T) 12.7, 2. Aindrea Williams (JT), 3. Colleen Hoffman (JT); 200 - 1. Caitlin Trainer (T) 28.3, 2. Anjelica Poalillo (JT), 3. Cecily Kohlmeir (T); 400 - 1. Cecily Kohlmeir (T) 1:04.9, 2. Catherine Condly (JT), 3. Rebecca Minehan (T); 800 - 1. Kayla Susko (JT) 2:36.5, 2. Amber Carroll (T), 3. Erin Bucci (JT); 1600 - 1. Courtney Capper (JT) 5:54.7, 2. Kelsey Patrick (T), 3. Emily Bumbulsky (T); 3200 - 1. Kelsey Patrick (T) 12:34.2, 2. Courtney Capper (JT), 3. Madelyn Dolinsky (T); 100 LH - 1. Jaclyn Mefford (JT) 19.2, 2. Colleen Hoffman (JT), 3. Devon Matz (JT); 300 IH - 1. Caitlin Trainer (T) 50.8, 2. Devon Matz (JT), 3. Rachel Caputo (JT); 400 Relay - 1. Tamaqua (Caitlin Trainer, Kayla Hope, Christine Streisel, Maria Streisel) 51.6; 1600 Relay - 1. Tamaqua (Danielle DeCindio, Caitlin Trainer, Maria Streisel, Cecily Kohlmeir) 4:36.3; 3200 Relay - 1. Jim Thorpe (Courtney Capper, Erin Bucci, Kristin Lawrence, Kayla Susko) 10:50.2; Shot Put - 1. Christine Streisel (T) 36-8 1/2, 2. Amanda Solt (T), 3. Sam Koch (T); Discus - 1. Christine Streisel (T) 111-8, 2. Amanda Solt (T), 3. Brooke Twarkowsky (JT); Javelin - 1. Christine Streisel (T) 153-3, 2. Cat Condly (JT), 3. Amanda Solt (T); Long Jump - 1. Kayla Hope (T) 16-9 , 2. Rebecca Minehan (T), 3. Anjelica Poalillo (JT); Triple Jump - 1. Kayla Hope (T) 31-10 1/2, 2. Thanna Annan (JT), 3. Kristin Lawrence (JT); High Jump - 1. Maria Streisel (T) 4-8, 2. Rebecca Minehan (T), 3. Desi Lui (JT); Pole Vault - 1. Rebecca Minehan (T) 9-0, 2. Paige Demetriades (T).