With rain falling and a cold wind howling, few would have said that yesterday's Schuylkill League Division I track meet between Tamaqua and Lehighton was contested under ideal conditions.

And that was just fine with Blue Raiders head coach Tom Kanger."These are the days where you can look at the athletes on either team and see which ones are willing to come out and compete on a cold, wet and rainy day," he said. "Some of them set personal bests for this time of year, and this is when you see which ones are going to shine later on."You really get an idea on a day like today of who wants to compete, and that's fun."The Tamaqua girls and Lehighton boys did exactly that and came away with victories, albeit by different widely different margins.The Lady Raiders mounted a late charge to come away with a 79-71 win, while the Indians seemed to be generally unfazed by the conditions, cruising to a 115-34 triumph."I'm just elated that it finally happened," Lehighton head coach Jim Blakeslee said of the boys' victory. "We knew we were close, and we made some moves strategically and we were able to get it done today."And for much of the girls' meet, it looked as if Blakeslee would be getting a sweep of both contests.The Lady Indians led 52-39 at one point before Tamaqua closed with a flurry of victories to overcome the early deficit."It was a workhorse effort," Kanger said. "We had to move some of them around and a lot of the girls had to adapt to new events. But I was pleased with the results."The Lady Raiders got solid performances from state qualifiers Paige Demetriades and Morgan Boyle, who took the top two spots in the pole vault and javelin, respectively. Demetriades took the first in the pole vault with a mark of 9-6 to Boyle's 8-6, and edged her teammate in the javelin with a toss of 117-8 to her counterpart's 116-7.But it was the mid distance and distance events where Tamaqua did most of its damage, taking at least two of the top three spots in 400, 800, 1600 and 3200 while also sweeping the 1600 and 3200 relays.Proving her versatility, Monica Shimko won the 800 (2:37) and 1600 (5:57) while also taking third in the 300 hurdles and helping the Lady Raiders capture the 1600 relay in 4:26 with a strong anchor leg in the meet's final event."It was a good day with a lot of good races," Shimko said afterwards. "A lot of them were really close, so it was pretty nerve-racking."Tamaqua's Chelsea Frantz, also on the 1600 relay squad, won the 400 (1:05) while also helping the Lady Raiders take the 3200 relay (11:12).Lehighton jumped out to an early lead on the strength of several impressive performances both on the track and in the field. Riley Durishin (high jump, long jump), Rajah Quinones (100, 200) and Grace Shanton (100, 300 hurdles) were all multiple event winners for the Lady Indians."The biggest thing I took out of today was just to not give up no matter how many challenges I face," said Shanton. "I just have to keep pushing no matter what's going on, and that includes the weather."Tyler Crum was the top individual performer for the Lehighton boys, which won 14 of the 18 events contested.The senior was victorious in the 100 (11.5), 200 (24.46) and long jump (19-6)."We have to recognize that he's not the whole team; there are a lot of other people working hard to do good things as well," Blakeslee said. "But it is absolutely very helpful to have him."Michael Blacketter (1600, 3200) and Gavin Zehner (triple jump, high jump) also won multiple events for the Indians.Trevor Skripko (shot put) and Brandon Cunningham (discus) were individual event winners for the Raiders.GIRLSTamaqua 79, Lehighton 71100 - 1. Rajah Quinones (L) 13.20, 2. Morgan Boyle (T), 3. Celina Fital (L); 200 - 1. Rajah Quinones (L) 28.64, 2. Christina Green (L), 3. Shanna Brinkworth (T); 400 - 1. Chelsea Frantz (T) 1:05.30, 2. Jennifer Beers (L), 3. Janette Kabana (T); 800 - 1. Monika Shimko (T) 2:37.46, 2. Victoria LaBar (T), 3. Jennifer Beers (L); 1600 - 1. Michael Blacketter (L) 5:07.00, 2. Trent Frey (L), 3. Anthony Tavella (L); 3200 - 1. Kailee Carroll (T) 13:21.00, 2. Nichole Wasserleben (T), 3. Cassandra Rehnert (L); 100H - 1. Grace Shanton (L) 17.10, 2. Alexis Barndt (L), 3. Brianna Karpowicz (L); 300H - 1. Grace Shanton (L) 51.19, 2. Alexis Barndt (L), 3. Monika Shimko (T); 400 relay - 1. Lehighton (Celina Fital, Tia Brownmiller, Rajah Quinones, Christina Green) 54.00, 2. Tamaqua; 1600 relay - 1. Tamaqua (Chelsea Frantz, Janette Kabana, Victoria LaBar, Monika Shimko) 4:26.00, 2. Lehighton; 3200 relay - 1. Tamaqua (Chelsea Frantz, Janette Kabana, Nichole Wasserleben, Kailee Carroll) 11:12.20, 2. Lehighton; Long jump - 1. Riley Durishin (L) 14-8.5, 2. Shanna Brinkworth (T), 3. Alexis Baddick (T); Triple jump - 1. Alexis Baddick (T) 29-7.75, 2. Riley Durishin (L), 3. Emily Wenzel (T); High jump - 1. Riley Durishin (L) 4-4, 2. Genevieve Beck (T), 3. Maddie Mace (T); Shot put - 1. Holly Bollinger (L) 30-6.25, 2. Allison Pedersen (T), Rebecca Strohl (L); Discus - 1. Megan McCullion (L) 79-10, 2. Vanessa Solt (T), 3. Holly Bollinger (L); Javelin - 1. Paige Demetriades (T) 117-8, 2. Morgan Boyle (T), 3. Megan McCullion (L); Pole vault - 1. Paige Demetriades (T) 9-6, 2. Morgan Boyle (T), 3. Mallory Dorward (L).BOYSLehighton 115, Tamaqua 34100 - 1. Tyler Crum (L) 11.50, 2. Craig Serfass (L), 3. Malik Roper (T); 200 - 1. Tyler Crum (L) 24.46, 2. Mathew Strubinger (L), 3. Dominic Palumbo (L); 400 - 1. Tyler Dunbar (L) 57.26, 2. Sean Patterson (L), 3. Shae Blasiak (L); 800 - 1. Devin Steigerwalt (L) 2:21.95, 2. Chris Martino (L), 3. Adam Melnick (T); 1600 - 1. Monika Shimko (T), 2. Cera Gaston (L), 3. Kailee Carroll (T); 3200 - 1. Michael Blacketter (L) 10:59.00, 2. Raymond Kinder (T), 3. Anthony Tavella (T); 110H - 1. Mathew Strubinger (L) 17.20, 2. Conner Fabian (L), 3. Mathew Shanton (L); 300H - 1. Craig Serfass (L) 44.08, 2. Conner Fabian (L), 3. Mathew Strubinger (L); 400 relay - 1. Tamaqua (Trevor Schilling, Malik Roper, Josh Delp, Zach Wargula) 47.97; 1600 relay - 1. Tamaqua (Josh Delp, Nathaniel Davidson, Dakota Boyer, Anthony Riboldi) 4:22.90; 3200 relay - 1. Lehighton (Michael Blacketter, Luke Fisher, Trent Frey, Chris Martino) 9:17.20, 2. Tamaqua; Long jump - 1. Tyler Crum (L) 19-6, 2. Tom Ruzicka (L), 3. Gavin Zehner (L); Triple jump - 1. Gavin Zehner (L) 36-4.5, 2. Tanner Haydt (L), 3. Grant Wetzel (L); High jump - 1. Gavin Zehner (L) 5-5, 2. Seth VanFossen (L), 3. Shae Blasiak (L); Shot put - 1. Trevor Skripko (T) 43-1.5, 2. Joseph Blauch (L), 3. Brandon Cunningham (T); Discus - 1. Brandon Cunningham (T) 125-4, 2. Joseph Blauch (L), 3. Aarn Rega (T); Javelin - 1. Tom Ruzicka (L) 136-9, 2. Trevor Schilling (T), 3. Jake Marti