Handicapped Spots, sidewalks, and the hill behind the tennis court were fair game for cars to park on Friday, April 1st as the Erie Tigers hosted a 32 team midday track meet happening at Tigers Stadium.

Athletes from Erie were checked out of class to practice and run in the Erie Tiger Twilight Invitational. The meet started at 12:00 PM, which meant athletes competing at Erie only had enough time to go to their first two classes, before then warming up with their team at 11:00. Athletes from other schools competing, however, did not go to school that day. Schools came from all around Colorado. The closest school was Peak to Peak, which is five miles away, and the farthest was Summit Highschool which is 65 miles away. 

Joe Fott, a sophomore at Erie Highschool, says Erie hosted the meet because, “Erie is the largest highschool in St. Vrain, and we also have the biggest track and field. I think we even beat Mead for seating capacity.”

The last event of the day happened at 8:15 PM in the dead of night. Carter Joyce, a sophomore at Erie Highschool and a distance runner. He says, “This is the first meet I’ve went to that went really late.” His favorite part of the meet was watching his team run in the 4×400 Meter Relay. “[My favorite part was] Definitely watching the 4×4. It was really intense.” 

Parking was a mess at the meet, the bigger parking lot was full as well as the makeshift parking lot behind the stadium, which contained hundreds of cars. This lot was not enough however because cars parked on the grass around the school, handicap spots, and the large hill by the tennis courts. Students who drove to school that day were confused why they could not find a parking spot coming back from lunch, even though it was made clear in the morning announcements all week that parking that day would be very tight. Carter Joyce mentioned that there was, “No parking whatsoever.” Joe Fott, a sophomore adds that, “It was interesting, it was an absolute s—show. People were complaining… if there was a speck of grass there was a car parked on it.”

Erie’s best performances at the meet included but were not limited to: Nonso Uwalaka, who got 4th out of 112 in the girl’s 100 meter dash. Her time was 12.82 (faster than 22 boys who ran the same event). Erie girls got 3rd in the 4×200 Meter Relay. Evan Kraus placed sixth 6th running the mile. Boys 4×100 Meter Relay got 5th. Lily Meskers won the 400 Meter Dash, and she was the only girl in the event who ran under one minute. Joe Fott says, “I think the best performance was Lily Meskers. She won the 400. She just did an absolutely good job.” Lily Meskers also got 2nd at the Girls 200 Meter Dash. Boys 4×400 Meter Relay got 3rd place. The best field event performances were; Kiara Welch, who got 7th in the Girls Long Jump; Erie boy’s shot put was 2nd, 3rd, and 4th with the trio of Jackson Cowgill, John Pastore, and Mason Cowgill. Overall, Erie girls track placed 6th at the meet and Erie boys placed 2nd.