CHICO - The crosstown rivalry that regularly splits Chico into two fan bases took its animosity to the track Wednesday as the Pleasant Valley Vikings headed to the Mel Jones Complex at Chico High to face the Panthers in a duel that wouldn't be decided until the final few races. The Pleasant Valley girls were able to capture the meet victory by a slim margin 64-62. The Panther boys would also have to wait until the end of the day to claim victory finally concluding with a five point victory over the Vikings, 66-61. Chico head coach Rich Kemp was satisfied with his team's effort and ability to compete with its crosstown rivals. "I'm real pleased with all the (personal records) today and the overall performance," Kemp said. "Our first goal is to beat PV and our second goal is to win the league championship."

The Chico boys' squad was led by Jason Weinrich, finishing the day with three individual victories and a relay victory. Weinrich took first place in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 40.0 seconds, first in the 110 hurdles clocking in at 15.4 seconds and first in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 2 inches. Making an impact as a sophomore for Chico was Eli Penick, who blew away the field in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.8 seconds. Penick was also anchor for the 4x100 meter relay that took first place for the Panthers. "It means a lot to beat PV," Penick said. "It's a good competition between schools and it's just great to win." It was Chico's Tyler Lamott that stood out for the Panthers in the power events. Lamott took home first place in the discus with a throw of 143-7 and second place in the shot put, falling a foot short of Pleasant Valley's Jordan Rigsby, who threw 47-2. Other winners for the Chico boys include double winner Nimai Buroz, who took home first place in both the 1,600-meter run (4:45.3) and the 3,200-meter run (10:29.9). Alex Thomas chipped in with a first-place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes, 4.6 seconds. In the losing effort the Vikings did get a standout effort from Bradley Cox who took first in the 400-meter run and double winner Ross Engstrom, who nabbed first place in the long jump with a mark of 19-2 and also topped the field in the 200-meter run with a time of 22.7 seconds. The Vikings grabbed the victory in the boys' triple jump with Jordan Applett's 36- 3 effort as well.

One bright spot for the Viking was the girls' squad, with an impressive showing in field events by Rachel Tice. The Viking girls swept the competition in the shot put, led by Tice's 31-6 heave. The discus event yielded the same results as Tice took first again with a throw of 92-6, nearly nine feet further than the second-place competitor. "When you win shot put it's a great motivator to go win discus," Tice said. "It's awesome to sweep the event against Chico, that's just icing on the cake." Other standouts for the Vikings were Brooke Whitburn, who took first place in the long jump by leaping 16-2 3/4 feet.Whitburn also grabbed first place in the triple jump. Melanie Hickman took the top spot in the 3,200-meter run (12:03.3)for the Viking girls and Amy Bower took first in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 51.5 seconds. Also grabbing two firsts for the Vikings was Gabrielle Finley-Vaquera with victories in the 100-meter dash (12.3) and the 200-meter run (25.9).

The Chico girls got major contributions from high jumper Maddie Sullivan-Hames, who took the event with a launch of 5-2. Sullivan-Hames also won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.3 seconds. Kody Atkins had an impressive day, grabbing two firsts, one for the 1,600-meter run (5:23.9) and one in the 800-meter run (2:29.9). Whitney Cinquini grabbed first for Chico in the 400-meter run with a time of 1:04.4.

In junior varsity action the Pleasant Valley boys beat Chico 62-54 while the Panther girls won 67-56.