BLACK MOUNTAIN – Regional qualifiers from 1A and 2A competed at Montreat College on Friday with the hopes of qualifying for the state championship.
Five local athletes claimed regional championships by winning their respective events.
In 1A team scores, the Andrews boys came in third place with 74 points and the girls came in fourth with 75 points. Hiwassee Dam boys came in ninth with 15 points and the girls came in 15th with four points. Tri-County Early College girls had 32 points to finish in eighth place, while the boys had seven points to come in 15th.
In 2A, the Murphy girls came in ninth place with 25.5 points, while the boys came in 15th with 21 points.
Andrews had three athletes win regional titles. Two-time state champion high jumper Logan Shuler won the 1A regional title. Myca Mustin claimed the title in the triple jump, while Kaiya Ellis is also heading to state after winning the 1A title in the 100-meter hurdles.
Fern Crayton of Tri-County Early College, the reigning 1A girls cross-country state champion, won the regional title in the 3,200m run Friday.
Samuel Bateman of Nantahala won the 1A regional title with his first-place finish in the long jump.
Andrews
Shuler, Mustin and Ellis led the Wildcats as they earned points for the team Friday. Multiple athletes scored points for the Wildcats with finishes in the top eight.
Scoring for the girls was Yesenia Hernandez with a fourth-place finish in the 400m dash. Marissa Conti came in seventh place in the 100m hurdles.
Ellis also came in second in high jump and third in triple jump. Marley Blackwell came in seventh in long jump.
In triple jump, Sadie Mustin came in fifth and Natalie Garrett came in eighth. In discus, Jaden Crocker came in third and Sadie Mustin came in eighth. In shot put, Alexis Beasley came in second place and Beth Beasley came in sixth.
In girls relays, the 4x400m team came in second, the 4x100m team came in third, while the 4x200m team came in fourth.
As well as Shuler, multiple boys scored points for the Wildcats. Phisher Baxter came in fourth place in the 100m dash. Jayce Donaldson came in eighth in the 800m run and Elliott Salinas came in seventh in the 1,600m run.
Chase Beasley came in fourth in the 110m hurdles.
Also in high jump, Caleb Helton came in sixth. Brady McLelland came in seventh in the long jump. Also in triple jump, Christian Helton came in third.
In discus, Logan Patrick came in fifth and Brayden Helton came in seventh. In shot put, Patrick came in third, Kiwali Glass came in fifth and Cooper Orr came in eighth.
For the boys relays, both the 4x100m and 4x400m teams came in fourth place, while the 4x200m team came in sixth.
Murphy
Despite no Bulldogs earning first place finishes in the jam-packed 2A regionals, they had multiple athletes score points.
For the girls, Ansley Roper came in third in discus and Amelia Joyner came in third in the shot put. Joyner also came in fifth place in the discus.
CJ Yarbro came in sixth in the 100m hurdles. Valorie Jordan came in eighth place in the 300m hurdles.
In high jump, Kinlee Herr came in sixth, while Bella Kent came in eighth. Yarbro also came in eighth in long jump.
The 4x100m girls relay scored points with their eighth-place finish.
For the boys, Aaron Harger finished on the podium with his second-place finish in discus.
Camden Breazeale came in fourth in the 300m hurdles and sixth in the 110m hurdles. Cale Harger came in fifth in the long jump, while Aaron Harger also came in eighth in shot put.
Tri-County
Crayton led the team with her regional win in the 3,200m run. She also came in fourth place in the 1,600m run.
Also scoring points for the Lady Jaguars were Sophia Smith in sixth in the 1,600m run, while Bryanna Jaime with her sixth place in the 3,200m run.
In the girls relays, the 4x800m team came in third, while the 4x400m team came in fourth place.
For the boys, Joshua Bickham came in eighth place in the 400m dash. In the boys relays, the 4x800m team came in sixth, the 4x400m team came in seventh and the 4x200m team came in eighth.
Hiwassee Dam
The Eagles didn’t have anyone podium, but three athletes earned points for the team.
For the boys, Oscar Page came in third in both the 1,600m and 3,200m runs. Maverick Hawley came in seventh in the 3,200m run and eighth in the 1,600m run.
For the Lady Eagles, Sarah Stock came in fifth place in discus. Also competing but not scoring for the Lady Eagles was Stock in 10th in shot put and Avery Freemon in 11th in the 800m run.
Nantahala
Bateman was the lone Hawk to compete at the regional meet. As well as his win in long jump, he also came in fourth place in high jump.
Up next
State qualifiers will head to the state championship held at N.C. A&T in Greensboro. 2A will compete today and 1A will compete Thursday.