Bryson City – The Hiwassee Dam boys cross-country team is the 2024 Smoky Mountain Conference champion.
The Eagles put together another great performance en route to having an undefeated conference season in team points. All the SMC cross-country teams headed to Swain County for the final conference meet of the season Saturday.
In team points totals for the boys, Hiwassee Dam got the win with 43 points. Just behind them was Swain with 46 points. Murphy came in fifth with 110 points and Tri-County Early College finished in sixth with 127 points.
Making up the top-five for Hiwassee Dam was Ethan Russell, who came in third place with a time of 16:03. Just behind him was freshman Oscar Page in fourth. Maverick Hawley came in 12th, Abel Penland 13th and Xavier Johnson 23rd.
Making up Murphy’s top five was Braden Edwards in 15th, Cruz Yarbro in 24th, Heath Chastain in 29th, Jake Miller in 30th and Jaden Rice in 32nd.
Tri-County’s top five were Jacob Gonzalez in 17th, Landen Spies in 18th, Elias Diaz-Menchu in 36th, Nathan Downs in 39th and Silas Maheux in 40th.
Andrews ran in the meet, but didn’t have enough runners to score team points. O’Malley Salinas came in fifth, Myca Mustin ninth and Ethan Garrett 35th.
Speaking on winning the SMC, Hiwassee Dam head coach Josh Barton said, “It was a great win, especially in a conference full of such great athletes and competitors. We are very excited to see what the rest of the season holds.”
In the high school girls race, Murphy came in third with 85 points, Tri-County finishing fifth with 124 points.
Murphy’s top-five runners were Kennedy White in 12th, Corrine Cotton in 16th, Hailey Hill in 18th, Charlie Stalcup in 23rd and Marley Blackwell in 24th.
Tri-County’s top five were Fern Crayton in sixth, Allison Hernandez in 27th, Bryanna Jaime in 28th, Ernestina Trigueros in 38th and Lorena Garcia in 39th.
Hiwassee Dam had runners compete, but the did not have enough people to score team points. Maria Page came in 25th, Avery Freemon 29th and Hailee Barney 43rd.
In the middle school Smoky Mountain Conference championship, Andrews’ boys won in team points with 29 points, 27 points ahead of second place. Murphy came in sixth with 130 points, while Hiwassee Dam/Ranger Middle came in seventh with 156 points.
Andrews Middle had four runners in the top five. Levi Clark came in first, followed by Elliot Salinas Luke Clark and Jayce Donaldson. Christian Helton rounded out their top scoring runners with a 19th-place finish.
Murphy’s highest finisher was Jackson Badger in 10th place, while Hiwassee Dam/Ranger’s was Anthony Page in 12th place.
In the middle school girls race, Murphy Middle came in second place. Murphy’s top five was Hadley Rider in seventh, Kylee Koop in eighth, Taylor Teasdale in 11th, Maddie Lamb in 12th and Carter Hall in 14th.
Andrews girls had runners, but not enough to score team points. Their runners were Aubrey Hedden in 34th and Sissy Ashe in 36th.
The high school cross-country teams will head back to Bryson City for the 1A West regional meet Saturday, Oct. 26. The men will run at 10 a.m., while the women will start at 10:45 a.m.
The teams are very familiar with the course as it is the third time they will run it this season.