Cherokee – Two down, one to go.
That’s how the Murphy boys track and field team approached the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A Western Regional Championship on Friday. After winning their fourth straight Smoky Mountain Conference championship on June 9, the Bulldogs accomplished another big goal by winning the regional meet for the first time since 2017.
“It feels awesome, it feels great,” Murphy boys head coach Davis Bryant said. “But I know we got one more to go, and I don’t want to let up yet because that was our whole goal this year.”
After beating Hayesville by 16 points, the team decided to empty a water cooler on Bryant. Even with the celebration, Bryant said his team knows what lies ahead in Greensboro this Friday. The Bulldogs have never won a state track and field championship, finishing in third in 2019, just five points out of first place.
“When we didn’t have everybody when football was still going on, I didn’t know what it was gonna look like,” Bryant said. “But these boys have come together when it counted the last two. And we still have one more to go.”
Like last week at the conference meet, Murphy did most of its damage on the track to make up for the Yellow Jackets’ success in the field events. However, the Bulldogs still had some strong performances in the field, led by junior Juan Allen winning the long jump after being banged up at the conference meet due to an ankle injury.
Senior Rashad Davis finished third in the shot put and junior Hunter Laney finished fourth in the high jump. With the top four in each event heading to the state championships, all three will compete in those events next week.
Murphy was better in the track, sweeping the distance events. Senior Chase Pierce won both the 800- and 1,600-meter runs, and senior Caleb Jones won the 3,200-meter run and finished second in the 1600.
Junior Chandler Wood qualified for the state meet by finishing second in the 100-meter dash, while Allen did the same by finishing second in the 110-meter hurdles. The Bulldogs also had their 4x200, 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams qualify for the state meet by finishing fourth, third and second, respectively.
On the girls side, Murphy saw its three-year winning streak snapped by Swain County, though the Lady Bulldogs still finished second despite having only 11 athletes participate in the meet.
“It was a good day,” girls track coach Penny Johnson said. “It’s great to come out in second place with that few kids.”
Senior Sarah Pullium once again led the way for the Lady Bulldogs, winning both the shot put and the discus. Pullium is the two-time defending state champion in the discus, and at the state meet will look to become just the ninth athlete to win three state titles in the event. She’ll be joined in both the shot put and discus by sophomore Jersey Schwalm.
On the track, senior Grace Nelson and junior Faith Ann Revis qualified for the state meet by finishing second in the 200- and 400-meter dashes, respectively, and teamed up with junior Calista Adams and freshman Calista Rumfelt to take first in the 4x100-meter relay. Nelson also finished fourth in the high jump.
Andrews and Hiwassee Dam also qualified athletes for next week’s meet.
For the Wildcats, junior Kaylin Ellis finished third in the 100-meter hurdles, while senior Lindy Garrett finished fourth in the shot put to punch their own tickets to Greensboro.
For the Eagles, senior Kiara Anderson finished third in the long and triple jumps, while senior Ashlyn Weaver finished fourth in the 100-meter dash.