Greensboro – Both the Murphy High Schools boys and girls placed in the top 10 at the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A Track & Field State Championships on Friday. The Lady Bulldogs placed sixth, while the Bulldogs placed ninth.
Murphy’s girls team entered the meet as the two-time defending state champions, but that wasn’t in the cards with a smaller team this year. It was still a successful meet though, as six of the seven Lady Bulldogs who competed in the meet finished in the top four and got on the podium, plus sophomore Jersey Schwalm missed out on fourth place in the shot put by only 2 inches.
“We had seven girls today and they did really well,” Murphy girls track and field head coach Penny Johnson said. “It’s a good day. Several kids placed, did well and (I) can’t complain.”
Once again, senior Sarah Pullium was the top competitor for the Bulldogs, winning the discus at state for the third straight year and finishing second in the shot put. On the track, Murphy’s 4x100-meter relay team of Calista Adams, Faith Ann Revis, Calista Rumfelt and Grace Nelson finished second. Nelson also finished seventh in the 200-meter dash and competed in the high jump, while Revis finished seventh in the 400-meter dash and competed in the triple jump.
Jordan Oliver added another pair of second place finishes, winning silver medals in both the wheelchair shot put and discus.
Swain County won its second state championship and first since 2016, completing a postseason sweep after taking both the Smoky Mountain Conference and 1A West Regional Championship.
On the boys side, Murphy had goals to win its first state championship but knew it faced an uphill battle. The Bulldogs needed to have a really good day and teams in front of them falter, and unfortunately the opposite happened.
After getting off to a decent start with the team of Clayton Laney, Caleb Rice, Caleb Jones and Chase Pierce placing fourth in the 4x800-meter relay, Murphy had some bad injury luck when Pierce was spiked in the 1,600-meter run. The Bulldogs’ top distance runner, Pierce managed to gut out a seventh-place finish, but he was unable to compete in the 800-meter run or 4x400-meter relay.
“With Chase going down that hurt in the mile that hurt,” Murphy boys track and field head coach Davis Bryant said. “I’ve never seen anything like that. I just so much hate it for him. As hard as he’s worked and for it to end like that.”
The 4x400-meter relay, which was seeded fourth, finished 10th without Pierce, and the 4x200-meter relay was disqualified for an improper exchange. Junior Juan Allen struggled in his first state meet as well, including somersaulting on the track after leaping over the final hurdle in the 110-meter hurdles. Mountain Island Charter, the favorite coming in, won their first state track and field title.
It wasn’t all bad for the Bulldogs, though, as senior Rashad Davis set a personal best on the shot put to finish in fourth, while senior Caleb Jones and junior Hunter Laney finished in fifth in the 3,200-meter run and high jump, respectively. The disappointing day didn’t put a dour on Murphy’s strong season, as the Bulldogs won their fourth straight Smoky Mountain Conference crown and first Western Regional championship since 2017.
“It’s been a great year,” Bryant said. “We were regional champs. We didn’t have the outcome here today but it’s just life, and we’ll be back next year.”
Andrews and Hiwassee Dam had girls compete at the meet. Andrews junior Kaylin Ellis placed sixth in the 100-meter hurdles, while senior Lindy Garrett competed in the shot put. Hiwassee Dam senior Kiara Anderson placed seventh in the triple jump and also competed in the long jump, while senior Ashlyn Weaver competed in the 100-meter dash.