Cherokee – Hiwassee Dam, Murphy and Nantahala had several athletes place well during the Smoky Mountain Conference meet on March 27.
Murphy’s Aaron Harger placed fourth in the boys discus. Brody Orton placed sixth in front of Rickey Queen, Charlie Graves and Caeden Chastain, who placed seventh, eight and ninth, respectively, for the Bulldogs. Nantahala saw Jacen Carver place 10th, followed by teammates Cole McCoy, Chase McMahan, Hunter Bryant and Matthew Pendergrass.
Lady Bulldogs’ Aiden Smith placed second in the girls discus. Saige Kent was fourth, Ansley Roper was fifth, Shyla Coleman was seventh and Carsyn Lovingood finished 10th for the Lady Dogs. Summer McMahan of Nantahala finished 13th, along with teammate Zoey Passmore, who finished 15th.
Murphy’s Jordan Oliver finished first in the wheelchair discus.
Murphy had three finishers in the top five in the shot put. Brody Orton finished third, Aaron Harger took fourth and Ricky Queen was fifth. Jonah Hedden and Charlie Graves took eight and ninth, respectively, giving Murphy five of the top-10 finishers.
Nantahala had four athletes place. Jacen Carver finished 14th and was followed by Hunter Bryan in 15th, Chase McMahan in 16th and Matthew Pendergrass in 17th.
Murphy girls also finished with five of the top-10 spots in the shot put. Gabby Lloyd finished fourth, followed by teammates Carsyn Lovingood, Olivia Davis and Saige Kent, who finished fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, with Ashley Roper 10th.
Nantahala’s McMahan finished 11th, while Passmore finished 13th. Oliver won the wheelchair shot put for the Lady Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs owned the boys long jump, as they claimed the top three positions. Cale Harger was
first, followed by Hunter Stalcup and Cameron Clem. Will Shore also claimed sixth position for the Dogs.
Tori Gilliam finished third for Murphy in the girls long jump. Teammate Patience Garrett finished sixth. Murphy’s Chandler Nernes and Joseph Gibby claimed third and fourth in the boys triple jump. Breeze Hinton won the girls high jump for the Lady Dogs. Camden Breezeale finished third for the Dogs in the boys high jump.
Murphy’s runners also had a good day. The boys 4x800-meter relay team finished second. The 4x200m relay team, the 4x400 relay team and the 4x100m relay team took first place in all three events.
Murphy had two teams in the 4x100m and the other team finished third. The Lady Bulldogs’ relay teams also had a strong day, as they won the 4x200m and 4x100m relays.
Ivy Werner took home a first-place finish for Murphy in the girls 100m hurdles. Camden Breezeale and Will Shore finished in that event for the boys at second and third place, respectively.
Hinton took home the prize in the girls 300m hurdles. Breazeale claimed the top prize in the 300m hurdles for the boys, while Shore finished third
Murphy’s girls had three of the top five runner in the 100 meters, as Garrett finished second, Rylee Tabor third and Alyssa Tranthan was fifth. Tori Gilliam finished eighth and Jolie Andrede ninth in the event.
For Nantahala, Zoey Passmore took 11th and Brysen Newton was 15th. The 100m wheelchair event was taken by Oliver.
Murphy dominated the boys 100m event as they took four of the top five finishers. Chandler Nernes took first followed by Cameron Clem in second, Brady Grant in fourth, Trenton Russell in fifth and Mason Ray in seventh. Hinton and Anna Leatherwood took third and fourth place in the Girls 1,600m event.
Ethan Russell of Hiwassee Dam won the 1600m boys event. Murphy runners Jake Miller, Blake Edwards and Cole Miller took third, fourth and fifth. Eagles runner Travis Allen was sixth.
Bulldog runners finished out the field, as Jonathan Lamb finished seventh. The Chastain boys finished the field, as Heath finished eighth followed by Carsan at ninth.
The Lady Dogs took home a win the girls 400m race. Corrine Cotton took first place with a time of 1.02.
The boys, not wanting to be outdone by the Lady Dogs, took the boys title as well, as Ryan Payne finished first with a time of 54.92 seconds. Teammate Trenton Russell wasn’t far behind in second place with a time of 57.32 seconds, and Kamden Koop finished fifth.
Eagle runner Ethan Russell captured the 800m race title, outdistancing 13 other runners with a time of 2.11. Bulldog runners Jake Miller and Josiah Niebia finished sixth and seventh. Hiwassee Dam’s Travis Allen was eighth, followed by Murphy’s Jonathan Lamb, Heath Chastain and Kamdyn Koop.
Lady Bulldog Anne Leatherwood finished fifth in the girls 800m event. Rylee Tabor finished second in the girls 200m race.
Murphy’s boys took five out of the top six finishers in the 200m race. Harger won the event. Brady Grant, Mason Ray, Hunter Stalcup and Ryan Payne took third through sixth.
Hiwassee Dam’s Russell outlasted four Murphy runners to take the 3,200m title. Braden Edwards finished second followed by Josiah Niebla, Conner McMillian and Karsen Chastain.
Their next meet is at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, at Murphy.