Cherokee – Five local athletes along with one relay won events at this year’s Smoky Mountain Conference Track & Field Championships on May 3, while two more athletes and another relay were named honorable mention All-Conference.
For Andrews, Alexis Beasley won the girls shot put (32 feet, five inches), while Kegan Ellis won the boys long jump (20’3) and O’Malley Salinas won the boys 3,200-meter run (10 minutes, 20.66 seconds).
Ellis becomes the second member of his family to win a conference title in the long jump, as his brother Kabe won the event in 2021. His jump was also better than the regional time standard.
Samuel Preston was named an All-Conference honorable mention by finishing second in the boys triple jump (38’11.5), while Logan Shuler received an honorable mention after finishing second in the boys high jump (6’0). The Wildcats finished fifth in the team standings, while the Lady Wildcats finished sixth.
Murphy had two individual conference champions and one relay champion. Jordan Oliver won the wheelchair shot put (7’1.5), wheelchair discus (13’10) and 100-meter wheelchair dash (46.74), while Corinne Cotton won the girls 400-meter dash (1:02.55).
The Bulldogs’ 4x200-meter relay team of Trenton Russell, Brady Grant, Ryan Payne and Cameron Grooms were conference champions in the event (1:34.70), Grant, Payne and Grooms teamed up with Hunter Stalcup to finish and get an honorable mention nod in the 4x100-meter relay (45.43).
Jersey Schwalm added new regional qualifying times in the girls shot put (30’8.25) and discus throw (95’8), finishing third in both events. The Bulldogs finished sixth in the team race, while the Lady Bulldogs finished fourth.
Hiwassee Dam finished seventh in the boys competition and eighth in the girls competition, with Ethan Russell leading the way by finishing fourth in the boys 1,600-meter run (4:57.36) and fifth in the boys 800-meter run (2:12.56).
Tri-County Early College finished seventh in the girls competition and eighth in the boys competition, but still set two new school records.
Freshman Fern Crayton broke the school record on her way to a third-place finish in the girls 3,200-meter run (12:26.93), while Lyden Raxter set a new mark in the boys discus throw (75’0).
Swain County won both the boys and girls team titles, with the Maroon Devils winning for the second straight year and Lady Devils for the third straight year.
All four schools will send athletes to the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A West Regional Championships at Draughn High School in Valdese on Friday. The top four finishers in each event will qualify for the 1A state championships, which will take place Friday, May 19, at N.C. A&T University in Greensboro.