Bryson City – The Smoky Mountain Conference’s cross-country teams ran Saturday morning in the Keith Payne Memorial Invitational.
The Hiwassee Dam boys team got first in team scores with 48 points. Ethan Russell came in second place with a time of 16:06.39. Freshman Oscar Page came in fourth with a time of 16:53.20. Maverick Hawley came in ninth, Abel Penland came in 16th and Xavier Johnson came in 28th to round out the Eagles’ scoring runners.
Murphy came in seventh in team scores with 144 points. The Dogs’ highest finisher was Braden Edwards at 14th.
Tri-County Early College came in eighth in team scores with 165 points. Their highest boys finisher was Landan Spies at 19th.
Andrews’ O’Malley Salinas came in third, Myca Mustin came in 21st and Ethan Garett came in 56th. Andrews did not have enough runners to score team points, since you need five runners in order to have a team score.
Hiwassee Dam’s average time was 18:01, Murphy’s was 20:25 and Tri-County’s was 21:17.
On the girls side, after Swain County swept the top three spots, Tri-County’s Fern Crayton came in fourth place with a time of 20:33.15 for another top-five finish this season. She was the only Cherokee County girls runner in the top 10.
Murphy’s highest finish was Corrine Cotton in 17th place. Cotton and Crayton were the only two Cherokee County girls runners in the top 20.
In team points. Murphy came in fourth place with 125 points, while Tri-County came in fifth with 127 points.
Hiwassee Dam had three girls run, which is not enough runners to have a team score. Maria Page finished in 38th, Avery Freemon finished in 48th and Hailee Barney finished in 76th.
The meet is held in honor of former Swain County, Murphy and Andrews track and cross country coach Keith Payne, who passed away on Aug. 17.
So far this season, Hiwassee Dam boys have finished first in points in each meet and they will look to repeat in the next meet at home.
The cross-county season is in its final stretch, with only two regular-season meets left. Today, Hiwassee Dam will host the conference meet, with middle school running and 4 p.m. and high school starting around 5 p.m.
On Wednesday, Oct. 2, Robbinsville will host the final regular-season meet, with high school starting around 5 p.m.
Following that meet, conference teams will return to Swain for the conference championship on Oct. 12.