Bryson City – The Hiwassee Dam boys cross-country team had another strong race to earn 98 points, which secured the Eagles second overall in the boys team points standings.
The Eagles boys team were the highest Smoky Mountain Conference team in the standings, coming in second to Corvian Community School during the 1A West Regional meet Saturday. Also in the boys team standings, Murphy came in 14th place with 330 points and Tri-County Early College came in 15th with 380.
In cross-country, the team with the least amount of points wins. Points are scored by what place each runner comes in. For example, one point is awarded for first place, two points for second place and so on. Points are only awarded to teams with at least five runners in the race.
The Eagles were led by Ethan Russell, who came in fifth overall, and Oscar Page, who came in seventh overall. Maverick Hawley came in 21st, Abel Penland came in 25th and Xavier Johnson came in 49th to round out their top five boys runners.
Murphy’s top five boys runners in the regional meet were Braden Edwards in 39th place, Cruz Yarbro in 73rd, Heath Chastain in 74th, Jaden Rice in 84th and Grayson Hall in 88th.
For Tri-County, their top five runners were Jacob Gonzalez in 42nd place, Landan Spies in 60th, Elias Diaz-Menchu in 98th, Nathan Downs in 102nd and Silas Maheux in 115th.
The Andrews boys cross-country team had runners in the regional meet, but did not have enough to score team points. O’Malley Salinas came in 10th place and Myca Mustin came in 53rd as their only two runners.
“I am very proud of the way this group of men has performed all season. They really showed a lot of grit and determination at regionals,” Hiwassee Dam cross-country coach Josh Barton said. “We will keep working hard and staying healthy to get ready for the state championship meet.”
“I was well pleased with our results. My entire boys team also plays soccer for TCEC and they played three full soccer matches last week (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday) and ran Regionals on Saturday. Given their fatigue and minor injuries they all gave a valiant effort,” Tri-County head coach Josh Crayton said about the boys team.
“Our boys did not have any personal records or season bests, but given the heat of the day and the toll of the week, I was pleased with their results. On the boys team, Jacob Gonzalez was our top finisher with a time of 18:58. I was very pleased with Jacob’s season, prior to this season he had never run a race or a 5K run. Unfortunately, he is a senior and will not return next year.”
For the girls runners, Murphy came in ninth overall in team points, while Tri-County came in 10th overall. The Lady Bulldogs scored 213 points and the Lady Jaguars 219.
The Lady Bulldogs’ top five runners were Kennedy White in 32nd place, Hailey Hill in 52nd, Charlie Stalcup in 54th, Corrine Cotton in 61st and Alyssa Trantham in 66th.
Tri-County’s top five girls runners were Fern Crayton in ninth place, Bryanna Jaime in 45th, Allison Hernandez in 60th, Ernestina Trigueros in 77th and Lorena Garcia in 91st.
Andrews and Hiwassee Dam did not have girls runners in the regional meet.
“I was very excited about our girls performance. We had three personal records, two season bests and one runner who qualified for the state meet. Fern Crayton finished ninth and qualified for state with a time of 20:26,” Crayton said about the girls team at Tri-County.
“The race conditions were hot and dusty for this late in the season and most of the times were slower than SMC times two weeks ago. Given the strength of our region, qualifying for state as an individual is no small feat, and we are excited to head to Kernersville to finish the season.”
To prepare for the state meet, Crayton said they will work on speed and pace early in the week, then will taper in the days leading up to the meet. He is hoping for a cool front so the state meet will not be as hot at the regional meet.
Teams in the Smoky Mountain Conference will head to the Ivey M. Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville for the state championship meet Saturday. 1A will compete in the afternoon races. The boys will run at 2 p.m., while the girls run at 3:20 p.m.