Peachtree – Ethan Russell of Hiwassee Dam does it again as he won his second straight cross-country meet on Aug. 28 at Tri-County Early College.
Russell ran the 5K course in 17:08.70, outrunning Ogana Swimmer of Cherokee by 29 seconds.
The Eagles boys cross-country team got their second straight team win with 38 points. They were the only team with three runners in the top 10 and the only team with five runners in the top 20. Russell, Oscar Page and Maverick Hawley were in the top 10, while Abel Penland and Xavier Johnson rounded out the top 20.
Hiwassee Dam cross-country coach Josh Barton said, “Another great team win. Everyone performed well … Brock Hyde also had a great first race in his XC debut. Our ladies team consisting of Maria Page and Avery Freemon did great as well.”
Heading into the next meet and the rest of the season, Barton said. “We will keep working hard and competing within our team to help shave time and push each other to be better.”
Also in the top 10 were Myca Mustin of Andrews, Braden Edwards of Murphy and Landan Spies of Tri-County. Also in the top 20 were Cruz Yarbro of Murphy in 11th, Jacob Gonzalez of Tri-County in 13th and Jaden Rice of Murphy in 20th.
Murphy came in third in the boys team points totals with 82 points, while Tri-County came in sixth with 109 points. Andrews did not score team points because they had less than five boys running in the meet.
In the high school girls 5K, Murphy won the team points total with 45 points, beating Cherokee by two points. Kennedy White and Corrine Cotton finished sixth and eighth, respectively.
Their top-10 finishes helped the team. The big difference that helped the Lady Dogs win was having Marley Blackwell, Alyssa Trantham and Charlie Stalcup finish 13th-15th to round out their top five and secure the win.
Fern Crayton of Tri-County got her second straight second-place finish at the meet with a time of 22:27.80. Finishing in the top 20 were Rylee Tabor of Murphy in 16th as well as Bryanna Jaime, Ernestrina Trigueros and Allison Hernandez of Tri-County in 17th-19th place. Avery Freemon and Maria Page of Hiwassee Dam finished in 20th and 21st, respectively.
Along with Murphy girls finishing in first place, Tri-County finished in fourth with 69 points. Hiwassee Dam did not score team points because they had fewer than five total runners.
The Smoky Mountain Conference cross-country teams will head to Cherokee High School for the third meet of the season today.
Hiwassee Dam will look to three-peat with their third team points win of the season, while Murphy will look to get a second teams points win at today’s meet.