Murphy – The Bulldogs hosted the first Smoky Mountain Conference track and field meet of the season on March 20, with Murphy, Hiwassee Dam and Nantahala competing.
The Bulldogs’ boys track team dominated the meet, finishing ahead of five other schools. Murphy finished with 134 team points, while their nearest competitor, Cherokee, finished with 89. Murphy captured the first four positions in the 100-meter with Brady Grant taking first followed by Chandler Nernes in second, Cameron Clem in third and Ryan Payne in fourth.
Hunter Stalcup took first in the 200m and the long jump. Camden Breazeale took first in the 300m hurdles. Murphy’s relay team won the 4x100 and 4x200, plus finished second in the 4x800 relay.
In the 200m dash, Cale Harger finished third and Ryan Payne finished in fourth. In the 400m dash, Ryan Payne finished in second and Trenton Russell finished in fifth place.
In the 1600m run, Cruz Yarbro finished in fourth. In the 3200m run, Braden Edwards finished in third, Jake Miller finished in fourth and Connor McMillian finished in fifth.
In the 110m hurdles, Camden Breazeale finished in second and Will Shore finished in fourth. In the 300m hurdles, Will Shore finished in second.
For the field events, Cale Harger finished second in long jump. In triple jump, Chandler Nemes finished second and Jonah Hedden finished in third. In discus, Aaron Harger finished in third. In shot put, Aaron Harger finished in second.
For Hiwassee Dam’s track team, Ethan Russell finished in first place in the 800m run, 1600m run and 3200m run. They finished in fourth overall with 24 team points.
Nantahala had one top-5 in the meet with Cole McCoy finishing in fifth in the 1600m run.
On the girls side, the Murphy girls track and field team finished second in the track meet. The Lady Bulldogs finished on top in the 4x100m relay and the 4x200m relay.
Ivy Warner finished first in the 100m hurdles. Corrine Cotton won the 400m dash with a time of 1:03.90 and the 800m Dash with a time of 2.43.90. Jordan Oliver got first-place finishes in the wheelchair discus, wheelchair shot put and 100m wheelchair race.
In the 100m dash, Patience Garrett finished second, Rylee Tabor finished third and Alyssa Trantham finished in fourth. Rylee Tabor also finished third in the 200m dash.
In the 400m dash, Chloe Crooks finished in third place. In the 800m run, Anna Leatherwood finished in fourth and Ansley Roper finished just behind in fifth.
In the 1600m run, Breeze Hinton finished in second and Anna Leatherwood finished in third.
For the field events, Breeze Hinton finished second and Chloe Crooks finished in fifth in the high jump. In the discus, Saige Kent finished in fourth and Aiden Smith finished in fifth. Gabby Lloyd finished second, Olivia Davis finished fourth and Saige Kent finished in fifth in the shot put.
For Hiwassee Dam, Ava Pressley finished 18th in discus as Hiwassee Dam’s only female athlete to compete.
For Nantahala High School, Zoey Passmore finished fourth in both the 400m dash and the high jump. Brysen Newton finished in fifth in the 400m dash.
Murphy, Hiwassee Dam and Nantahala will head to Cherokee today for their second conference meet of the season at 3:30 p.m.