SWIMMING
Early College goes to state
Tri-County Early College swimmers Fern Crayton and Ariana Rivas competed at the N.C. High School Athletic Association Swimming & Diving State Championship on Feb. 9.
Crayton competed in the 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle, while Rivas competed in the 100-yard freestyle. Crayton earned 20th place in the 500-yard freestyle and 22nd-place in the preliminaries of the 200 yard freestyle, while Rivas earned 24th place in the 100-yard freestyle.
Crayton’s time of 6:04.53 in the 500-yard freestyle at the state championship set a new school record and was also the second fastest in Cherokee County history for the women’s 500-yard freestyle. Crayton beat the original record at the regional meet, then broke it again by two seconds at the state meet.
Tri-County Early College was the only Cherokee County school to send swimmers to the state championship at the Triangle Aquatic Center.
FISHING
Benefit fish tournament
The Darrell Beaver benefit fishing tournament will be held Saturday, March 16, at the Hanging Dog Boat Ramp on Hiwassee Lake. The tournament will run from sun-up to 3 p.m.
Blast-off will be in the order of signup. Two
people per boat, unless a child is under 13 years old, and life jackets must be worn at blast off. All bait is allowed, including lures, minnows and worms. There is a five fish limit and 14-inch minimum.
Lunch will be provided. Prizes will be given away, with all proceeds going to the Beaver family.
Details: To donate, call Jake at 423-241-7532; or call Hunter at 828-734-2980.
PREP HOOPS
Dogs, Cats out in first
Murphy played in the first round of the Big Smoky Conference tournament on Friday night at Cherokee, where they lost to Robbinsville 67-52.
The Lady Bulldogs finished the season with a 2-22 overall record, going winless in the conference at 0-11. Both of their wins both came at home.
Andrews took on Swain County in the first round of the Big Smoky Conference tournament on Thursday night, also at Cherokee.
The Lady Wildcats had the same fate as Murphy, as Andrews lost 51-40 to the Lady Maroon Devils. They ended the season with a 10-14 overall record and 3-7 in the conference.
WRESTLING
Murphy at regionals
This season was Murphy’s first official one with a girls wrestling team. Junior Aiden Smith and freshman Halie Hill represented Murphy this season, and they were among the first girls to compete in the all-female regional event.
Both girls fought hard, but could not punch their ticket to the state championship. Smith, who came just shy of making it to the state tournament, finished the season with a 14-9 record, while Hill finished 7-6.
The Murphy boys wrestling team also wrapped up their season at the regional tournament.
The team was led by senior Zach Kessler, who ended the season with a 23-13 record. Sophomore Dalton Farmer was 18-9, junior Jake Miller ended 11-3 and junior Ashton Raxter finished with an 8-12 record.
Coach Mike Catuto said multiple first-year wrestlers improved over the course of the season. Those include freshman Josiah Niebla (15-19), sophomores Karson Chastain (7-20), Aiden Hernandez (6-10) and Angelo Palombo (6-19).
Senior Chad Perry, a first-year wrestler, suffered a season-ending injury just days before the regional tournament. He finished the season with a 7-10 record.
COLLEGE HOOPS
Teams fight to be in 68
With less than a month until Selection Sunday on March 17, multiple surrounding teams are fighting to make their way into the 2024 March Madness basketball tournament.
For state schools, the University of Carolina is ranked No. 10, while Duke is ranked just below at No. 8. UNC-Wilmington received one vote but is unranked.
UNC and Duke sit first and second in the Atlantic Coast Conference and are likely favorites to win the conference tournament when it kicks off next month.
The University of Tennessee of the Southeastern Conference is ranked No. 5. The Volunteers should have no problem making March Madness if they continue to win.
On the women’s side, N.C. State is ranked No. 6 and the only North Carolina team in the top 25. UNC and Duke received votes, but still remain unranked.
The NCAA’s Selection Sunday event starts at 6 p.m. on CBS. March Madness competition tips off Tuesday, March 19, with the First Four.
Compiled by Sports Editor Cannon Crompton.