BOONE – Facing mostly large schools on the campus of Watauga High School in Boone on Saturday, the Lady Devils cross country team reaffirmed its mettle with a solid 8th place showing in a field of 18 teams. Freshman Emma Pindur led the charge with a 19th place finish in a time of 21:22, with junior Shelby Hyatt right on her heels in 21:23. Freshman Lynsey Hicks was the next finisher in 22:16 (40th place), followed closely by sophomore Kylie Pond (72nd – 23:30) and junior Serina Holt (91st – 24:51). Jenna Crutchfield (103rd – 26:07) rounded out the varsity team for Swain after junior Madison Travitz was injured during the race’s second mile.
Lake Norman High School won the meet with a score 65, followed by Reagan’s 76 and Butler’s 116. Swain placed right behind Watauga and Hopewell with a score of 238; both of those schools boast enrollment of over 1400 students. Swain County’s enrollment is around 560.
“To fare so well against mostly larger schools is huge for our confidence moving forward,” said head coach Phil Latter. “We’re in the toughest region in 1A, and we’re still battling some injury problems, but I think we now know we can compete well against almost any team out there.”
The boys’ team struggled a bit on Saturday, finishing 17th in the field of 21. Sophomore Parker Chatham (65th – 19:16 ) and senior Sam Dickson (80th – 19:47) led the charge for Swain, followed in quick succession by sophomores Brett Treadway (97th – 20:32) and Darren Blankenship (103rd – 20:54) and junior Bryce Ledford (106th – 21:08). Junior Rye Hester (111th – 21:16) and sophomore Raine Bradley (113th – 21:25) completed the varsity team for Swain.
“If we’re going to be the type of team I know we can be, we have to be more aggressive in the first mile and not so overwhelmed by racing in a bigger field against larger schools,” says Latter. “Some of it is maturing as a team and some of it is just trusting in our fitness. We still have the potential to do great, but our attitude needs to shift now.”
Swain County cross country runners also competed in the junior varsity races in Boone. Sophomore Bryar Buchanan ran 26:01 to lead the Lady Devils to a 10th place finish in the JV girls race. On the boys’ side, sophomore Dawson Lowe was the top finisher in a personal best of 21:25.
Swain County returns to action this Wednesday at the Carney Classic in Hayesville.
Good Luck Coach. Congrats on finishing in the upper half. Tell the team the “yankees” up her in Chicago are rooting for them!
chris