MURPHY – (Special From Philip Latter) On a day where the Maroon Devils track program was depleted due to the Senior Trip and several injuries, some top performances erased any shortcomings that appeared in the team scores.
On the girls’ side, the 4 x 400-meter relay scored a victory in a time of 4:23.70. That mark is the second fastest in the state. The 4 x 800-meter relay equaled that state ranking by running 10:14.20, the third fastest in the program’s history. Both relays were anchored by sophomore Maggie Burns, who also won the 400-meter dash in a time of 1:01.34, the sixth-fastest in the state.
“There’s something about our rivalry with Robbinsville and Murphy that really brings out the best in the relay teams,” said head coach Phil Latter. “We had great weather and good competition and really took advantage of it. We’ll reload for the Conference meet in two weeks and see if we can pull off a major upset.”
Other top performers for the girls included Shelby Hyatt placing second in the 1600 meters, Madison Travitz placing second in the 800 meters, Katherine Brown placing third in the discus and Burns placing third in the long jump.
On the boys’ side, the 4 x 100-meter relay ran a blistering 44.90 to move up to fifth in the state rankings and tops in the Smoky Mountain Conference.
Parker Chatham returned from illness to place second in the 1600- and 3200-meter races, while freshman Shane Swimmer ran 54.14 to place second in the 400 meters. Angel Bowers’ jump of 38’7” earned him third place in the triple jump.
Overall the boys placed 4th and the girls 5th out of 7 teams.
The Maroon Devils return to action this Saturday at the Blue Ridge Open in Asheville (A.C. Reynolds) before hosting their final home meet of the year on April 22.