Jeff Sides
Jeff Sides
Bryson City- The music played loud but the applause roared louder, Swain’s men and women cross country teams participated in the state tradition called “The Tunnel” last Friday, November 4th. The whole school created a tunnel for the teams to follow through to their charter bus provided by the Cherokee Boys Club Inc.. To top off the school’s tunnel, Swain got a police escort up to the middle school to see their mini fans and then out to the highway. Junior Dewight Winchester played music on his big speaker on the back of the bus like usual, junior Emma Pindur played a movie, and everyone slept the rest of the four hour trip to Kernersville, NC to do a practice run at the state course.
Kernersville- After seeing the course conditions, some Swain runners joined in on a “duck, duck, goose” game being played by some of the other state bound runners while others talked with Cherokee’s Darius Lambert. Once the fun at the course was over, Swain went to check into their hotel and headed towards their italian restaurant to fill up on carbs and protein for the race the next morning. But we couldn’t forget the quick run to the mall before ending the night.
After a restless sleep, 8AM rolled around and a text message from coaches saying it was time to get breakfast went to each runner. Once Swain made it to the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex, they claimed their spot once more and went to survey the state meet goodies that were being sold. “Bang!” The 4A men’s race had started and it seemed as though they were sprinting the entire 5K course like it was a quick 800 meter race on the track. As the fastest men at the meet were racing, Swain’s men were warming up and heading to the starting line. Many of the Maroon Devils said they weren’t nervous but excited for the race ahead and glad they all made it to state. As 1030AM rolled around, the officials called up all the 1A runners for a uniform check. Swain was against fifteen other teams plus individuals from each region.
Senior Parker Chatham led Swain for the last time with a 38th place finish followed by seniors Phineas Little and Darren Blankenship finishing in 60th and 71st place. Sophomore Bradley Vestal finished 73rd along with Winchester placing 76th. Lastly, sophomore Jessee Steele placed 108th and senior Brett Treadway finished his high school running career placing 114th. Almost every male Swain runner made a seasonional best that day.
But that wasn’t all for Swain County, we still had our women’s team to race later that day at 1130AM. Pindur once again led Swain with an astounding 4th place finish in front of conference rival, Cameron Rice of Murphy, followed by freshman Rebecca Duncan placing 42nd. Junior Lynsey Hicks pulled sophomore Lily Richards along placing 65th and 67th. Sophomore Emma Dingle made an appearance that day as Swain’s fifth runner placing 86th with seniors Kylie Pond and Bryar Buchanan pushing her forward and helping her make a huge personal best while they placed 89th and 101st.
Most would think Swain would be nervous about their placements at state but Swain was just happy for the opportunity to be able to race in such a tough meet against amazing runners across the state. Swain’s Maroon Devils tied for 9th place with Murphy but lost against the tiebreaking 6th runner and took 10th place as a team. Swain’s Lady Devils placed 7th a few points behind Murphy. In sum, the Maroon Devils did absolutely amazing, the best placement in 10 years, and our Lady Devils had an off day as a team but had many small victories.
Swain ends the season with the NCHSAA 1A State Championship meet and the Maroon Devil Network congratulates all the seniors on their fantastic cross country careers here at Swain County.
Photography: Jeff Sides (post) and Sernia Holt (featured)
Swain Men
| 17:57.66 | Parker Chatham(SR) | 38th |
| 17:57.66 | Phineas Little(SR) | 60th |
| 19:07.31 | Darren Blankenship(SR) | 71st |
| 19:10.51 | Bradley Vestal(SO) | 73rd |
| 19:17.19 | Dewight Winchester(JR) | 76th |
| 19:56.22 | Jessee Steele(SO) | 108th |
| 20:05.03 | Brett Treadway(SR) | 114th |
Men 1A Team Scores
| 1st | Walkertown | 72pts | 5+8+13+14+32 (72+93) |
| 2nd | Raleigh Charter | 103pts | 3+19+26+27+28 (49+52) |
| 3rd | Voyager Academy | 135pts | 1+10+22+44+58 (66+68) |
| 4th | Bishop McGuinness | 141pts | 15+23+25+31+47 (65+70) |
| 5th | Lincoln Charter | 151pts | 12+18+36+39+46 (62+75) |
| 6th | Community School of Davidson | 157pts | 4+21+34+43+55 (69+80) |
| 7th | Franklin Academy | 162pts | 16+20+35+41+50 (60+67) |
| 8th | North Stokes | 197pts | 9+11+42+45+90 |
| 9th | Murphy | 224pts | 17+29+38+61+79 (81) |
| 10th | Swain County | 224pts | 24+40+51+53+56 (83+89) |
| 11th | Lejeune | 249pts | 30+37+48+63+71 (84+103) |
| 12th | East Wilkes | 249pts | 2+7+74+78+88 (100+104) |
| 13th | Hobbton High School | 321pts | 33+57+59+77+95 (98+99) |
| 14th | Camden County | 385pts | 6+87+94+96+102 |
| 15th | Cape Hatteras | 386pts | 54+64+85+86+97 |
| 16th | Pamlico County | 414pts | 73+76+82+91+92 (101+105) |
Swain Women
| 20:11.89 | Emma Pindur(JR) | 4th |
| 22:26.00 | Rebecca Duncan(SO) | 42nd |
| 23:13.75 | Lynsey Hicks(JR) | 65th |
| 23:17.97 | Lily Richards(SO) | 67th |
| 23:59.75 | Emma Dingle(SO) | 86th |
| 24:21.48 | Kylie Pond(SR) | 89th |
| 24:58.91 | Bryar Buchanan(SR) | 101st |
Women 1A Team Scores
| 1st | Franklin Academy | 79pts | 2+12+16+21+28 (59+65) |
| 2nd | Lincoln Charter | 98pts | 1+15+23+29+30 (38+50) |
| 3rd | Bishop McGuinness | 121pts | 10+13+14+37+47 (71+103) |
| 4th | Raleigh Charter | 167pts | 8+11+40+44+64 (67+78) |
| 5th | Gray Stone Day School | 177pts | 20+24+34+46+53 (80+91) |
| 6th | Murphy | 178pts | 6+33+36+51+52 (75+82) |
| 7th | Swain County | 185pts | 3+31+43+45+63 (66+76) |
| 8th | East Carteret | 219pts | 4+26+42+60+87 |
| 9th | North Stokes | 234pts | 7+19+55+68+85 |
| 10th | Pine Lake Preparatory | 235pts | 5+22+41+77+90 (95) |
| 11th | Roxboro Community | 246pts | 27+35+54+56+74 (81+102) |
| 12th | Research Triangle | 298pts | 39+57+58+61+83 (92) |
| 13th | Walkertown | 302pts | 18+48+49+89+98 |
| 14th | Manteo | 309pts | 32+62+70+72+73 (86+96) |
| 15th | Granville Central | 324pts | 9+25+93+97+100 (101) |
| 16th | Lejeune | 337pts | 17+69+79+84+88 (94+99) |