Your Swain County Maroon Devils had their first home meet of the year on Saturday, September 16th. This was the first time the Maroon Devils faced off against the other SMC teams this fall. Swain has been racing larger meets to give our athletes the opportunity to race against great competition, get the feel of a large group of athletes on the start line, and just to get exposure on a larger scale. That experience paid off with big wins for our varsity teams.
It was a beautiful morning at Kituwah, the Mother Town of the EBCI. We appreciate the tribal council, the leadership teams, and the people of the EBCI for allowing all of us to run on this site. The gravel roads around the mound make for a fast and flat race without going on any pavement. It is one of the fastest course in the state and by far the most special.
The boys go first in many races sponsored by the NCHSAA, and this week was no different. At the one mile mark, the boys were positioned well and moving quickly through the course. “I thought they may be a little fast at the beginning”, Coach Payne said after the first mile. “Now we have to hope they can hold their pace”. After the first mile, the runners disappear. They run towards the bottom of Kituwah where it becomes difficult to view. With about 650 meters left, the runners re-appear for spectators to see the final kick of the race. Leading the way this week with a personal record (PR) was Sophomore Carl Baird with a time of 16:43. Good enough for a 3rd place finish out of 66 runners. Senior Kane Jones was right behind him with anothe PR performance time of 16:55 and a 4th place finish. Senior Connor Brown quickly finished after him placing 7th with a time of 17:01. Senior Abhi Patel ran a PR time of 17:28 to finish 10th overall, followed by Senior Connor Lambert who also PR’d with a time of 17:54 and a 12th place finish. Freshman Ross Clapsaddle finished with a PR time of 18:01 and a 14th place finish. Senior Cory Wolf finished with a time of 18:53 and a 24th place finish, freshman Derek Gunter finished with a time of 20:28 and a 29th place finish and freshman Ty Eaton finished with a PR time of 23:31 and a 57th place finish.
Overall, the boys team finished first with a total of just 35 points. 3A school Franklin was second with 49 points, Hayesville was 3rd with 77 points, Cherokee was 4th with 106, Hiwassee Dame was 4th with 140, Murphy finished 6th with 153 and Tri County Early College finished 7th with 163.
“I think the work we have been doing over the past month is starting to pay off,” Coach Payne said after the race. “I am impressed with their poise and grit.” “I understand that some schools may be upset with our limited SMC appearances, but my job is to prepare my teams to compete on any level and sometimes that means running races that directly compete against many of the SMC races. We wanted to run on the state course, and the only time we could was last Friday, meaning we couldn’t race at Cherokee last week. We want to race other top 1A programs in the state and they will not come here, so we have to go to them.”
The girls were next up. The weather started getting a really warmer, the fog had burned off, and the girls were ready to burn up the course. After one mile, Annie Lewis was pushing for the lead against one of the top 1A female runners in the state in defending state champion, Dvdaya Swimmer from Cherokee. The other girls were, like the boys, way ahead of their training paces. Coach Payne commented, “I hope they can hold it”, as he ran off towards the finish line. Sophomore Annie Lewis finished 2nd overall and broke 20 minutes for the first time with a PR time of 19:32. She was followed by fellow sophomore Angel Lomelli, who also finished with a PR time of 20:36 and a 3rd place finish. Senior Lily Bjerkness was 9th overall with a time of 21:22. Freshman Emily Gray Stargell ran a PR time of 21:38 to finish 12th overall. Sophomore Audrey Monteith placed 14th overall with anothe PR time of 21:46. Junior Lilah Foster ran the best race of her career setting a PR of 22:03 placing 16th with Sophomore Marden Harvey completing the 5k course in a time of 22:17 and placing 17th. A quartet of freshman rounded out the girls teams with Julianna Meraz-Quijada setting a pr time of 24:04 (23rd), Carden Oetting 24:16 (26th), Kiersten Cucumber hit her pr time of 24:55 (31st), and Jany Echeverria also ran a PR time of 25:40 (35th).
As a team, the girls won with a point total of 29. Franklin was second with 46, followed by Hayesville with 77 and Tri County Early College with 90. Coach Payne was happy with the results. “There are some good runners in our conference. When you look at the other teams, you see so much talent scattered all around. Our conference races will be close this year and I hope our teams are up to task.” Coach BJ Ledford said, “We don’t need to be satisfied with these results. There is still room to grow and improve. The season is still early and all we did was put a target on our backs.”
Your Swain Maroon Devils will compete this upcoming Saturday at McAlpline Parkway in Charlotte for the Hounds and the Hare Invitational. Give the team your love and support.