HENDERSONVILLE – If Saturday’s performance at the Western North Carolina Cross Country Carnival (WNCCCC) is any indication, 2014 could be a banner year for the Swain County cross country program.
On the women’s side, junior Shelby Hyatt led the team with a 6th place finish in a time of 22:10 on the difficult Jackson Park course. She was followed closely by freshmen Emma Pindur (23:15 – 15th place) and Lynsey Hicks (24:33 – 37th). That trio helped Swain finish 7th out of 28 teams in the Invitational race, an improvement of four spots over last year’s team.
“In 2013 we had a lot of young, untested talent that were a bit overwhelmed by starting the race with 30 other teams,” says head coach Philip Latter. “This year’s team is a bit more talented and a bit more aggressive. That starts with Shelby and Emma and works its way down to everyone else. Throw in that we were missing two of our top five girls and still moved way up in the standings, and it tells me this team has the chance to be something truly special.”
Sophomore Kylie Pond ran 25:44 to finish in 71st place, with fellow sophomore Jenna Crutchfield closing out the scoring by placing 150th with a time of 28:04.
In the men’s Invitational race, sophomore Parker Chatham ran 19:08 to finish in 24th place. That performance led Swain to a 15th place finish, an improvement of 6 spots over last year. Darren Blankenship, also a sophomore, was the next Swain runner in with a time of 20:13, good enough for 71st place. The Maroon Devils were helped tremendously by the addition of senior Graham Allen, who placed 98th in his debut with a time of 20:56. Senior Sam Dickson (108th – 21:04) and sophomore Brett Treadway (117th – 21:11) rounded out the scoring.
“That was the best I’ve ever seen Parker run,” says Latter. “He was tough, he was aggressive, and he didn’t get intimidated by having over 200 people in the race. I think that set a great example for everyone, and it showed in the results today.”
This year’s WNCCCC drew over 1,300 participants from 43 schools and several states.
The Maroon Devils return to action Tuesday at the Smoky Mountain Invitational in Cullowhee.