BOONE – (Special from Philip Latter) On a warm day in the High Country, the Maroon Devils kept their cool and qualified 17 athletes for the 1A Track and Field Championship this Friday on the campus of North Carolina A &T.
The boys were led by Angel Bowers, who qualified in three events. In the long jump, Bowers set a personal best of almost two feet when he leapt 20’6” to finish second, then came back in the triple jump and placed third with a personal best of 39’2”. Bowers also led off for the victorious 4×100 relay.
“He had one of the most incredible days I’ve ever seen,” said coach Philip Latter. “All the work he’s been doing with Ian Roper, our jumps coach, has really started to pay off. He took it to an entirely different level today, and there’s not another kid out there who deserves it more.”
Also competing an incredible level was Jordan Cody, who ran the second fastest 100m time on the day (11.36) en route to qualifying for State. Cody came back thirty minutes later to anchor the 4×100 relay of Bowers, Caleb Woodard, and Shane Swimmer to gold, taking them from third place to first over the final 100 meters.
Over at the pole vault pit, Cooper Reinert set a new school record of 13’6”. In the hurdles, Ben Miller qualified in both the 110-meter high hurdles (third place, 17.04) and the 300-meter intermediate (fourth place, 43.49), while Woodard also qualified in the shot put with a fourth-place heave of 41’8”.
As a team Swain placed third behind conference rivals Murphy and Hayesville.
On the girls’ side, the Lady Devils had a day to remember, qualifying 11 athletes. No one performed bigger than Maggie Burns. The sophomore anchored the 4×800 relay of Shelby Hyatt, Lynsey Hicks and Madison Travitz to a second-place finish, then came back to place second in the 400-meter dash (1:00.81) and the 200-meter dash (27.42).
“She ran a personal best every time she touched the track today,” Latter said. “You can’t ask for better momentum heading into the State Meet. She’ll be counted on as a leader next year, and judging by the way she handled all of today’s triumphs and adversity, I think the team will be in great hands.”
That adversity resulted from a disqualification in the 4×400 relay, which Burns anchored to a school record time of 4:15.30. That time was not counted, however, because of a lane infraction. The DQ also kept the Maroon Devils from winning the Regional title. Instead, Robbinsville took home the trophy, with Swain second and Murphy third.
Swain was in a position to win entering the last event due to some clutch performances. Sophomore Kathryn Brown qualified for State in the discus by launching a seven-foot personal best on her last throw (102’5”) in finals to finish fourth. Freshman Emma Pindur placed third in the 1600 with a 15-second personal best of 5:34, while Shelby Hyatt (12:47) and Lynsey Hicks (2:33) made big moves over the second half of the 3200 and 800, respectively, to qualify. Lydia Sale placed fourth in the 100-meter dash (13.68) and then anchored the team of Abby Durisseau, Emily Styles and Sarah Hyatt to a third-place finish in the 4×100 relay (54.69).
Other notable performances included Sarah Hyatt (8’0”) and Samantha Thomas (7’6”) placing 2-3 in the pole vault and Sale qualifying in the triple jump (31’10”).