CHEROKEE –
After winning the first meet in school history and earning their first Smoky Mountain Conference title, all that separated Swain County’s girls cross country team from a perfect season was placing in the top 4 at Saturday’s NCHSAA 1A West Regional and earning one of the coveted spots to the State Championship.
Mission accomplished.
Swain earned their second trip to the State Championship in the last three years with a third place finish. Blair Allman led the Lady Devils with a 19th place finish (22:46), followed closely by Lauren Shell in 22nd (22:52). It was the minuscule gap back to Erin Zwick (23:24 – 28th place), who ran a lifetime best, and the continued strong running of Autumn Demonet (23:33 – 35th place) and Tori Swartz (23:46 – 38th place), that sealed the deal for Swain. Summer Hight (27:01) and Abbe Kirby (28:59) also ran well for the Lady Devils.
With the top two 1A teams in the field (Lincoln Charter and Lake Norman), plus strong contenders in Hendersonville, Pine Lake Preparatory, and conference rival Hayesville, nothing was assured. Still, head coach Philip Latter felt unusually confident after their final pep talk.
“They were completely locked in,” he said. “You could just see that they believed all the hard work we’ve put in since June was going to pay off when it mattered the most. And it did.”
Swain will now travel to Beeson Park in Kernersville for the NCHSAA State Final on Saturday, November 3. The girls race is slated for 4:00 P.M.
