Swain County Lady Maroon Devils track & field team earned a first place finish for the Smoky Mountain Conference.
Cherokee – The Lady Devils track team garnered the first SMC Championship of the year for Swain High School Wednesday, June 9. Swain easily outdistanced the rest of the field to take home top honors with 204 points. Murphy was second with 120 points while Robbinsville was third with 112.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our girls and the work they have put in so far this year. They knew going into the season that we had an opportunity to compete for some championships,” said head coach Ian Roper. “So far, they have managed to maintain their focus and commitment when a lot of programs have failed to keep their kids engaged during a tough year marked by COVID. We celebrate this conference championship but are still working hard for the chance to compete for a state title in a couple of weeks.”
The competition for Swain was also marked by not one but multiple records.
“It has been a real focus for our girls this year to leave their mark not only on this season, but on the record books. In a lot of the smaller local meets, they weren’t pushed by the other teams but were constantly pushing each other to set a lower mark for themselves personally, or to better the school mark,” shared Roper. “We have set the school and conference record in the girls 4x2, Monica Riordan set the school and conference record in the 100 Hurdles, and Matthew Gray set the school and conference record in pole vault on the boys side.”
Swain was strong throughout, but distanced themselves with strong showings in the hurdles, relays and distance events. Monica Riordan and Jessie Lohmann were dominant in the hurdles. Riordan took first in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.01. Riordan’s time of 15.01 was a new SMC record.
Lohmann was just off of that pace finishing second with a time of 16.13. In the 300-meter hurdles, it was Lohmann’s turn, as she took first easily with a time of 48.06.
In the distance events, it was Emily Ulaner, Amaya Hicks and Gracie Monteith who stood out. In the 800-meter run Amaya Hicks took first with a time of 2:32.55. Emily Ulaner was up next as she took first in the 1600-meter run with a time of 6:06.89. Gracie Monteith turned in a pair of impressive second-place finishes in both the 1600-meter and 3200-meter runs.
Ulaner, Hicks and Monteith would team with Lily Bjerkness to win the 4×800 relay with a time of 10:50.10.
Swain would also strike gold in the 4×200 and 4×400 relays. In the 4×400-meter relay, it was Amaya Hicks, Emily Ulanar joining Jessie Lohmann and Jenna Marr to take first in a time of 4:23.09.
Marr teamed up with Mazie Helpman, Jessie Lohmann and Monica Riordan to take first in the 4×200-meter relay. Their time of 1:49.67 was good for a new SMC record.
Amelia Rogers took first in the pole vault leading a Swain sweep of the top three spots. Rogers cleared 9’6 to take first. Anna Gray was second by clearing 8’ and Laiken Harvey was 3rd by clearing 7’6.
Natalie Stuckey took second in the discus (108’7) and Mazie Helpman took second in the 200-meters (27.13).
Maroon Devils finish third
The Maroon Devils placed third Wednesday in the Smoky Mountain Conference Championships held at Cherokee. Murphy finished in the top spot with 173 points followed by Hayesville with 149, and then Swain with 131 points.
“While our girls have garnered a lot of attention this year, our boys program is on the rise. We had a very competitive third place showing with a group largely made up of freshmen and sophomores. The boys actually have the chance to qualify more athletes for state than the girls’ team at Regionals this week,” said Coach Roper. “I expect they should come into the conference season next year as a favorite to break through for their first conference championship in quite a while.”
Swain had one first-place finish on the day. Matthew Gray took the top spot in the pole vault competition. Gray cleared 13’8 to take home the gold. John Schuler finished second by clearing 12’.
Connor Brown and Landon Matz both finished second. Brown was 2nd in the 800-meter run with a time of 2.09.26. Matz was second in the 100-meter with a time of 11.76.
Swain was also second in the 4×200 meter relay team with a time of 1:36.72, but those team members were not identified.
Michael Winchester, Dawson Cody and Austin Jenkins all had individual third-place finishes. Winchester in the shot, Cody in the triple jump, and Jenkins in the 110-meter hurdles. The 4×400-meter relay team also finished third.
Coach Roper points to the leadership of the entire Swain track and field coaching staff for the successes the teams have seen this season. “A lot of the credit for our success falls to the amazing coaching staff we have managed to put together,” he said.
“Jennifer Chatham leads our distance program. Colby Hyatt runs our sprint and sprint relay group. Bruce Roth has overseen the hurdlers for the past several years and built that group to one of the tops in the state. Keith Payne has been a huge addition to us this year. He has a wealth of experience in all disciplines of track and field, and has been working with our mid-distance, jumpers and throwers. We were also blessed to bring former state record holder Landon Hunt on board this year to work with our pole vaulters,” Roper said. “Every event group in track demands specialized instruction and practices. We are just blessed to have great coaches in place to work with them.”