Gary Ayers
ayers5315@bellsouth.net
Swain's Arizona Blankenship not only set the pace for more outstanding results for the Maroon Devils Indoor Track & Field team but also set a new school and meet record at the Reindeer Classic recently at Winston-Salem. Competing at the JDL Fast Track, Blankenship ran her first ever sub-5:00 in the 1600 meter with a time of 4:57.73. Swain's Lelani Queen also placed first in the triple jump with a distance of 33'04".
Standout Annie Lewis just missed a first-place finish by the slimmest of margins in the 500 meter dash with a time of 1:18.79, only .01 behind winner Corinne McGuire of Pinecrest High, who ran the race in 1:18.78.
Also, second in a tightly-contested race was the Swain 4x800 meter relay team with a time of 9:47.43, second to Reagan High who ran 9:43.18, less than four seconds ahead.
While team scores were not kept, Swain competed brilliantly with 13 other teams, some of the largest 4A schools in the state, like East Mecklenburg of Charlotte who has 2,500 students and will be classified as 8A next year. Next up for the Maroon Devils, a home meet as the Devils hosts the Swain County Polar #3 Wednesday, Jan. 8 starting at 3:30 p.m.
"Our meet at JDL was an interesting scenario," said Head Coach Ian Roper. This is a longstanding meet with the participants consisting of primarily of schools that will be 8A classification in the next realignment.
I reached out early in the year to see if we could get in as it fit well with our schedule and they accepted us. We were the only non-4A school in attendance. Our girls finished third as a team which was very respectable as we weren't really trying to maximize points but hit key events for our state championship meet. Arizona's 1600-meter run is the 20th fastest mile in N.C. history in Indoor track. Quite an accomplishment.
Lelani's triple jump was the top triple jump in the state so far this season for a 1A girl in North Carolina. Annie was just off her school record time set earlier this season. And our 4x400 relay team notched the #1 time in the state. Ross ran the sixth fastest time in the 1A/2A of the season in the 1000. I'm so proud of these individuals and the way they competed against these much larger schools."
Below are the individual and team-relay results:
Boys
55-meter dash
Zeke Glaspie, seventh place, 6.68
Kaden Sawyer, twenty-fourth place, 6.85
300-meter dash
Zeke Glaspie, eighth place, 37.38
Kaden Sawyer, twenty-sixth place, 39.47
1000-meter run
Ross Clapsaddle, fifth place, 2:46.6
1600-meter run
Carl Baird, third place, 4:29.8
Derek Gunter, twenty-third place, 5:01.3
4x400 meter relay
Swain, twelfth place, 4:00.2
Pole Vault
Evan Hall, tenth place, 10'06"
Girls
55-meter dash
Melani Linton, eleventh place, 7.75
300-meter dash
Melani Linton, eleventh place, 45.28
Addison Blankenship, thirty-sixth place, 48.56
500-meter dash
Annie Lewis, second place, 1:18.79
Lilah Foster, twenty-second place, 1:36.44
1000-meter run
Annie Lewis, eighth place, 3:17.26
1600-meter run
Arizona Blankenship, first place, 4:57.73
Angelina Lomelli, twelfth place, 5:44.19
Madison Blankenship, thirty-fifth place, 6:39.36
55-meter hurdles
Mya Burrows-Kurr, twenty-second place, 11.11
4x200 meter relay
Swain, ninth place, 1:54.65
4x400 meter relay
Swain, third place, 4:20.97
4x800 meter relay
Swain, second place, 9:47.43
High Jump
Gracie Sutton, fifth place, 4'11"
Addison Blankenship, sixteenth place, 4'5"
Heidi Ammann, nineteenth place, 4'3"
Long Jump
Lelani Queen, eighth place, 15'1.5"
Triple Jump
Lelani Queen, first place, 33'4"
Heidi Amann, fourteenth place, 24'9"
Pole Vault
Carden Oetting, third place, 9'6"
Alden Thomas, seventh place, 8'6"
Hannah Wingate, eighth pace, 8"6"
Shot Put
Samantha Woodard, third place, 33'10.5"
Carley Teesateskie, fourth place, 31'1.5"