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Swain track and field at Cherokee -
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Larry Griffin
lgriffin@thesmokymountaintimes.com
At the first Smoky Mountain Conference track and field meet held at Cherokee this spring 2023 season, on March 8, Swain’s Arizona Blankenship finished first place the 1,600-meter dash in 5 minutes and 14 seconds, which is the best time in the entire state this year so far, according to Coach Ian Roper.
Swain County athletes took home top places in various other events – Amelia Rogers got 10-6 in pole vault, which Roper said was the best result in the state this year so far. Amaya Hicks got first place in the 800-meter run with 2:30.
Gracie Sutton took the first place prize in high jump with five feet, two inches – Roper said this was the best result in the state so far this year.
The girls’ team also finished first in both the 4x400 meter relay and the 4x800 meter relay.
Among the boys, Josiah Glaspie took first place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24 seconds. Josh Collins took the first place prize for triple jump with 40-1, which Roper said was his personal best score so far.
Roper also praised Kelan McCullough, saying he had “a really big day” as he had his personal best scores in the 110-meter hurdles and pole vault. Austin Jenkins also did very well, according to Roper, with his 16.17 second time in the 110-meter hurdles being a “really strong time” which put him close to the top of the leader board for 1A schools.
Roper said the day overall was a good one – it was a “solid start” for both boys’ and girls’ teams.
“We laid out some good times,” he said. “It was a good place to start from this year.”
He said his goal going forward is to put together the best teams of athletes he can manage, which hasn’t happened thus far due to some athletes not being able to make it to meets for various reasons.
“We want to keep improving individual marks,” he said. “We’ll hopefully have our A team together for next week at West Carolina.”
The team met again March 15 in Robbinsville after press time.