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Matthew Gray won the triple jump finals last week
Coach Keith Payne said he felt “really good” about the track meet on Wednesday (Jan. 18), saying the team’s position was “bettered.”
Further meets on Saturday (Jan. 21) and Wednesday (Jan. 25) at Winston Salem and Cherokee respectively only bolstered Payne’s optimism.
“It’s all just practice,” he said, adding that the purpose of the meets was to get into a state meet.
There were nine teams total, from various schools in the area, competing at the Swain County High School track on Wednesday. Dozens of high school students ran the track and practiced shot-put in the surprisingly warm January weather of that day.
On the 18th, Swain County ninth grader Anne Lewis came in first at the girls 500 meter dash finals with a time of 1:24:57.
On the 21st, Swain County’s Arizona Blankenship, a 10th grader, came in third for the girls 3200 meter run finals, with a time of 11:20:92.
Swain County’s Matthew Gray came in first at the Jan. 25 meet for the boys 55 meter dash finals, hitting 6 feet and 98 inches. He also won the boys triple jump finals that day, with 40-02.
“We’re trying to hit a standard,” Payne said of his team. “If you do that, you’re into a state meet. We’re trying to hit height, distance and time. For indoor meets, you have to hit good time.”
He said the goal was to get ready for upcoming professional competitions in February, such as the indoor track state championship on Feb. 11.