Cherokee’s Kendall Toineeta took 4th place at the Smokey Mountain Conference cross country championship held at Cherokee on Wednesday, Oct. 17. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather)
By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
ONE FEATHER STAFF
On a beautiful, clear-blue-sky, fall day, Cherokee played host to the Smokey Mountain Cross Country Championship on Wednesday, Oct. 17. Forty-nine (49) runners competed in the boys race and 28 girls competed in their race.
Cherokee’s Kendall Toineeta took 4th place in the girls race with a time of 22:28.67. Shawnda Martin, Robbinsville, won the conference championship barely edging Katie Bowden, Hayesville, at the finish line. Martin, who lost several seconds in the middle of the race by taking a wrong turn, finished with a time of 21:07.84 and Bowden finished .32 behind at 21:08.16. Hayden Bates, Highlands, finished 3rd with a time of 22:11.10.
Other Cherokee girls included: Lydia Lossiah, 10th, 23:25.07 and Alexis Maney, 28th, 35:19.37.
Gerald Mahan led the Cherokee boys with a 6th place finishing time of 18:54.20. Dylan Johnson, Hayesville, repeated as Smokey Mountain Conference champion with a time of 16:51.95. Frank Cline, Robbinsville, came in 2nd with a time of 17:27.41 and Zak Evans, Hayesville, came in 3rd with a time of 18:38.46.
Other Cherokee boys included: Brock Powell, 15th, 20:30.99; Isiah Davis, 28th, 22:10.99; E.J. Carroll, 36th, 23:57.10; Ethan Swearengin, 41st, 24:57.27; and Gabe Crow, 43rd, 26:14.74.
The Cherokee boys team came in 5th in the team competition with 118 points. Hayesville repeated as conference champions with 37 points followed by Murphy 65, Swain County 80, Robbinsville 88.
“The meet was great, great weather,” said CHS coach Eddie Swimmer. “The kids ran their hearts out. You can see they’re pretty much exhausted. I’m very proud of them. They really represented Cherokee well today.”
Cherokee is set to host the 1A West Regional cross country meet on Saturday, Oct. 27.
Prior to the start of Wednesday’s meet, the coaches decided to hold the 2013 conference championship at Cherokee again. “It’s a tough course and everybody likes it,” said Swimmer.
To view photo galleries from both the girls and boys races, visit:
https://www.theonefeather.com/photo-galleries-2/
