By BROOKLYN BROWN
One Feather Reporter
KITUWAH – On the morning of Saturday, Oct. 14, Cherokee High School’s (CHS) Cecily “Dvdaya” Swimmer won the Smoky Mountain Conference Championship (SMC) with a time of 19:09. With this win, she earned SMC Runner of the Year.
Austin Fourkiller-Raby, left, Cherokee Middle School runner, won the Smoky Mountain Conference (SMC) Middle School girls championship held at Kituwah on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 14. Cecily “Dvdaya” Swimmer, Cherokee High School runner, won the SMC High School girls championship. (BROOKLYN BROWN/One Feather photos)
Austin Fourkiller-Raby, Cherokee Middle School runner, also won the middle school SMC Championship, making her Middle School SMC Runner of the Year. The CHS Lady Braves were the SMC Championship Runner-Up. The CMS Lady Braves won the middle school SMC Championship. The CHS Braves earned third, and the CMS Braves earned sixth.
Fourkiller-Raby was undefeated in the 2023-24 season, and Swimmer was undefeated in every meet she competed in. Fourkiller-Raby is a member of the CMS volleyball team who just won the Middle School SMC Volleyball Championship. Swimmer is libero for the Varsity volleyball team who just won the SMC Volleyball Championship.
The following CHS and CMS runners were named to the All-Smoky Mountain Conference list:
- High School Girls: Dvdaya Swimmer; Honorable Mention to Livia Crowe and Letsi Burgos
- High School Boys: Ogana Swimmer and Aizen Bell
- Middle School Girls: Austin Fourkiller-Raby, Lolo Bell, Lilly Lossiah; Honorable Mention to Cambry Stamper and Aiyana Evans
- Middle School Boys: None
The CMS Lady Braves won the SMC Championship, left to right, Maya Lossiah, Lolo Bell, Rhema Anders, Cambry Stamper, Aiyana Evans, Kennedy Moore, Austin Fourkiller-Raby, Head Coach Ahli-sha Stephens, Lilly Lossiah.
Ahli-sha Stephens, Cherokee head cross country coach, is pleased with her teams’ performances and excited for the future. “I’m so proud of the kids because they worked hard all year, they’re multi-sport athletes and they’ve had to put in a lot of dedication and a lot of consistency to be good runners,” she said. “Running’s hard; it’s more than just running, too. It incorporates long runs, sprint work, you have to hydrate, you have to eat right, you have to rest right. There’s so much that goes into running. I think our program is making a huge name for itself.”
The following results, per nc.milesplit, show the top seven finishers plus all CHS runners:
High School Girls
1 – Dvdaya Swimmer, Cherokee, 19:09.41
2 – Annie Lewis, Swain County, 19:33.81
3 – Angelina Lomelli, Swain County, 19:48.62
4 – Fern Crayton, Tri-County Early College, 20:09.89
5 – Emily Grey Stargell, Swain County, 20:24.19
6 – Lily Bjerkness, Swain County, 20:37.72
7 – Sydney Greenstone, Hayesville, 20:42.60
8 – Livia Crowe, Cherokee, 20:53.86
9 – Letsi Burgos, Cherokee, 20:55.92
19 – Yvonne Saunooke, Cherokee 25:13.33
30 – Deanna Long, Cherokee, 30:08.97
Team Scores
1 – Swain County 26
2 – Cherokee 58
3 – Hayesville 67
4 – Tri-County Early College 83
High School Boys
1 – O’Malley Salinas, Andrews, 15:47.89
2 – Ethan Russell, Hiwassee Dam, 16:07.18
3 – Carl Baird, Swain County, 16:38.26
4 – Connor Brown, Swain County 16:44.73
5 – Ogana Swimmer, Cherokee, 16:48.79
6 – Kane Jones, Swain County, 16:49.99
7 – Aizen Bell, Cherokee, 17:14.19
28 – Kaden Stephens, Cherokee, 20:53.62
32 – Utsela Saunooke, Cherokee, 21:16.74
37 – Levi Oocumma, Cherokee, 22:31.92
38 – Brandon Blankenship, Cherokee, 22:34.67
44 – Isaiah Ledford, Cherokee, 24:43.46
Team Scores
1 – Swain County 25
2 – Hayesville 63
3 – Cherokee 93
4 – Hiwassee Dam 107
5 – Murphy 109
6 – Tri-County Early College 145
Middle School Girls
1 – Austin Fourkiller-Raby, Cherokee, 12:47.82
2 – Makenna Moss, Hayesville, 13:22.73
3 – Lolo Bell, Cherokee, 14:26.58
4 – Lilly Lossiah, Cherokee, 14:29.23
5 – Peyton Allen, Swain Co., 14:33.11
6 – Kensly Yarbro, Murphy, 14:39.59
7 – Elle Driver, Swain Co., 14:42.01
13 – Cambry Stamper, Cherokee, 15:10.54
14 – Aiyana Evans, Cherokee, 15:11.67
24 – Kennedy Moore, Cherokee, 16:25.52
37 – Yang Reed, Cherokee, 19:15.80
Team Scores
1 – Cherokee Middle 35
2 – Swain Co. Middle 46
3 – Murphy Middle 66
4 – Hayesville Middle 75
5 – Robbinsville Middle 136
Middle School Boys
1 – Xamuel Wachacha, Robbinsville, 11:01.74
2 – James Loftis, Swain Co., 11:02.73
3 – Oscar Page, Hiwassee Dam, 11:03.30
4 – Elliott Salinas, Andrews, 11:16.46
5 – Maverick Hawley, Hiwassee Dam, 11:46.34
6 – Levi Clark, Andrews, 11:50.55
7 – Micah Moss, Hayesville, 12:08.47
17 – Odie Owel, Cherokee, 12:41.88
20 – Carter Stephens, Cherokee, 12:51.21
24 – Jeron Martens, Cherokee, 13:10.75
39 – Jess Walkingstick, Cherokee, 14:50.98
42 – William Welch, Cherokee, 15:56.34
49 – Makai Hernandez, Cherokee, 18:46.77
50 – Kaiser Hernandez, Cherokee, 19:22.29
Team Scores
1 – Andrews Middle 51
2 – Hayesville Middle 64
3 – Hiwassee Dam/Ranger Middle 65
4 – Swain Co. Middle 78
5 – Murphy Middle 132
6 – Cherokee Middle 142
7 – Robbinsville Middle 152
