Hayesville Middle School Boys Track Team
By Kenneth Dockery
Guest Writer
On Monday, April 24 the Hayesville Middle School Track teams traveled to Andrews High School for the Smoky Mountain Conference Championship. Both the boys and girls teams have had strong performances all season.
The boys team finished a strong third place at the SMC Championship, only 20 points out of the top spot. The boys broke some school records this year. Johan Webb broke the school record in three events — long jump with 19 feet 7 inches; 110 meter hurdles with a time of 17.24 and the 400 meter dash with a time of 55.08. Another school record was also broken. The 4 x 800 meter relay team consisting of Micah Moss, Parker Hughes, Eli Cheeks and Jackson Dye set a record time of 10:10.81.
At the SMC Championship meet there were several podium finishes. Webb finished first in the long jump, the triple jump and the 110 meter hurdles. Webb won the 110 meter hurdles in every track meet this season. He finished second in the 400 meter dash. Mason Buckner finished third in the discus event. The 4 x 100 meter relay team of Jacob Allison, Brett Hanna, Colin Walker and C.J. Finn finished in third place. The 4 x 200 meter relay team of Lance Coker, Allison, Hanna and Walker finished third.
The girls team finished their season as Smoky Mountain Conference Champions, scoring 128 points and winning by a margin of 11 points. This is the second consecutive year the girls have won the SMC Championship. Also, there were school records broken by the girls. Khylei Alberta, Madison Parker, Savannah Burch and Alexia Fields broke the 4 x 400 meter relay record with a time of 4:52.87. Another record was the 4 x 800 meter relay consisting of Sydney Greenstone, Fields, Annie Godfrey and Burch with a time of 11:22.17.
The girls had several podium finishes at the SMC Championship meet. The 4 x 100 meter relay team of Marlo Joyce, Kadence Morrow, Summer Borchardt and Blaire Hedden finished second. The members of the 4 x 800 meter relay team, Sydney Greenstone, Fields, Godfrey, and Burch, finished second in their event. The 4 x 200 meter relay team of Joyce, Fields, Alberta, and Morrow, took first place. Livian Woody finished second in the high jump. Lucy Trout finished third in the triple jump. Emilia Lackey finished second in discus and third in the shot put. Greenstone finished second in the 800 meter run and third in the 1600 meter run. Lastly, Burch won the 800 meter run. She won this event at every track meet this season.
This season has been a very enjoyable season. I want to thank all the athletes for their hard work this season. I want to thank all the parents and those that came out to support these athletes. I want to thank Emily Hedden, Josh Wooten and Logan Thurmond for all their help in coaching these student-athletes. Thank you to our Principal Missy Rich, Assistant Principal Amanda Coker and our Athletic Director Tammy Dills. Congratulations to all, especially to the 2023 SMC Middle School Girls Track Team Champions.