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SM track teams to open season today
Smoky Mountain’s men’s and women’s track teams are slated to open their seasons today (Thursday) with a 4 p.m. meet at Franklin.
“We’ve got a lot of sophomores and freshmen,” Coach Jamie Extine said of his men’s team. “We only have four seniors so we’re going to be young. We should be pretty successful. Moving down to a 2-A league should help us.”
The seniors include Travis Brotherton, Cory Siler, Stephen Gates and T.J. Bradley.
Brotherton finished third in the State 3-A Meet last year in the 3,200-meter run. He also excels in the 1,600, according to Extine.
Siler will be counted on for the 100- and 200-meter dashes. He qualified for the regionals in the 100 a year ago, but was unable to compete due to an injury.
Other key returnees listed by Extine include juniors Tyler Clarke (300-meter hurdles) and Zack Watson (200- and 400-meter dashes).
The coach expressed excitement about the prospects of sophomore high jumper Colton Fortner.
Other juniors include Dayne Bowers, Rodney McCormick and Raymond Mojica.
Joining Fortner as sophomores are Jack Cooper, Jesse Brooks, Chad Harris, Nick Zoda, Corey Ballentine, David Walsh, Austin Hamilton, Ryan Moore, Roscoe Woodard, McKinley Davis and Doug Allen.
Freshmen are Adam Ray, Joe Nardello and Dillon Dunford.
“We’ll use the first meet more like a practice meet,” Extine said. “It’s going to be a great year.”
Heading the returnees for Coach Tom Westbrook’s women are senior Victoria Palmer (distance runner) and junior Cetera DeGraffenreid (sprinter). They qualified for the State 3-A Meet last year.
“Our two state qualifiers are back this year and should do really well in our new conference,” Westbrook said.
Other returning runners include senior Brittney Burns and sophomore Talisa Lossiah in distance events and sophomore hurdler Laura Hambrick.
Back in the field events are senior Tina McDonald, juniors Chelsea Schultz and Laura Larios and sophomore Liz Bennett. McDonald qualified for the regionals in the triple jump last year.
Others on the roster are sophomores Amanda Barnes, Nicole Benavides, Karenda Franklin, Cayla Cucumber, and Kayla Cooper and freshmen Emily Cowan, Caitie Stehling, Amanda Smith, Jaime Dills, Kelly Ashe, Emily Butcher and Ali Taylor.
“These young ladies have already been practicing since Feb. 13,” Westbrook said. “We still have several of our varsity cheerleaders who are getting ready for their national competition. We also have some of our girls basketball players who will join us after the state playoffs.”
The schedule is as follows:
March 2 – at Franklin; 9 – at Pisgah; 14 – at North Buncombe; 16 – at Pisgah; 21 – at North Buncombe; 24 – at North Buncombe; 28 – at Madison; 30 – at Franklin (women only); 31 – at Franklin (men only).
April 4 – Franklin, Pisgah and North Henderson at Western Carolina; 21 – Volunteer Classic at WCU; 25 – at Franklin; 27 – Franklin, Pisgah and North Henderson at WCU.
May 3 – Western Athletic Conference Meet at North Henderson.
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