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SM track teams will open season Friday at Franklin |
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Smoky Mountain's men's and women's track teams will open their seasons Friday at Franklin against the Panthers and Pisgah.
Heading the returnees for the men is senior Darius Bryson. He was sixth in the 100-meter dash and 12th in the 200 meters at last year's state meet. Sophomore Eric McManus qualified for the regionals in the mile last season. "We have a lot of young kids," Coach Cameron Brooks said. "A number of the freshmen were in the middle school program." Other than Bryson, the team's lone senior is Jonah Jurss. Juniors include Christian Benson, Steven Fitzgerald, Michael Moore, Daniel Vreeland and Shawn Blanton. Sophomores in addition to McManus include Chris Turk, Sam McGuire, Michael Ayers, David Nestler, Ryan Watson, Wesley Cosby, Patrick Frazier and Junior Trantham. Freshmen are Cody McMahan, Jonathan Tanner, Luke Dodd, Jonathan Dowdle, Luke Ford, Cody Rice, Chris Ferry, Durwood Sitton and Scott Hotaling. Franklin is considered the favorite in the Western Athletic Conference. "Friday will be a good test for these kids," Brooks said. Coach Nikki Young has much the same feeling about her Lady Mustangs as Franklin is the team to beat in the WAC. "We'll see on Friday," she said of the prospects. "That should give us a pretty good indication for our season." She said the top returnees are juniors Crystal Moore and Sabrina Bradley and sophomore Krysta Buchanan. Elexis Smith is the only senior on the roster. Other juniors are Marie Jaimez, Courtney Bryson and Ashley Harn. Additional sophomores include Kristen McAbee, Crystal Wright, Lauren Kinsland, Amanda Humes, Julie Fox and Lindsey Jenkins, Freshmen are Erica Sharrett, Jolene Jurss and Trish Ashe. The schedule is as follows with men and women competing at each meet unless indicated otherwise:March: |
Back to Sports: 03/01/01. |