Page Claims Another Cross Country Win

ROBBINSVILLE N.C. — Oscar Page surged to victory in the boys 5000-meter run at the Smoky Mountain Conference cross country meet held at Robbinsville High School on Wednesday, Oct.1, clocking a time of 17 minutes, 17.00.13 seconds to lead Hiwassee Dam to a narrow third-place team finish.

Page, a junior from Hiwassee Dam, broke away early and held off Robbinsville's Nathan Fredrick by 52.91 seconds for the win. Fredrick, a sophomore, took second in 17:53.04, with his younger brother Benjamin Frederick, a freshman, nipping him at the line for third in 17:53.37.

Robbinsville dominated the team standings with 26 points, powered by the Frederick brothers and a sweep of the top four spots capped by Xamuel Wachacha in fourth (18:07.28) and Landon Boxberger in seventh (18:32.39). Hayesville placed second with 48 points, while Hiwassee Dam edged out Cherokee for third at 50 points.

For Hayesville, Noah Carter provided a strong anchor in sixth place at 18:27.56, followed closely by freshmen Eli Cheeks (eighth, 19:09.71) and Parker Hughes (ninth, 19:16.72). Sophomore Micah Moss (14th, 20:48.34) and freshman Evan Burks (15th, 20:48.67) rounded out the scoring five, giving the Yellow Jackets a 2:21 split from first to fifth runner and a pack average of 19:42.

Hiwassee Dam's depth shone through despite Page's solo effort. Junior Maverick Hawley crossed fifth in 18:22.63, and sophomore Xavier Johnson added an 13th-place finish in 20:36.31. The Yellow Jackets' scoring was completed by Jonah Dockery (19th, 21:31.02) and Brayden Morrow (20th, 21:31.36), with their 1-5 split stretching to 4:31 but yielding a team average of 19:48.

Murphy sat just outside the medals in 11th through 24th, led by junior Braden Edwards in 11th (19:27.13). Senior Josiah Niblea followed in 24th (22:02.37), with freshman David Hickey (30th, 23:10.25) and Reyden Galarza (33rd, 23:58.39) closing out the top performers.

In the girls race, Cherokee senior Dvdaya Swimmer claimed the individual title in 19:49.05, more than 50 seconds ahead of Tri-County Early College's Fern Crayton in second (20:39.18). Cherokee's team rolled to the championship with 19 points, sweeping four of the top eight spots behind Swimmer, including Livia Crowe (fourth, 21:27.30), Lolo Bell (seventh, 23:11.38) and Austin Fourkiller-Raby (eighth, 23:36.54).

Tri-County Early College took second with 44 points, but Hayesville, Murphy and Hiwassee Dam competed as individuals without full teams.

Hayesville's Raelynn Wood, a senior, led the trio's contingent in fifth place at 22:43.79. Sophomore Marlo Joyce followed in ninth (23:50.36), with freshman Annie Godfrey in 18th (25:44.09) and senior Amyna Denton in 37th (31:31.14).

Hiwassee Dam freshmen Leah Taylor and Avery Freemon ran 21st and 23rd, respectively, in 26:46.41 and 27:11.13.

Murphy's top finisher was senior Anna Leatherwood in 28th (29:04.64), with freshmen Hadley Rider (31st, 29:48.46) and Emory Ricks (34th, 30:22.85) close behind.

For the full individual results list, click here.