Morristown West ended Jefferson County’s eight-year reign as Inter Mountain Conference track champions Saturday afternoon, but the Lady Patriots’ winning streak remained intact with a dominating performance.
The Trojans racked up 166 points to 154 1/2 for the Patriots to claim the title.
Coach Raymond Farmer’s team took the lead with three events remaining and made it stand up in the meet which was delayed for over an hour by lightning and rain.
Jefferson County’s girls used their tremendous depth to pile up 207 points to easily outdistance the Lady Trojans, who scored 137 1/2. It was the 12th straight title for Coach Bill DeLozier’s club.
East’s boys captured third place with 132, edging Sevier County at 126. Cherokee was fifth with 39, South-Doyle had 34, Cocke County 11 1/2 and Seymour 3. Sevier County ran third in the girls with 120 1/2 while East totaled 69, Cherokee 61, South-Doyle 28, Cocke County 19 and Seymour 13.
The Trojans won only three events in winning the title. Kristof Lotivio took the pole vault at 11-6 and the 1,600 and 3,200 relay teams also posted victories.
Farmer said, “Our guys did a fantastic job today and I couldn’t be more proud of them. They worked hard all season to earn this. No words could even convey my joy at what they’ve completed.
“We scored well in a number of events so it was just outstanding,” he added. I’m very excited about what the guys have been able to accomplish.”
When asked about his girls, the coach said, “We did all we could but just got overpowered by Jefferson County’s numbers.”
East got a double victory by Nash Prince. He won the triple jump at 39-4 and captured the 300 hurdlers in 41.75. Prince also placed second in the 110 hurdles.
Sevier County teammates Camden McElhaney and Chase Smith were also double winners. McElhaney took the 400 in 50.4 and the 200 at 22.46 while Smith won the shot put and discus. Jefferson County’s Isaac Sawyer captured both the long jump and high jump for the only Patriot victories.
Cherokee’s Austin Kirkpatrick breezed to a 10-second victory in the 3,200 in 10:26.40.
Lotivio also finished third in the high jump where the Trojans’ Ryan Bugg was fourth. Chandler Roberts was third in the long jump while Trent Lovelace placed fourth in the triple jump.
West also piled up points in the 400 where Ryan Ellison, Nathan Sia and Lovelace went 2-3-4 as did Jesus Pacheco, Christian Henry and Jessie Ramos in the 800. Pacheco ran second in the 1,600 and third in the 3,200.
The Hurricanes’ Mason Johns was second in the 3,200 and third in the 1,600 while Dailyn Stanley took third in the 110 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles.
East coach Derrick Folsom was pleased with the Hurricanes.
“I was really proud of my team. They fought hard but we had a couple of problems that put us in a hole with a false start in the 100 and no finish in the 800 relay,” he said. “I commend the other teams that outscored us but for us, we had a great year all and all. In the girls I just don’t have enough girls come out to compete but what I do have is girls with a lot of heart who came out here and worked their butts off for us.”
Imani Bryant powered the Lady Patriots to the championship by winning three events. She took the 100 and long jump and set a meet record in the 200 at 25.64, snapping a mark that had stood since 1981.
East’s Marlee Baker established a new record in the pole vault at 9-8 and the Lady Patriots’ Jaycee Schroeder broke her own shot put mark by over two feet with a heave of 45-5. She also posted an easy win in the discus.
Sevier County’s 1,600 relay had the only other record with a time of 4:08.44.
The Lady Patriots also won the 400 and 3,200 relays.
Cherokee’s Harper Russell was a double winner, taking the 800 and 1,600.
West’s only victory was by freshman Julieanne Dodson who ran 12:04.37 to win the 3,200 run. She also placed second in the 800 and 1,600.
Katie Simonds was third in the 200.
DeLozier wasn’t totally surprised his team didn’t win the boys crown again.
“We knew coming in today that we could be anywhere from first to third depending on how things turned out,” he said. “Of course we’d have liked to win it again but I thought we did a good job considering how young we are this season.”
In commenting on the Lady Patriots, the coach stated, “I was super proud of what they did. All the girls stepped up big today.
“We got off to a good start in the field events and continued all the way. I’m excited that we have a young team that stepped up big and that’s all we ask them to do.”
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