lady eagles claim region championship

Monday was a huge day for the Seymour track and field teams.

The Lady Eagles brought home the 2008 region championship trophy in a year that most of their competitors figured would be a down year for SHS. Seymour’s region win gives the Lady Eagles top three finishes in the past three years.

SHS won the region championship two years ago and finished second last year

“We’re really excited about this one,” said SHS track and field head coach Cotton Julian. “This is the first region championship any of our school’s girls teams has won this year.

“I was talking to the Elizabethton coach after the meet and he said ‘we knew Seymour would have a good team again and be tough to beat but you were even better than we thought,’” Julian added.

“We had some kids really step up and do a tremendous job,” Julian continued. “I have a lot of people ask me about our track program and this year I said I thought we might struggle some. And we did struggle a little bit but I have to give our kids and our coaches all the credit for rising to the challenge and winning a region championship that a lot of people didn’t expect us to win.

“Our kids really put on a show. They all really competed hard and did a tremendous job.”

Julian reeled off a list of names, including, Monica Rogers, Morgan Peterson, Hayley Clark, Kayla Messell, Courtney Whitley, Mariah Melacon, Michelle Taylor, Amelia Smoyer, Alexis Graves, Chelsea Jennings, Chelsea Griffin, Tara Heyboer, Lauren Johnson, Jodi Wood, Courtney Suttles, Marissa Mitchell, Elizabeth Cody, Katie Hurton, Morgan Webber and Erin Blaydes, as members of the Lady Eagles track and field team that played a pivotal role in bringing home the region crown.

Graves set a school-record time of 51.86 in winning the 300 meter hurdles at Monday’s region meet. In doing so, she eclipsed the former school record of 52 seconds set 21 years ago.

Also shining Monday was multi-sport standout Monica Rogers, who won region championships in both the 100 meter hurdles and the high jump events.

The Lady Eagles 4X100 and 4X200 relay teams—consisting of Cody, Wood, Johnson and Suttles—took first place in both races.

Seymour finished with a total score of 147. University High finished in second place with a total score of 112, Claiborne County was third with a total of 65, Unicoi County finished in a tie for fourth place with Elizabethton with matching totals of 52.

Ryan Pierce, Seth Stoffle, B.J. Delozier, Chase Turner and Keith Ferguson won individual region championships for the SHS boys track and field team at Monday’s meet.

“Our boys did a tremendous job as well,” said Julian. “We ended up finishing fourth out of a field of 15 teams. All of our coaches were thrilled to death with that high of a finish.”

Elizabethton was the boys region champion with a total score of 118. Gibbs finished in second place with a total of 90, Unicoi was third with 87, Seymour amassed a total of 78 for fourth place, and Gatlinburg-Pittman finished with 62 total points in fifth place.

Julian said Monday’s region event pretty much put an end to this year’s track and field team competitions. The top three finishes from each individual event, however, will advance to next week’s sectional meet at Anderson County High School.

Julian said his veteran coaching staff made up of Jim Moore (sprinters and relays), Charlie Householder (throwers), Ron Blaydes (middle distance, long jump), and Chuck Vogel (high jump) is perhaps the most important facet of Seymour’s track and field successes.