Pisgah starts up indoor track and field season

John Asay, The Mountaineer, Waynesville, N.C.
·3 min read

Dec. 7—Pisgah unwrapped the 2022 indoor track and field season with a pair of meets aptly named Polar Bear 1 and Polar Bear 1.

The inaugural Polar Bear 1 was held at West Henderson on Nov. 21.

Participating teams were West Henderson, East Henderson, Pisgah, Asheville School and Asheville High School.

Polar Bear 1 version 1.2 was held at Polk County High School on Nov. 30.

Competing teams included Smoky Mountain, Pisgah, East Henderson, Freedom, North Henderson, Owen, Polk County and Patton.

Team scores were not compiled as of publication.

"We were super happy with the meets. I believe the girls won the competition. I don't know how the boys did yet," said head coach Mckinley Morris said.

At the Polar Bear 1 meet at West Henderson, two athletes qualified for state: Sam Morgan in the shot put (29-07), and Evan Byrd in the 300-meter dash (37.24).

Morgan finished third at regionals last year and qualified for state in the 2022 spring track and field season. Her throw this year of 31-03 bested the state mark by three inches.

Byrd was a regional qualifier in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 4x400m relay. He qualified for state in the 400m. His time early in the 300m this year is 36.89, beating the state qualifying time by .89 seconds.

Pisgah's distance runners recorded personal bests: Caroline Henson ran a PR in the 1000m (3:58) and the mile (6:39)(160m). Gaby Lara ran a PR in the mile (7:53). Mattie Dorland got second in the 55m (PR-8.47). Dorland (48.26) and Sierra Early (48.15) both ran PR in the 300m.

Cadence Rollins ran an 11.2 in the 55 hurdles (11.2), and Jared Webb captured first place in the boys' 55 hurdles in 10.9.

Daniel Sayblack captured first place in the 1000m (2:55) and second place in the 1600m (5:05).

Devin Valesquez placed second in the 1000m (3:09) and fourth in the 1600m (5:27).

Pisgah's 4x400 relay team won the race in a time of 4:07.

New faces lead team

Both of Pisgah's coaches are new to the program. Morris and assistant coach Danny Williamson signed on this year.

"I'm super excited. I'm just a second-year teacher and grew up in Haywood County. I'm thankful for the opportunity to be able to be a head coach for a varsity program and give back to the kids and the community," Morris said.

Morris ran track for four years at Tuscola, including the 200m, 400m and 800m. She competed at the 3A State competition twice.

Williamson has a stellar resume as a track coach. He coached at Western Carolina University for 30 years as cross country and track coach, led the Catamounts to 32 Southern Conference Championships and was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year 39 times.

Most recently, he was head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne University and is a volunteer at the Haywood County Regional Fitness Center.

"Coach Williamson is probably the greatest coach of all time in Western North Carolina," Morris said.

Winter track and field includes 29 events in both the boys' and girls' competitions. The ultimate goal in these meets is for the athletes to qualify for the state championships in early February.

"We want every athlete to do better in the next meet than they did the meet before," Morris said. "Every single day, every practice and every meet, we want to get better, annd qualify as many kids as we can for state."

The team's next chance will be Dec. 7, at Swain.