TRACK The Avery High School track and field team made the trip off the hill to
Several area schools competed in the event, including Patton, Mitchell, Cherokee, McDowell, Thomas Jefferson, and host Owen.
A number of Viking athletes performed exceptionally at Thursday’s event. On the boys side, Alex Villanueva continued a strong spring season, placing second overall in the high jump with a distance of 5’11”, only one inch shy of qualifying for state competition. Alex also captured fourth place in the 300 meter hurdles. In the 400 meter run, Andy Gonzalez brought home a third place finish.
Viking senior Kyle Griewisch made an impression during the event, recording a personal record in capturing a second place finish in the 100 meter dash, while the men’s 4x100-meter relay team, racing with Dustin Clark as the anchor in the place of an injured Hunter Shields, had a strong showing with a fourth place finish overall.
For the girls, a number of performances stood out. Caroline Crenshaw qualified for the state track and field championships, placing second with a strong time in the 300 meter hurdles, and brought home third place in the 200 meter dash event, just two seconds shy from qualifying for the state meet in that event.
Coming off a tremendous basketball season, Sara Wiseman competed in the discus and brought home third place in that event.
Overall the team continues to improve with additional practice time outdoors and events to participate in.
“The kids are running fantastic. At Owen the track is made with concrete, so the kids ran with street sneakers rather than spikes,” Avery track coach Cary Dominguez said after the meet. “We have a good chance to take quite a few kids to the state meet this season. We have a great group of kids who get along and are bonding as a team.”
Winter weather has hindered all the Viking spring sports, but the track and field group seems to have rebounded quickly from the adverse conditions that hindered their preparations.
“A lot of our students are coming from sports during the winter season and are in pretty good physical shape to start our season,” Coach Dominguez said. “They’re not in total track shape because you use a different set of muscles than with the winter sports, but those athletes are in a better position than the students who haven’t participated in a fall or winter sport leading up to track season.”
The track team will next compete on April 13th at
The Avery men’s golf team has been taking its swings on the course as the weather has improved. On Thursday the team competed at Black Mountain Golf Course.
In the team competition the Mitchell Mountaineers took home top honors with a score of 323. Avery came home in fourth place with a score of 367, ahead of both Mountain Heritage and Madison.Avery individual scorers were topped by Chase Watson, who carded an 81. Morgan Johnson scored a 92, with a 96 from Shea Buchanan. Vikings Ethan Buchanan and Hunter Gossett shot 98, with a 104 from Sam Hicks for the 18-hole event.
Low individual scorer for the day was posted by Mitchell’s Thomas Buchanan, who fired a 73. Wiekus Tolles of
“Chase Watson, our senior team captain, is playing ten strokes better than last year at this time. His 81 equaled his best round last season, and I fully expect him to be shooting in the mid-70s by April,” Avery golf coach Boe Barinowski said after last week’s action. “Sophomore Morgan Johnson is playing at the same level he finished at last year. Our average team score is right at 370, which again is where we finished last season and 20 strokes ahead where we were at this point a year ago. Freshman Shea Buchanan and first-year player Dylan Aldridge each are showing marked improvement as they grow more accustomed to playing from blue tees and in front of others, respectively.”
The golf team competed at
