Liberty wins 15 events during track meet against Falcons, Raiders

The Liberty Middle School track and field team hosted a Foothills Athletic Conference meet against county foes Table Rock and East Burke on Wednesday, with the Knights winning 15 events, the Falcons tallying 11 first-place finishes, and the Raiders earning five victories.

Twelve of Liberty’s wins came from female competitors, led by Emilie Cosovan’s first-place finishes in the eighth-grade 100 meters (13.94), the 200 meters (28.90), and the 100-meter hurdles (16.41). Cosovan also served as one-fourth of the winning 4x200-meter relay squad, teaming with Norah Lor, Serenity Waycaster, and Marley Lackey to post a time of 2:12.87.

Other wins for the Lady Knights included Presley Powell in the 1600 meters (6:03) and the eighth-grade 800 meters (2:55), Skylynn Humphries in the sixth-grade 100 meters (14.78), Ava Hensley in the 400 meters (1:10), Kaiden Mull in the sixth/seventh-grade 800 meters (3:05), Lyrikah Bristol in the shot put (24 feet, 4 inches), Abby Paterno in the high jump (4 feet), and Emma Fish in the long jump (13 feet, 6 inches).

Jacoby Bonkowske added two victories for Liberty on the boys side as he won the eighth-grade 100 meters (12.60) and the high jump (5 feet, 6 inches), while Landon Brasecker tied for first in the sixth/seventh-grade 800 meters (2:55).

As for Table Rock, it received two wins from CJ Largent — who posted a time of 27.60 in the boys 200 meters and a mark of 34 feet, 3 inches in the triple jump — to go with eight other victories in boys events.

Myron Rutherford was the Falcons’ winner in the sixth-grade 100 meters (14.42), Miles Moellman came in first in the 1600 meters (5:46.50), and other victors included Jayden Douglas in the 400 meters (1:03), Lane Lambert in the sixth/seventh-grade 800 meters (2:55; tied for first), Jameson Smith in the eighth-grade 800 meters (2:32), Chasee Tucker in the 110-meter hurdles (16.28), Dayyan Rasheed in the long jump (16 feet, 2 inches), and the 4x200-meter relay squad (1:49.84; individual names unavailable).

Table Rock’s lone triumph on the girls side came from Ava Beam in the seventh-grade 100 meters (14.14).

And East Burke’s wins were courtesy of Zoey Taylor in the girls discus throw (66 feet, 5 inches) and triple jump (27 feet, 5 inches), Logan Berry in the boys seventh-grade 100 meters (12.73), Arn Spurlock in the boys discus (102 feet, 2 inches), and Dominic Adams in the boys shot put (38 feet, 9 inches).

Also on Wednesday, Walter Johnson hosted West McDowell and ended up collecting five wins in boys events and four victories on the girls side.

The Yellow Jackets’ victorious competitors included Kaylee Bristol in the girls sixth-grade 100 meters (14.96) and high jump (4 feet, 5 inches); Ja’Zion Davidson-Burgess in the boys seventh-grade 100 meters (13.47); Fisher Collinson in the boys 1600 meters (5:37); Chris Hickman in the boys high jump (4 feet, 8 inches); Dallas Pyatte in the boys shot put (30 feet, 1 inch); Dakota Dolinger in the girls 100-meter hurdles (17.64); Kylee Jones in the girls sixth/seventh-grade 800 meters (3:20); and the foursome of Davidson-Burgess, Nasir Corpening, Noush Yang, and Zai’dyn Howell in the boys 4x400-meter relay (4:34).

BASEBALL / SOFTBALL

TR sweeps Heritage on the road

The Table Rock baseball and softball teams were both victorious via shutout on the road Wednesday in Valdese, with the Falcons’ baseball squad defeating Heritage by a 13-0 final in four innings and their softball squad knocking off the Lady Eagles by a 16-0 score in three innings.

In baseball, Table Rock (3-0) finished with seven hits and eight walks on offense, with Easton Tollison — who was also the winning pitcher thanks to four innings of hitless ball during which he had nine strikeouts, one walk, and a hit batsman — recording a double and an RBI to go with a single, two RBIs, two runs scored, and two stolen bases from Aiken Shade as well as a single, three runs scored, and four stolen bases from Jaxxon Williams.

Other Falcons with hits were Callaway Donnelly (single, RBI, two runs, three SB), Luke Webb (single, RBI, run, two SB), James Miller (single, RBI, run, SB), and Ames Miller (single, run, SB).

On the other side, Heritage (1-2) received four combined strikeouts from pitchers Braylon Ricci Ward (3 K) and Skylar Garland (K).

In softball, Table Rock (3-1) pounded out 14 hits behind a 3-for-4 day from leadoff hitter Maddie Gordon to go with two hits apiece from Megan Robinson (home run, single, four RBIs) and SophiAnn Smith (double, single, three RBIs, three SB). Meanwhile, the lone hit for the Lady Eagles (1-2) was a double from Keagan Sigmon.

The Lady Falcons’ Harper Best (2 IP, BB, 6 K) started and earned the win in the pitcher’s circle, while Kendal Coffey (IP, BB) saw time in relief.