Bethany Gingerich and Trey Reed were named the Most Valuable Players for the Sweet Home track and field team at its awards potluck Thursday, May 26.
First-year coach Allyson Bodenbach said their selection was pretty obvious when coaches considered the points the two had scored for the Huskies this season, some 300 for Gingerich, for whom it was her second year of winning the award, and 200 for Reed.
Gingerich, a sophomore, had a similar year, winning 13 of 20 individual events, ranging from the 100 to the 800, and placing fourth in the 400 at state in a personal-best 59.69, the second time in two days she broke a minute, which was her goal for the year. She also placed eighth in the 800.
“That was pretty darn cool,” Bodenbach said. “You can’t walk away from that state meet and be upset.”
Reed, a junior, won roughly half his 17 individual races this season, and less than second only twice. Unfortunately, one of those was at the state meet, where he had what Bodenbach described as one of his worst races of the year, after a year of finishing mostly in the high 50s and low 51s for the 400.
“To be as consistent as he was was really impressive,” she said. “I’m excited to see where he’s going.”
Bodenbach said the district meet brought out some significant efforts and achievements by the Huskies:
– the girls 4×100 relay’s qualifying for state after “they didn’t come in seeded second. They knew how to step it up when necessary.”
– TJ Baham and Dillon Stutzman qualifying for the state meet with a 1-2 finish, Baham posting a PR of 12-8 to win and Stutzman winning a jump-off for second, which required him to clear 12-8 twice, though, as Coach Billy Snow later noted, he only got credit for jumping 12-4 per the rulebook.
– Egan Shamek winning the long jump after battling injuries for much of the season.
– Freshman Lance Hanson, who had “literally picked up the triple jump three weeks before,” posting a nearly three-foot PR to place seventh in the event.
“That’s just a sign of a competitor,” Bodenbach said.
– Dana Hiett’s win in the girls triple jump. Bodenbach said when she asked Hiett how she’d done, Hiett’s response was subdued and it took a while for her to say she’d won.
“She’s extremely humble,” Bodenbach said. “She wasn’t satisfied. She knows what it takes to win.”
She said Hiett went on to “have a blast” at the state meet, “letting loose and having fun,” which helped her finish seventh. “That’s what track is about,” she said.
– Also finishing well at state was Garrison Whitfield, who uncorked a throw of 178-1 on his last effort in the finals at state, just short of his personal best.
Jumpers of the Year were Hiett for the girls and Baham and Stutzman for the boys. Snow said that Hiett figured out the triple jump midway through the season, at the Meet of Champions, and moved to a whole new level in competition at that point.
Sprinters of the Year were Reed for the boys and Gingerich for the girls.
Bodenbach said she has personally experienced some of the disappointment that Reed experienced, despite being the top runner for the Huskies in the sprints.
“I know that dagger of not making it to finals,” she said. “One race does not define your career or your life. I can’t even begin to explain how hard this kids works. He wants to succeed more than anything else. I’m really, really looking forward to seeing what he does next season.”
Gingerich, she said, “really did it all” and “she went out with a bang.
“That kind of talent and numbers do not come without the work. Bethany is somebody who does the little things.”
Distance Runners of the Year, announced by Snow, were Allison Wickline and Nathan Hager. Wickline, a senior who started running distance events last year after concentrating on soccer during the first couple years of high school, picked up where she left off in 2015 and consistently bettered her times in all three distances – the 800, 1500 and 3000, throughout this season.
Hager, a repeated state placewinner in high school swimming who has demonstrated talent around the track – he’s competed in eight individual events as well as the long relay in two years of high school track, focused more on distances this year and placed eighth in the district 800 with a three-second PR, running 2:08.83.
Throwers of the Year were Knight, who was a major force in the district in the shot put throughout this year, and Whitfield, whose javelin finish at state was the first boys place-winner for the Huskies since Zach Jackson in 2011.
Whitfield’s dad, Assistant Coach Randy Whitfield, announced the award, noting that it is difficult to coach one’s own kids, but crediting Garrison Whitfield with bouncing back from a sub-par district meet performance to come up with a big throw on his last chance at state.
Assistant Krystal Streight said Knight was a “very good competitor” in the shot, throwing a PR of nearly a foot and a half at the Meet of Champions and leading the league through the rest of the season until the district meet.
Despite Knight’s inability to match that performance in the district and state meets, Streight said she “competed very well” in both.
Newcomer of the Year were freshmen Noah Dinsfriend for the boys and Kate Hawken for the girls.
Assistant Coach Jim Kistner recalled an early-season hill workout in which Reed was “eating that workout up” and Dinsfriend stayed right behind him.
“He’s talented and a tremendously hard worker,” Kistner said.
Assistant Ramiro Santana said Hawken is a “very elegant runner” who also is a hard worker.
The Will to Win Award went to Knight and to Whitfield.
The Hustle Award, for the “person who gets after it in practice as much as they would for a meet, always going 100 percent and doing what a coach or workout asks,” went to freshman Madelyn Neuschwander who, Kistner said, “received a tremendous amount of votes from teammates in every category, which speaks volumes.”
The boys winner was junior Wes Parker, who was likewise deserving, he said.
Coaches Award winners, described as “person(s) whom coaches rely on, will sacrifice individuality for the team, are positive leaders and impact the team in positive ways in addition to competing,” went to Reed and sophomore Cameron Taber, who led by example and effort in a somewhat depleted boys distance group, and to Allison Wickline, who led the girls distance crew and Sarah Dunkley, who was a leader among the sprinters. Both competed in events they didn’t prefer because coaches asked them to.
Bodenbach credited the Huskies’ quartet of four-year letter winners with “a special accomplishment” and challenged the 19 first-year letter winners, many of them freshmen, to “consider that.”
The four were: TJ Baham, Josie Knight, Matt Davis and Sierra Swanson.
Third-year letter recipients were Shaniah Baxter, Sarah Dunkley, Dana Hiett, Kayleen Keeney, Natasha Rasmussen, Trey Reed, Nick Rietz, Egan Shamek and Dillon Stutzman.
Earning their second letter were: Chase Blanco, Justin Carpenter, Jacob Erickson, Bethany Gingerich, Charlie Guerrero, Nathan Hager, Elea Hewitt, Gracie Olson, Wes Parker, Kendyl Stutzman, Noah Taraski, Caylie Trewin, Garrison Whitfield and Allison Wickline.
Receiving their first varsity letter were: Natasha Benson, Noah Dinsfriend, Shelby Dinsfriend, Lance Hanson, Kate Hawken, Kat Kinker, Caden Knight, Ryan Lundeen, Noah Moore, Madelyn Neuschwander, Hayden Nichol, Emily Ramsey, Tanner Sayers, Austin Sills, Jade Stiles, Cameron Taber, Jessi Thomas, Ashley Wickline and McKenzie Yoder.
Of those, Noah Dinsfriend, Hanson, Hawken, Knight, Lundeen, Moore, Neuschwander, Nichol, Sayers and Sills are freshmen.