In their first test of the season, The Invitational hosted by Marist at Richardson Park on Fern Ridge Reservoir Friday, Sept. 4, Sweet Home’s cross-country teams scored well.
“It was a great race for most of the kids,” Coach Andrew “Keebler” Allen said. “It was a lot better than last year. Conditions were a lot better.”
The lakeside course is flat and fast, but last year’s event was held in temperatures in the high 90s, which caused some head exhaustion-type problems for some runners that affected their performances later in the season.
“I think they realized they are a better team than they thought they were,” Allen said of Friday’s performance.
Though Huskies lacked the front-runner they had last year in Jakob Hiett, the boys came in nicely bunched, he said. Both girls and boys had a variety of races in which Sweet Home runners competed, divided between upper- and lower-classmen at the varsity and junior varsity levels.
Allen said the team approached the event as a time trial, more than an actual scoring race, so he wasn’t that concerned about placing – which is how cross-country is scored, especially since most of the teams in the event were large 6A and 5A schools, with three times or more the number of athletes as Sweet Home.
Though the girls barely had enough runners for a full varsity team (five), it was their best performance in two years at The Invitational, he said, noting that was without Dana Hiett, who would be expected to finish in the Huskies’ top five.
Sophomore Bethany Gingerich was the top finisher, in 23:46.9, followed by seniors Kayleen Keeney (24:03.8), Sierra Swanson (24:28.3), Allison Wickline (27:05.7) and Maria Daniels (27:45.0), all of whom ran in the same race among multiple competitions and distances.
“Bethany and Kayleen had a little trouble picking up the pace – they went out a little too fast over the first 400 meters, but they recovered,” Allen said. “Sierra was catching up with Kayleen and Bethany. She ran close to negative splits. Our whole team was passing people the whole race.”
He said he expects the girls to slice two or three minutes from that time before the end of the season.
“Looking at that, this whole team is in a good spot.”
Wickline is doubling with soccer, and has been training all summer, he said.
“She’ll end up being somewhere in the 24-minute range by the end of season. She’s run sub-25 during the summer.”
The top finisher for the boys was junior Trey Reed, who finished in 18:47, slower than he or Allen hoped for, but the coach said Reed “pushed it hard” in a workout two days before “and I think that caught up with him.”
Plus, on the narrow trails, Reed got stuck in traffic, Allen said.
“He needed that experience of trying to get around people. At state, everybody’s in one big glob. Without people around him, clogging up the lane, he would have shaved another 30 seconds off.”
Junior Kobe Olsen was second in the varsity senior/junior race, running 20:33 over the 5,000-meter course in his first cross-country race. Senior Julian Hesberg was half a second behind in 20:33.5. They were followed by senior Joe Rasmussen (21:27.5), junior Nick Reitz (21:52.9), senior Allen Cuilla (21:53.8), junior Nick Tolman (22:35.9) and senior TJ Baham (23:42.7), who is doubling with soccer and “didn’t have a good day,” Allen said.
Allen said he was particularly pleased with Tolman’s run, which was his all-time personal best over the 5,000-meter distance.
In the frosh/soph boys varsity race, sophomore Ricky Yunke was the first Husky in, in 19:38.8. Freshman Tanner Sayer was three seconds back in 19:41.5, followed by freshman Noah Dinsfriend, who is also doubling with soccer (20:35.5), and sophomores Nelson Rodgers (21:03.6), Noah Taraski (21:17.3), Cameron Taber (22:41.8) and Jake Hindmarsh (25:40.9). Rodgers’ and Taber’s times were their best-ever over the distance as well.
“That was a really good time at this time of the season for Nelson,” Allen said. “But he’s got company right behind him. It’s a free-for-all.”
In the 3,000-meter Novice race, junior Sean Wolthuis finished in 13:56.1 and sophomore Christian Baham clocked 14:48.9, well below what he had run in a two-mile timed practice a week earlier, Allen said.
In addition to the personal bests, several other runners came close to their PRs in exceeding the goals they had going into the race, he said.
“With the volume of guys we have, interesting things are happening on that side,” the coach said. “I couldn’t tell you who the frontrunners were from our workouts. It’s been topsy-turvy.”
With the next two races involving courses of different distances, Allen said the Huskies will have to wait till they get to the Harrier’s Challenge at Cottage Grove
“This one sets the tone for the next few weeks,” he said.
The Huskies will run Wednesday, Sept. 16, at the Silver Falls Octoberfest Invitational at Silver Falls State Park, and then will travel to Camp Rilea, north of Seaside on Saturday, Sept. 19, for the Three-Course Challenge, which will bring together close to 100 schools and a couple of thousand athletes to race in the sand hills along the ocean.
One change at the Silver Falls race is that it won’t include The Monster, a steep hill that runners climb midway through the race. The course has been moved this year and, although it will include a smaller hill, it won’t be The Monster.
“The kids are kind of upset about that,” Allen noted.
The Huskies still need runners, particularly on the girls side. Experience is not necessary. Contact Allen at (541) 409-7621.