Senior Sabrina Davis and sophomore Jakob Hiett were named Sweet Home track and field’s Most Valuable Players at the team’s awards potluck held Tuesday, June 4.
Assistant Coach Jim Kistner, standing in for Head Coach Billy Snow, who was called away to a family emergency, noted that the Huskies, who had nine seniors on the team of 76 athletes who participated in meets, had “a lot of rookies” this year and it showed in their results.
“We didn’t have the depth we’ve had in the past, the veterans,” Kistner said. Both the boys and girls teams finished fourth at the district meet.
However, excellent weather, which the team has not experienced in several years, contributed to a good season of learning, he said.
“It was the first time we were able to run our sprint crew on the football field in five years,” he said. “There was a lot of improvement and a lot of PR’s, especially in the last two weeks of the season.”
He said the athletes “stuck to the workouts” and it paid off in personal bests. Also, the Huskies sent 11 athletes to state, and had several other third-place finishes – near misses, all of which, Kistner said, exceeded the coaches’ early expectations. All of the qualifiers were underclassmen.
“We’re proud of that,” he said of the team’s efforts and success.
In introducing Davis, Kistner called her “a good athlete” who is a leader and showed versatility as the team’s top long jumper, high hurdler and javelin thrower. Davis also was the top sub for the short relay team, which qualified for state for the fifth straight year.
“It was truly an easy decision for us,” Kistner said of the selection.
Assistant Coach Andrew “Keebler” Allen introduced Hiett, who was the highest place-winner for Sweet Home at state – fifth in the 3000 – who posted a 33-second improvement in that event this year and finished five seconds short of the school record at state, running 8:49.00 to significantly outperform his 10th-place seeding going into the race.
“That’s the third-fastest 3000 ever run in Sweet Home history,” Allen said. “The last runner who ran this fast graduated in ‘99. And (Hiett’s) a sophomore.”
Thrower of the Year for the boys went to Ben Terry, who finished seventh at state after posting PR’s in four of the five meets he appeared in, the last a personal best of 47-0 1/4, more than a foot better than his previous PR. It was also more than six feet better than his PR coming into his junior season.
For the girls, the award went to Kaitlyn Watts, who PR’d twice in her last four meets and took second in district with a throw of 90-11, slightly more than a foot short of her best of 92-4, but good enough to earn a trip to state as the only girls thrower to qualify.
Sprinter of the Year for the boys was Spencer Knight, who placed third at district with a personal best – his third straight in as many meets – of 11.30, a time that, Kistner noted, would have placed him third in the state finals.
“He made phenomenal improvement in the last few weeks,” the coach said. “He is one of our hardest-working people. He worked really hard to get himself in shape.
“We were just in a strong league.”
The award for the girls went to the 4×100 team of Josie Knight, Haley Kent, India Porter and Courtney Kent.
Jumper of the Year was Ashton Stutzman, who placed third at district in the high jump despite an injury-riddled year.
“It was a difficult year,” Kistner said. “It was not what he was hoping for.”
For the girls, Jumper of the Year went to sophomore Porter, who competed three times in the triple jump – the second at district, where she produced a “monstrous” effort of 33-8 1/2, which qualified her for state, Kistner noted.
Though “she struggled at the state meet due to inexperience,” and only managed 28-11 1/4 after scratching her first attempt in the big show, Kistner predicted there’s more to come. Porter’s jump at district would have gotten her fifth place at state.
“She’ll be back,” he said.
Distance Runner of the Year was junior Nicole Rasmussen, who made state in the 3000 for the third straight year.
Hiett was the boys honoree.
Newcomer of the Year went to freshmen Matt Davis, who competed for the boys in the long jump and 300 hurdles at the district meet, and Josie Knight who placed fourth in the shot at the district meet and seventh in the 100 as well as running the lead-off leg for the short relay.
The Will to Win award, presented to athletes who “prepare themselves physically and mentally daily for success,” who “go into competition knowing what it takes to succeed and will always leave their best effort out on the field or track,” went to javelin thrower Amanda Hubbard for the girls and Spencer Knight for the boys.
Javelin Coach Randy Whitfield said Hubbard, despite a knee problem, “never quit” and faithfully did the “hard work” necessary to learn to “throw a stick in front of a lot of people.”
Kistner said that Knight displayed notable “dedication in his work habits and” and “many intangibles, one of the most obvious of which was his will to win.”
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 Trever Olson for the boys and Sabrina Davis for the girls.
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,” were top javelin throwers David Skeen, a senior, and junior Kyle Rose, for the boys and twin sisters Courtney and Haley Kent.
Fourth-year letter winners were Sabrina Davis and Paige Sanders.
Third-year letters went to Chase Hutchins, Zane Jackson, Courtney Kent, Spencer Knight, Nicole Rasmussen, Ashton Stutzman and Kaitlyn Watts.
Second-year letters went to Eric Flierl, Kyler Gaskey, Jakob Hiett, Haley Kent, Jordan Miller, Trever Olson, India Porter, Kyle Rose, Alex Seitz, David Skeen, Ben Terry, Justin Webb, Ian Wingo and Kyle Wodtli.
Earning their first letter were TJ Baham, Kayla Daniels, Matt Davis, Zach Gill, Robert Gourley, Wyatt Hayes, Josh Holman, Amanda Hubbard, Josie Knight, Abram Legg, Hannah Mather, Brycen Mitten, Karly Newport, Alex Olin, Ashley Stewart, Shawn Worthen, Parke Young and Manager Jenny Yoon.
JV certificates went to McKenna Ashton, Adam Barber, Gavin Baskin, Mikaela Batchelor, Natasha Benson, Austin Coy, Maria Daniels, Shelby Dinsfriend, Patric Dishaw, Keegan Downs, Sarah Dunkley, Moriah Gingerich, Keisha Goble, Julian Hesberg, Joel Holman, Alexis Johnson, David Johnson, Kayleen Keeney, Tyrel Miller, Sierrah Owen, Lilly Parker, Adriana Perez, Joseph Ramussen, Alec Rice, Nick Richard, Ryan Richards, Nick Rodgers, David St. Onge, Kyle Thomas, Eric Whitlow and Bailey Wicker.