Ken Roberts
Sports Writer
The rainy, cold weather took center stage in Sweet Home’s home meet against Sisters and Stayton, limiting the possibility of high level performances in most of the events.
The Husky boys finished first, defeating Stayton and Sisters with 71 points to 56 for the Eagles and 53 for Sisters. The girls came in second behind Sisters 88.5 to 65 with Stayton a distant third at 26.5.
It was a day to just get through and hopefully prepare the athletes in case the district meet is run in similar conditions.
“I told the kids early on not to worry about marks or times, but just compete,” said Coach Billy Snow. “If you can do that in a small meet and handle the adverse conditions, then you can do it in a big meet.”
Some of the Huskies were able to rise up above the conditions and set new personal bests, especially many of the younger varsity or JV athletes. But veteran pole vaulter Mike Barnes, who is working with a brand new pole, was an example of an experienced athlete who came through.
Barnes took first place in the event with a personal best of 12-8, making him 10th all time as a Husky.
“I’ve been in the biggest slump ever,” said Barnes, “so I was determined to turn it around. That was my main focus all day.”
For the girls, junior Krystle Streight and senior Rachel Gaskey continued to lead the Huskies in the weight events. Streight finished first in both the shot and discus with a lifetime best of 106 feet in the discus. Gaskey took second in both of those events and would have taken second in the javelin had she not been listed as a JV participant. Streight ended up second behind Kim Lovik in that event, as both Streight and Gaskey experimented in new events.
Streight, Gaskey, and Hannah McClaskey have formed a strong trio for the Huskies.
“We help each other a lot,” said Streight, who also credited hard work through weight lifting and extra running in workouts for her improvement this year. “If we see something wrong, we try to help each other fix it. We encourage one another and have a lot of fun.”
On the track, Kellen Petersen took first place in the 100 meter and anchored the winning 4×100 meter relay after earlier finishing first in the long jump. Ricky Howe, in his first 400 meters, ran second to Sisters’ Jawan Davis, one of the state’s best, with a time of 53.88.
The boys’ dominance in the javelin and triple jump continued. The Huskies took the top threespots in the javelin once again, though Mike Severns’ winning mark was down slightly at 167-7.
Howe and Seb Strickler took one-two in the triple jump while the boys swept the shot put, led by Malcolm Brown’s personal best of 39-3, and finished second, third, and fourth in the discus behind freshman Kris Schaefer’s throw of 95-9.
Sisters used strong performances on the track, especially in the middle and longer distances, to pull off the meet victory, though Megan Snow and many of the younger Sweet Home runners collected personal bests in those races. Snow was just .45 of a second from breaking the 12 minute barrier in the 3000 meter for the first time. Freshmen Jessica Trautwein, Katie Barr, Erica Snow, and Sabrina Perry all posted personal bests.
Lisa Brocard picked up victories in the long and triple jumps, though her marks were well under her best efforts of the year. Ashley Smith picked up another win in the high jump at 4-6 while Hannah Swanson picked up two second places in the 100 meters and the 100 meter high hurdles.
The Huskies have two more league meets coming up, first a triangular meet at Stayton with Cascade included on Tuesday. Then they travel to North Marion Tuesday, May 4, where they will meet up with Sisters again.