Considering that nearly his entire cross-country team was either sick or just recovered from illness, Coach Billy Snow was pretty happy with the Huskies’ performances Thursday, Sept. 27, at the Harrier’s Challenge in Cottage Grove.
The 5K race course includes a run up the face of the Dorena Reservoir dam, which is just slightly less steep than Foster Dam.
“The kids ran well,” Snow said. “Everybody who ran there last year PR’d.”
Those personal bests ranged from 15 seconds for Paige Sanders, who led the girls, to nearly six minutes for sophomore Trevor Melson.
Sweet Home placed third in the boys team race with 138 points, behind Sisters (49) and La Pine (108).
The Huskies were led by Jakob Hiett, who ran third overall in 18:14 – a PR of 1:10, behind the winner, Brandon Pollard of Sisters (17:58).
Daniel Danforth was second for the Huskies in 19:54 – 17th overall – and Ian Wingo was third – 28th overall – in 20:17. Fourth for Sweet Home was David Johnson (37th, 21:05), with Nick Mattson (53rd, 21:46 – a 51-second PR) and Robert Gourley (54th, 21:48) finishing back-to-back, followed by Alex Seitz (57th, 22:04).
“We really shined, everybody after Daniel,” Snow said. “Ian, David, Mattson and Robert were all bunched together. I was encouraged.”
La Pine placed four runners back-to-back and all of its first five finishers ahead of Sweet Home’s third runner, Wingo, but Snow said he was “convinced” that the Huskies can do better against the Hawks.
Sisters won the girls varsity race with 51 points, led by junior Zoe Falk who was second (21:45), behind Creswell’s Olivia Powell (21:26). Cottage Grove was third, with 133 points. Sweet Home did not score as a team because the Huskies lacked five varsity runners, with Hailey Hummer and Tashana Mithen out due to injury and illness.
“All of the kids were sick or just getting over something,” Snow said. “Just one after another. When we came back from Seaside we weren’t hurt, but we were certainly sick. That’s for sure.”
Sanders placed seventh to pace the Huskies, running 23:07. Sierra Swanson was second for the team and 31st overall, running 27:06, and Candalynn Johnson was their third runner, at 56th overall, in 30:04 – a two-minute PR. Kayla Daniels was Sweet Home’s fourth runner, 69th in 32:22.
Stephen Bishop ran 22:18 to finish sixth in the boys JV race, followed by Kyle Moore-McKay (37th, 25:15) and Nick Dadey (45th, 25:47) and Trevor Melson (51st, 26:13) – nearly a six-minute PR over his time as a freshman last year.
In the girls JV race, Sierra Owen finished in 33:01, followed by Maria Daniels (38:55) and Emilie Rice (39:05).
The Huskies will run a brand new race, for them, at the Star City XClassic at Corban University beginning at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3. They will follow that with one of their regular stops – the Paul Mariman Invitational at Philomath, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6.
Harrier’s Challenge
Boys Team Scores
Sisters 49; (2) La Pine 108; (3) Sweet Home 138; (4) Pleasant Hill 147; (5) Thurston 206; (6) Central 212; (7) Crow 218; (8) Cottage Grove 227; (9) Harrisburg 253; (10) Elmira 283; (11) Central Linn 305; (12) Douglas 371.
Boys Top 10 and
Sky-Em League Finishers
(1) Brandon Pollard (Sisters) 17:58; (2) Zach Bellew (Creswell) 18:05; (3) Jakob Hiett (SH) 18:14; (4) Darrin Houle (Crow) 18:34; (5) Devon Calvin (S) 18:41; (6) Quinn Wallace (N Eugene) 18:47; (7) Ben Rist (Central Linn) 19:15; (8) Elias Appenzeller (N Eug) 19:17; (9) Garrett Davis (Pleasant Hill) 19:24; (10) Tyress TurnsPlenty (La Pine) 19:27; (11) Ian Baldessari (S) 19:27; (12) Izaak Kanzig (S) 19:28; (17) Daniel Danforth (SH) 19:54; (20) Dyut Fetrow (S) 20:01; (22) Gannon Jones (Elmira) 20:05; (23) Niico Haddad (LP) 20:08; (24) Gavin Boen (LP) 20:10; (25) Nick Clark (LP 20:12; (27) Thorin Wilson (LP) 20:14; (28) Gabriel Rice (S) 20:15; (30) Austin Smith (LP) 20:22; (32) Brad Miller (Cottage Grove) 20:44; (37) David Johnson (SH) 21:05; (39) Conner Richardson (CG) 21:12; (40) Kade McConnell (CG); (45) Bryce Cothran (CG) 21:34; (52) Bryan Zimmerman (E) 21:45; (53) Nick Mattson (SH) 21:46; (54) Robert Gourley (SH) 21:48; (57) Alex Seitz (SH) 22:04; (61) Joseph Faletti (E) 22:21; (63) Taylor Ogle (LP) 22:40; (67) Jordan Yoss (CG) 22:54; (69) Ian Cooper (E) 23:01; (70) Jordan Yoss (CG) 22:54; (72) Ian Cooper (E) 23:01; (73) Carson Galbreath (CG) 23:04; (74) Jarrett Raade (CG) 23:06; (76) Jasper Kamerer (E) 23:09; (85) Alex Eddy (Junction City) 24:09; (86) Harley Gilpin (E) 24:11; (95) Noah McFadden (JC) 25:02; (99) Chase Maxwell (JC) 29:22.
Girls Team Scores
Sisters 51; (2) Pleasant Hill 105; (3) Cottage Grove 131; (4) Central 133; (5) Creswell 156; (6) Elmira 178; (7) Thurston 198; (8) Junction City 201; (9) Crow 234.
Girls Top 10 and
Sky-Em League Finishers
(1) Olivia Powell (Creswell) 21:26; (2) Zoe Falk (Sisters) 21:45; (3) Mandi Desmarteau (Central) 22:04; (4) Helen Cutting (N Eugene) 22:30; (5) Sabrina Boyd (Pleasant Hill) 22:51; (6) Aria Blumm (S) 23:02; (7) Paige Sanders (SH) 23:07; (8) Courtney Carman (NE) 23:28; (9) Rheanna Williams (NE) 23:31; (10) Emma Boys (PH) 23:40; (13) Macadia Calavan (S) 24:39; (16) Natalie Marshall (S) 25:09; (18) Danielle Jones (Elmira) 25:37; (19) Skyler Lester (La Pine) 25:40; (20) Breanna Wright (Cottage Grove) 25:43; (24) Betsy Ausman (S) 25:05; (25) Katie Stewart (S) 26:19; (28) Kenzie McConnell (CG) 26:43; (29) Jessica Sand (E) 27:00; (31) Sierra Swanson (SH) 27:06; (33) Alondra Torres (JC) 27:40; (36) Haley Cotchell (CG) 27:45; (39) Courtney Shipley (CG) 28:00; (42) Alisha Drews (JC) 28:20; (46) Ana Trujillo (CG) 28:44; (47) Kalea Galbreath (CG) 28:47; (48) Tysha Hulse (LP) 29:02; (55) Grieta King (E) 29:44; (56) Candalynn Johnson (SH) 30:04; (57) Madeline Curtis (E) 30:07; (60) Courtney Spangler (JC) 30:20; (62) Hayleigh Osburn (JC) 30:31; (65) Sierra Shaw (E) 31:30; (67) Emilee Russell (E) 31:46; (69) Kayla Daniels (SH) 32:22; (70) Rachel Collins (JC) 32:32; (71) Alyssa Watters (JC) 33:51.