Sweet Home finally got a quality day on the track, weather-wise, and the Huskies took full advantage of it in the 10-team Junction City Invitational Saturday.
The somewhat shorthanded Huskies placed fourth in both the boys and girls competitions, which were won by Siuslaw on the boys side, and Crook County for the girls. The meet is scored under the Wisconsin system, which allows up to three entrants from each team and everyone scores, unlike normal scoring where only the top six or eight competitors get points.
Sweet Home’s boys scored 798 points, to Siuslaw’s 976, and behind Crook County (867.5) and Elmira (819.5), while the girls scored 695.5, behind Crook County (915.5), Elmira (823.5) and Siuslaw (819.5).
“We were very happy,” Coach Billy Snow said. “I think if we’d had all our guys and girls that we were missing, I don’t know if we would have caught the first-place teams but we certainly would have been closer.”
Snow said he figured out that the Huskies notched personal or season’s best marks or times in 67 percent of their performances.
“Any time you get over 50, that’s good,” he said.
Winners for the boys were Nick Hall in the 400 (52.44) and the 300 Hurdles (42.53), Jake Johnson in the discus (139-9), and sophomore Ashton Stuzman in the high jump (5-9).
“That’s not a state-quality mark for Ashton yet, but for that meet, on that day, it was a competitive mark,” Snow said. “He just got out there and competed.”
For the girls, sophomore Courtney Kent won the 400 (1:05.81) and placed second in the 300 hurdles (53.50), her second time in the hurdles event. Nicole Rasmussen, also a sophomore, won the 3000 (11:25.93) and was third in the 1500. Annie Whitfield won the javelin (141-1) and Devyn Makin was first in the long jump (17-2 1/2).
“Amy’s in the top 10 statewide with that throw (not just the 4A) and Devyn had a great series in the long jump,” Snow said. “In our division, the top two javelin throwers in the state are from our league,” he added, referring to Cottage Grove’s Zach Borrelli (see below).
He said Whitfield had “a great day,” placing fourth in the shot put in her first competition of the year in that event, with a throw of 32-2, and running an “awesome” leg in the girls short relay.
Other notable efforts for the boys were David Skeen’s fourth-place finish in the javelin with a throw of 143-2, a 23-foot PR, Nick Mattson’s 9-foot pole vault in his second competition in that event, Chris Carpenter’s third-place finish in the long jump with a nearly 2-foot PR, 20-6 1/2, and Daniel Danforth’s fourth-place finish in the 1500, in a 6-second PR of 4:19.79 and third place in the 3000 in 9:32.53, less than a second off his lifetime best. Brycen Mitten jumped 36-3 in the triple jump to break into the top 10 among Sweet Home freshmen.
“We had a good day in the javelin,” Snow said. “That was a big PR for Chris. Daniel showed he’s not afraid to go out, though I’d like him to wait a little longer. That was a good double for him. And I think Brycen Mitten has found his event.”
He noted that with regular 4×100 relay member Spencer Knight out, Chase Hutchins filled in competently at the last minute and, despite a rough handoff, the team ran a respectable time.
“With a good handoff, they could have gone a second faster,” he said.
For the girls, freshman India Porter bettered her initial best by a second and a half in the 400 to finish third (66.34) in her second high school race at that distance, and fellow freshman Jordan Miller slashed 10 seconds off her best at 800 meters, finishing third in 2:41.25.
Snow said that despite its youth, his team is showing resilience that promises good things for the future.
“They’re not afraid to go after it,” he said. “Two things we saw, the kids were at or near their best and they were also competitive. The weather was a factor in some of their performances. It wasn’t ideal, but it certainly wasn’t what we’ve been having.
“We were missing a bunch of bodies but the kids we had competed very well.
“A lot of them are younger kids. We’ve got a good core to build around.”
Junction City Invitational
Boys Results
Team Scores – (1) Siuslaw 976; (2) Crook County 867.5; (3) Elmira 819.5; (4) Sweet Home 798; (5) Junction City 646.5; (6) Central 639; (7) Stayton 509; (8) Toledo 487.5; (9) South Umpqua 352; (10) Alsea 63.
Top 3 and Sweet Home finishers
100 – (1) Garrett Lewellen (E) 11.52; (2) Conner Gibson (JC) 11.68; (3) Hunter Bourland (CC) 11.70; (4) Chris Carpenter (SH) 11.83; (18) Kyler Gaskey (SH) 12.99.
200 – (1) Conner Gibson (JC) 24.05; (2) Alonzo Lopez (CC) 24.14; (3) Dakota Senger (SU) 24.31; No Sweet Home entrants.
400 – (1) Nick Hall (SH) 52.44; (2) Neal Larson (Sius) 53.44; (3) Alonzo Lopez (CC) 53.74; (6) Chace Hutchins (SH) 57.99; (9) Alex Seitz (SH) 1:00.64.
800 – (1) Brian Schofield (Sius) 2:04.77; (2) Seth Campell (Sius) 2:08.94; (3) Isidro Topete (Stay) 2:10.43; (4) Jakob Hiett (SH) 2:12.16; (14) Justin Webb (SH) 2:28.54.
1500 – (1) Matthew Campbell (Sius) 4:15.38; (2) Hayden Schaffner (Sius) 4:16.57; (3) Mack Marbas (Sius) 4:17.17;l (4) Daniel Danforth (SH) 4:19.79; (7) Jakob Hiett (SH) 4:31.70; (12) Ian Wingo (SH) 4:51.10.
3000 – (1) Seth Campell (Sius) 9:25.70; (2) Brian Schofield (Sius) 9:26.97; (3) Daniel Danforth (SH) 9:32.53; (8) Ian Wingo (SH) 10:29.08; (11) Justin Webb (SH) 11:25.22.
110 Hurdles – (1) (1) Garrett Lewellen (E) 15.64; (2) Leo Williamson (T) 16.39; (3) Chris Carpenter (SH) 17.58.
300 Hurdles – (1) Nick Hall (SH) 42.53; (2) Neal Larson (Sius) 44.29; (3) Justin Wintch (JC) 44.54; (6) Chace Hutchins (SH) 46.91; (8) Ashton Stutzman (SH) 48.32.
4×100 Relay – (1) Crook County 45.31; (2) Junction City 46.54; (3) Sweet Home (Nick Hall, Chace Hutchins, Kyler Gaskey, Chris Carpenter) 46.63; (4) South Umpqua 47.36; (5) Siuslaw 47.50; (6) Elmira 50.23.
4×400 Relay – (1) Siuslaw 3:34.47; (2) Toledo 3:48.07; (3) Swe et Home (Jakob Hiett, Alex Seitz, Chace Hutchins, Nick Hall) 3:48.48; (4) Crook County 3:50.27; (5) Central 3:40.69; (6) South Umpqua 3:54.17; (7) Junction City 3:54.69; (8) Elmira 4:03.42; (9) Central “B” 4:07.01; (10) Crook County “B” 4:11.92.
Shot Put – (1) Chance Sutfin (CC) 43-11 3/4; (2) Jerrell Brown (Sius) 43-5; (3) Mitchell Kuenzi (Stay) 41-2; (4) Zane Jackson (SH) 39-9 1/2; (5) David Skeen (SH) 39-0 1/4; (20) Kyle Wodtli (SH) 32-10 3/4.
Discus – (1) Jake Johnson (SH) 139-9; (2) Chance Sutfin (CC) 129-9; (3) David Ammons (T) 121-6; (9) Quin Wise (SH) 97-10; (17) Zach Pratt (SH) 85-7.
Javelin – (1) Nolan Messman (E) 157-10; (2) Tevin Cooper (CC) 151-2; (3) Tanner Omlid (C) 148-1; (4) David Skeen (SH) 143-2; (9) Kyle Rose (SH) 132-0; (22) Kyle Wodtli (SH) 111-4.
High Jump – (1) Ashton Stuzman (SH) 5-9; (2) Nolan Messman (E) 5-6; (3-tie) Jakob Hiett (SH), Jesse Wells (Sius), Hayden Schaffner (Sius), Ryan Parker (JC) 5-4; (7) Anthony Vincent (SH) 5-2.
Pole Vault – (1) John Johnson (Sius) 12-6; (2) Brent Wolkersdorfer (E) 10-0; (3-tie) Joey Lara (C), Cody Thurman (CC), Joel Lofton (C), Jason Graber (Sius) 9-6; (7) Nick Mattson (SH) 9-0.
Long Jump – (1) Denzel Deleon (E) 21-0 3/4; (2) Tanner Omlid (C) 20-7 1/2; (3) Chris Carpenter (SH) 20-6 1/2; (9) Ashton Stutzman (SH) 18-0 1/4.
Triple Jump – (1) Curtis Deetz (Stay) 41-0; (2) Taylor Kesling (E) 39-4; (3) Justin Wintch (JC) 39-1; (10) Brycen Mitten (SH) 36-3.
Girls Results
Team Scores – (1) Crook County 915.5; (2) Elmira 823.5; (3) Siuslaw 819.5; (4) Sweet Home 694.5; (5) Junction City 683; (6) Central 597; (7) Stayton 481.5; (8) Toledo 335.5; (9) Alsea 273; (10) South Umpqua 47.
Top 3 and Sweet Home Results
100 – (1) McKenzie Zirbel (CC) 13.35; (2) MaKenna Burgess (JC) 13.81; (3) Devyn Makin (SH) 13.93; (9) Jasmin Yoder (SH) 14.53.
200 – (1) McKenzie Zirbel (CC) 27.87; (2) Jamilla Gambee (JC) 28.07; (3) Jana Hutchinson (JC) 29.70; (6) Jasmin Yoder (SH) 13.93; (9) India Porter (SH) 30.63.
400 – (1) Courtney Kent (SH) 1:05.81; (2) Amanda McMillan (T) 1:06.05; (3) India Porter (SH) 1:06.34.
800 – (1) Jessica Alletson (Sius) 2:35.22; (2) Katelyn Wells (Sius) 2:41.06; (3) Jordan Miller (SH) 2:41.25; (13) Kimber Swanson (SH) 2:59.16; (16) Christina Ulmer (SH) 3:14.52.
1500 – (1) Katy Potter (Sius) 5:06.81; (2) Raquel Albee (Stay) 5:16.67; (3) Nicole Ramussen (SH) 5:19.20; (5) Paige Sanders (SH) 5:35.26; (15) Christina Ulmer (SH) 6:28.23.
3000 – (1) Nicole Rasmussen (SH) 11:25.93; (2) Kelley Thurman (CC) 11:32.46; (3) Raquel Albee (Stay) 11:43.17; (6) Paige Sanders (SH) 12:07.46; (9) Kimber Swanson (SH) 12:44.87.
100 Hurdles – (1) Alexandra Dodson (Sius) 17.87; (2) Stevie Miller (Sius) 18.54; (3) Bailey Mills (E) 19.03; No Sweet Home entrants.
300 Hurdles – (1) Stevie Miller (Sius) 53.10; (2) Courtney Kent (SH) 53.50; (3) Alexandra Dodson (Sius) 53.76.
4×100 Relay – (1) Toledo 53.68; (2) Junction City 53.78; (3) Sweet Home (Sabrina Davis, Jasmin Yoder, Annie Whitfield, Devyn Makin) 54.04; (4) Crook County 54.32; (5) Siuslaw 1:00.05.
4×400 Relay – (1) Siuslaw 4:28.90; (2) Junction City 4:30.38; (3) Sweet Home (Courtney Kent, India Porter, Jordan Miller, Devyn Makin) 4:43.00; (4) Elmira 4:50.16; (5) Crook County 4:56.57; (6) Central 5:21.60.
Shot Put – (1) Whitney Schreiber (Alsea) 35-6 1/2; (2) Courtney Hendrix (Alsea) 34-11; (3) Marci Johnston (CC) 33-2 3/4; (4) Annie Whitfield (SH) 32-5 1/2; (5) Jade Corliss (SH) 30-9 1/2; (17) Macy Cockrell (SH) 24-5 1/2.
Discus – (1) Angie Turpen (Alsea) 101-7; (2) Molly Viles (CC) 98-11; (3) Courtney Hendrix (Alsea) 94-7; (4) Laura Mauer (SH) 92-11; (5) Kaitlyn Watts (SH) 84-5; (21) Sadie Gordon (SH) 56-11.
Javelin – (1) Annie Whitfield (SH) 141-1; (2) Kelsey Shaw (E) 137-6; (3) Jenna Loheed (E) 113-0; (17) Kelsie Zartman (SH) 69-3; (24) Kaitlyn Watts (SH) 58-1.
High Jump – (1) Kelsey Shaw (E) 4-8; (2) Stevie Miller (SH) 4-8; (3-tie) Jenna Loheed (E), Hannah Troutman (CC), Jacie Palmer (E) 4-6. No Sweet Home entrants.
Pole Vault – (1) Paris Piva (E) 7-6; (2-tie) Natasha Rizzio (T), Tonya Allison (C) 7-0; (9) Annie Whitfield (SH) 6-0.
Long Jump – (1) Devyn Makin (SH) 17-2 1/2; (2) Alexandra Dodson (Sius) 15-3 1/2; (3) Jessie Shockey (C) 15-3; (6) Courtney Kent (SH) 13-7.
Triple Jump – (1) Anna Smith (Stay) 31-4; (2) Joey Hehn (CC) 30-9; (3) Isla Michel (Stay) 30-6; No Sweet Home entrants.
Sweet Home, Cottage Grove
at Philomath
The Huskies competed “very well” at an April 4 meet with Cottage Grove and Philomath, hosted by the Warriors, according to Snow.
Sweet Home placed third with 50 points, behind Cottage Grove (68) and Philomath (60) in the boys competition, but Snow said he moved a lot of athletes into events that were new or unusual to them as they prepared for the Junction City meet on Saturday. In the girls competition, Sweet Home was third with 46 ½ points behind Philomath (80 ½) and Cottage Grove 48.
“The bright spot we saw was the kids competed,” Snow said. “They didn’t care about the weather. The conditions were horrible, especially for some of the field events.”
He noted that Zach Borelli of Cottage Grove, last year’s district javelin champion, threw 170-5, about 30 feet below his usual performance, and the Huskies’ Annie Whitfield threw 116-5, at least 10 feet shorter than what she normally would throw.
Scottie Stockman was one of the bright spots, running 12.98 in the 100 (from a standing start) and then winning the pole vault with a leap of 10-7. Snow said the senior also ran the fastest leg of the day for Sweet Home on the 4×100 relay.
“He’s a competitor,” Snow said.
He said the Huskies were “in the thick of things” in that race until the handoff to anchor Spencer Knight didn’t go well and then Knight tightened up as he came down the home stretch.
Another was sophomore Chace Hutchins, who crashed over the last hurdle in the 300 hurdles but managed to reach across the finish line to get a time as he lay on the track.
“That takes some guts,” Snow said.
On the girls side, sophomore Courtney Kent was second, by half a second, in the 300 hurdles, running 53.00 in her first time in that event. Paige Sanders won the 800 2:43.90 and Nicole Rasmussen won the 1500 (5:32.10), running alone, ahead of the field, in both races, while Devyn Makin won the long jump (15-5 ½)
In the pole vault, freshmen McKenzie Curtis and Faith Swaney, and sophomore Hannah Mather all cleared a height, 6-0, in their first-ever competition in that event, Snow said.
Philomath Three-Way
Boys Results
Team Scores: (1) Cottage Grove 68; (2) Philomath 60; (3) Sweet Home 50.
Top 3 plus Sweet Home finishers
100 – (1) Zach Trask (P) 11.56; (2) Andrew Thaler (CG) 11.61; (3) Alex Munsee (P) 11.80; (4) Nick Hall (SH) 11.87; (6) Spencer Knight 11.99; (12) Kyler Gaskey (SH) 12.60; (13) Scottie Stockman (SH) 12.98; (14) Alex Seitz (SH) 13.30; (15) Anthony Vincent (SH) 13.60; (16) Joe Hefty (SH) 14.20.
200 – (1) Conner Richardson (CG) 24.10; (2) Matt Trask (P) 24.20; (3) Alex Munsee (P) 24.30; (8) Kyler Gaskey (SH) 25.60; (12) Alex Seitz (SH) 27.60.
400 – (1) Austin Place (CG) 52.60; (2) Austin Brown (P) 54.00; (3) Conner Richardson (CG) 55.30; No Sweet Home finishers.
800 – (1) Daniel Danforth (SH) 2:14.10; (2) Jakob Hiett (SH) 2:14.90; (3) Chase Celorie (P) 2:16.30; (7) Justin Webb (SH) 2:29.50; (9) Maxx Nguyen (SH) 3:06.20.
1500 – (1) Caelin Alba (P) 4:45.60; (2) Brian Blythe (P) 4:48.00; (3) Ian Wingo (SH) 4:48.40.
3000 – (1) Teagan Settelmeyer (CG) 9:41.10; (2) Boone McCoy-Crisp (P) 9:45.60; (3) David Johnson (SH) 11:12.10.
110 Hurdles – (1) Chris Carpenter (SH) 16.80; (2) Jaibir Pannu (CG) 18.30; (3) Spencer Quimby (CG) 18.40.
300 Hurdles – (1) Zach Trask (P) 41.50; (2) Nick Hall (SH) 43.30; (3) Dylan Johnson (CG) 44.60; (4) Ashton Stutzman (SH) 47.90; (6) Dakota Snow (SH) 50.10; (7) Eric Flierl (SH) 50.30; (9) Chace Hutchins (SH) 52.40.
4×100 Relay – (1) Philomath 45.17; (2) Sweet Home 46.20; (3) Philomath “B” 54.80; Sweet Home “B” and Cottage Grove DQ.
4×400 Relay – (1) Cottage Grove 3:40.27; (2) Philomath 3:40.30; (3) Sweet Home (Chace Hutchins, Spencer Knight, Chris Carpenter, Jakob Hiett) 3:40.50; (4) Cottage Grove 3:53.10; (5) Sweet Home 4:03.60.
Shot Put – (1) David Skeen (SH) 37-8 3/4; (2) Ben Terry (SH) 37-2; (3) Zach Borrelli 36-6 3/4; (6) Zane Jackson (SH) 35-2; (7) Shawn Worthen (SH) 34-11; (10) Kyle Wodtli (SH) 32-0 1/4; (20) Quin Wise (SH) 26-10 1/4; (21) Troy Hazelton (SH) 25-8 3/4; (23) Zach Pratt (SH) 22-10 1/4.
Discus – (1) Jake Johnson (SH) 127-07; (2-tie) Nolan Etzel (CG), Chris Henshaw (CG) 98-11; (5) Shawn Worthen (SH) 91-3; (11) Zach Pratt (SH) 73-10; (12) Quin Wise (SH) 73-3; (17) Troy Hazelton (SH) 62-00.
Javelin – (1) Zach Borrelli (CG) 170-5; (2) Daniel Noll (CG) 126-5; (3) Kyle Rose (SH) 123-4; (4) David Skeen (120-6; (5) Ben Terry (SH) 112-8; (8) Kyle Wodtli (SH) 98-2; (9) Jake Johnson (SH) 97-5; (14) Shawn Worthen (SH) 90-7; (22) Troy Hazelton (SH) 69-4.
High Jump – (1) Chris Houck (P) 5-8; (2) Ashton Stutzman (SH) 5-6; (3) Jordan Yoss (CG) 5-4; (4) Anthony Vincent (SH) 5-2; (6) Jakob Hiett (SH) 5-2.
Pole Vault – (1) Scottie Stockman(SH) 10-7; (2) Zach Leonard (P) 9-6; (3) Chase Celorie (P) 9-0; (4) Nick Mattson (SH) 8-6.
Long Jump