Sweet Home’s three state qualifiers all ran strong races Saturday at the 4A state championship meet, held at Lane Community College, Coach Dave Martin said.
“I’m really pleased because we competed and we placed right about where we looked like we should, coming in,” Martin said of the races, held on a somewhat soggy trail around the Eugene campus. “Hardly anybody PR’d in the entire state meet field, but we competed very well. We re not exceptionally high or exceptionally low. We were right where we should be.”
Sophomore Emma Whitton was Sweet Home’s highest finisher, placing seventh in the girls race in 19:28.76.
“Emma had the best race of the day for us,” Martin said. “She performed a little higher than she had been, on average.”
Whitton said she ran with a “really bad” pain in her side for most of the race, noting that she finished a little behind the fourth-place result she had as a freshman.
“It was worse than a stitch,” she said. “At the second pond on the second loop some people passed me. I think I would have gotten fourth if it hadn’t been for this pain.”
Marti
n credited her with running tough the entire time and for a big finish.
“That was the best finish I’ve seen her run in a race,” he said. “She had a great last 250. Some of those girls, I know, are faster than her in the 1500 in track but she did not let them catch up.”
Philomath’s Cassidy Smart won the individual state title for the girls, accelerating away from La Grande senior Brooke Perry, last year’s champion, to win in 18:33.75.
La Grande, which also won the boys title, was the top team for the girls with 51 points, placing three runners in the top 10. Klamath Union was second (65), Philomath was third (133) and Cottage Grove was fourth (139). Molalla, which edged Sweet Home’s girls for the one wildcard spot, was fifth (144), and Stayton finished 11th in the field of 13 with 14 points.
Senior McKenzie Miller was 14th for Sweet Home in the field of 97 runners in her first state meet, running 19:55.22.
Clearly disappointed that she didn’t crack the top 10, she said she tried to stay with Whitton because “I just knew I had to do something.”
“McKenzie didn’t feel like she had a good race, but she finished exactly where she was rated to place when she went in,” Martin said. “I was really proud of her, for her first state meet. It’s really tough in that environment. It doesn’t matter – district, the Northwest Classic – it’s different being at state.
“I know she was disappointed and wanted to be in the top 10 because she wanted a medal, but I’ll take 14th any time. Essentially, that’s second team all-state. She is the seventh-highest placer ever in the history of Sweet Home.”
Junior Ryker Burr, also in his first state meet, placed 34th in a field of 102 runners, in 17:30.00.
4A Boys race was won by junior Corbin Sage of Marist, running as an individual to finish in 15:56.56, the only runner to finish under 17 minutes.
La Grande, which placed its top two runners second and third behind Sage, won the team title with 61 points, followed by Molalla (75), Cottage Grove (123) and The Dalles (124). Newport was sixth (183), Philomath seventh (189) and Stayton was 10th out of 13 teams with 230.
Philom
ath’s Leo Pausch, who ran with Sage and Marshfield senior Jaxson Stovall for the first half of the race, was second (16:00.53) faded to eighth (16:41.26).
Burr said he had “a good, not a great race.”
“I ran right where I was supposed to. I think I need to work on improving my mental toughness.
“I think today was a day where nobody was running well, nobody was running near their PRs. It’s a hard course. There’s a lot of hills, but if you get that mental toughness, you get that edge, you can really separate yourself on the most important days, like today.”
He said his goal is to beat the school record on that course, currently 15:36.
“It’s going to take a lot to get there, but I’ve done a lot of training the past three years. I think it’s going to compound on itself, and I’m really going to take a good shot at it. I’m confident I’ll be able to get it.”
Martin noted that Burr’s finish makes him the 18th-fastest ever for Sweet Home, right behind Ramiro Santana Jr.
“Ryker ran a really strong race all the way,” Martin said. “He was competitive, working, fighting the whole way. It was very solid race for his first trip to state.
“He’s been to state track, been to state cross-country. He’s definitely adding to his resume of experience and, for the second year in a row, he’s made it through a cross-country season without injuries.
“He had a great season and he finished it off well.”