In the inaugural Linn County Championships, Sweet Home met with other Linn county schools at West Albany Friday.
“The idea of a county championship is a great one and West put on a good meet,” said Husky Coach Billy Snow. “It was great for our kids to see some different competition and go up against some bigger schools. It’s also a meet that is at a time and place that allows more of our parents to come watch their kids compete. Since our track is closed to competition because of its poor condition, this meet lets some parents see their kids compete, maybe for the only time this year. That is certainly a plus.”
Coach Snow said he didn’t load up his Huskies as much as they might have but he tried to get as many varsity level kids in the meet as possible. “We really wanted kids, especially the new ones, to get the feel of a big and special meet and for all kids to concentrate on chasing some PRs in one or two events.”
All proceeds of the meet got to benefit Mike Cunningham, a West Albany coach who is battling Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Girls Results
The girls shot relay team led things off with a six place finish in 55.6. Although a second off their time from Tuesday, it was still their second best time of the year.
In the 200M, Stephanie Kragness battled her way through the prelims, beating some girls ranked ahead of her to take eighth place.
In the distance events, the girls went 4 for 6 in PRs. Anne Helfrich and exchange student Rina Kanazawa both her PRs with Helfrich’s time of 5:41.9 good for eighth place. Kanazawa ran 6:06.5. In the 800M, Mayumi Tanaka, another exchange student, continued to exhibit some tough running, going 2:54.7 for seventh place.
Iin the 3000M, Megan Snow and Maria Andrade both had big PRs. Snow ran a lifetime best 12:48.9 to take sixth place with Andrade right behind her at 12:56.7 for seventh. Andrade’s time puts her No. 10 on the school history senior list.
In the field, Nicole Burnside placed in two of her three throwing events. In the shot put, Burnside’s 32-11 was good for third place overall and in the discus, she was fourth at 89-09. Rachel Gaskey had a good night in her events. In the shot put, she had a 30-05.25 put for eighth and threw 86-7 in the javelin in a very tough field of contestants. Gaskey’s throw in the javelin places her No. 7 on the all school list.
In the jumping events, Lisa Brocard and Ashley Smith both contributed points. Smith went 14-10.5 in the long jump for fourth place overall with Brocard right behind at 14-08.5 for fifth place. In the triple jump, Smith had a great series with her best of the night being 33-01.5 good enough to win the event. Her mark places her No. 2 on the school’s all time list. Brocard hit a near PR 30-05 to place seventh overall in the triple jump.
South Albany won the meet on the girls side followed by West Albany, Lebanon, Central Linn, Harrisburg, Sweet Home, Santiam and Scio.
Boys Results
On the boys side the Huskies had two individual winners. Matt Kragness ran 22.9 in the prelims and 22.8 in the finals to win the 200M dash. Both times are near what he ran at state last year.
Jake Dahlenburg again dominated the pole vault, being the lone vaulter to negotiate the win and cold to clear 12-00.
Keegan Burnett also vaulted well despite less-than-favorable conditions and went 11-00 to place third. Elsewhere in the jumps, Mike Severns went 18-02 in the long jump to place eighth. Jared Allen in the high jump also took eighth with a leap of 5-04.
In the throws, the Husky boys had three placers on the night. Aron van Dijk had two of those places, going 39-02 in the shot put for eighth and then throwing 112-01 in the discus for sixth. In the javelin, Casey Aiello had a near PR 148-00, good enough for fourth place.
On the track, we had some really good competitive performances, Coach Snow said. The short relay team of Mike Severns, Justin Temple, Jared Allen and Matt Kragness ran a season best 45.2 despite two hand-offs that lost a bit of time. In the 1500M, Nick Graves and Chris Burford both placed, with Nick in fifth in a near season PR of 4:35.1 and Burford catching a PR in 4:48.5 for eighth.
In the sprints, Severns beat some runners ranked ahead of him to place seventh overall, running 11.8 in the prelims and 11.9 in the finals. Casey Baarson cut a second off his 400M season PR with a time of 57.7 in the 200M. David Burford dropped a second off his season best at 26.1.
In the 800M, Justin Temple tied his season best of 2:07.3 to take fourth. In the 3000M, John Lovik (10:18.7) and Richard Westvik (10:59.2) both had season bests with Lovik placing fifth overall.
In a very exciting home stretch, Jared Allen finished a close second in the 300M hurdles in 42.0. This time puts Allen No. 8 in school history and No. 3 on the junior list.
Calendar: The Husky boys will compete at Stayton and the girls at Cascade during the annual meet of Champions. The girls meet starts at 11:30 a.m. and the boys start at 1:30 p.m.