Sweet Home lacked enough runners to score as a team, but the Huskies opened their season with some good individual times at the Ultimook Race, held Saturday, Sept. 4, at the Hydrangea Ranch in Tillamook.
Junior Jacob Sieminski, who played against Marist in football the previous evening, stayed with the leaders for the first half of the 5K varsity boys race to finish 21st out of 158 competitors, in 18:49.3.
The Ultimook course is notorious for deep mud sloughs, through which runners must battle, and other challenging terrain.
“Jacob did really well,” Coach Kambria Schumacher said. “I was happy to see he was at almost a minute faster than he would have been last spring.”
Aiden Shamek was 98th overall for the boys, in 23:17, while Dakota Seiber finished 143rd, in 28:27.7.
For the girls, sophomore Lydia Wright got her introduction to cross-country on a tough course, but still finished 46th out of 88 competitors, in 25:41.1.
Junior Meeja Bitter was 75th, in 30:41.8.
Schumacher said the two girls were nervous, which might have been a factor in addition to the fact that it was a tough course.
“Regardless of her lack of experience, Lydia did really well,” Shumacher said. “She’ll definitely improve a lot by the end of the season. “Meeja was pretty nervous and she didn’t run super well.”
The Huskies will run Saturday at Stayton.