Sweet Home’s girls track and field team finished second behind Newport at the Junction City Invite Saturday, a meet that featured some of the teams that likely will be competitors at the state level this year.
Led by wins from Annie Whitfield in the javelin, Olivia Johnson in the 3000, Brandi Trewin in the high jump and Maria Kropf in the 100 hurdles, the Huskies scored 693 points to Newport’s 833 in the meet, which permitted only three entrants per team in each event.
On the boys side, the Huskies finished third, with 629.5 points, behind Central (649.5) and Newport (631.5). The boys got wins from Nick Hall in the 400 and the 300 hurdles, the 4×100 relay, Jake Johnson in the discus, and Zach Jackson in the javelin.
Coach Billy Snow said he was pleased with the Huskies’ performance, noting that they had just competed in another track meet in Cottage Grove Thursday afternoon and many athletes weren’t competing in their primary events because coaches wanted to qualify them for the Meet of Champions on April 16. Also, Sweet Home was missing key athletes Chris Carpenter, Lorenzo Virgen and Devyn Makin, and, because of the fatigue factor, only one Sweet Home athlete, Whitfield, competed in four events, and then she was only entered in the high jump to clear a height to get the Huskies some extra points.
Then there was the weather – normal for the Junction City meet – which featured a stiff west wind, hail, rain and lightning, which forced a 30-minute OSAA-mandated delay.
“We were happy,” Snow said. “We were surprised we finished as high as we did. We knew we hadn’t loaded up completely.
“Central is loaded again and Newport has a lot of speed. Speed is what works in track and field. We saw that coming last year.”
The distance runners had a good day, he said. Senior Olivia Johnson wore Stayton’s Carissa Hill down to win the girls 3000 in a 16-second personal best – 11.09.72. Then sophomore Daniel Danforth attached himself to Newport’s Theo Puentes in the boys 3000 and held on to place second in 9:42.05 – the fifth-fastest time in the state and a 13-second PR.
“Daniel had a great race,” Snow said. “For him to go out there and run with a kid he’s never run with before, that was pretty impressive.”
He said Johnson “had somebody to run with, for a change. (Hill) pulled her to a good race,” Snow said. “(Johnson) ran a really smart race out there – she had all her splits written on her arm. “
He noted that Paige Sanders, who finished fourth in 12:15.08, “had a great race. She ran that by herself, basically. I think she would have run a lot faster if she’d had somebody running ahead of her.”
The boys turned in good performances in the relays and the throws, he said, particularly with Alex Coakley standing in for Carpenter in the short relay.
In the discus, Donald Rinehart cracked the 100-foot barrier with a throw of 110-03, a 10-foot PR, and Johnson added 10 feet to his personal best to hit 130-1.
In the girls triple jump, Sarah Hawkins took third with a PR of more than a foot to jump 30-2.
“Sarah had all her marks on the board – I think that was the first time ever,” Snow said. “
The Huskies have been hindered by bad weather in events like the pole vault, in which they have had only four actual practices thus far.
“I wish the weather would turn nice so we could actually practice,” Snow said, noting that one Husky vaulter was holding his pole backwards Saturday. “We need to do some plant drills and stuff.”
He said he was happy to get some new track athletes some action in the meet.
“They’re coming along. We have a lot of work to do.”
The Huskies will host La Pine and Sisters Thursday at 4 p.m., then travel to Sisters Tuesday, April 12, for a four-way meet with La Pine and Junction City.
At Cottage Grove, along with a sweep by all four relay teams, and what Snow called a “heck of a race” in the girls 100 from Jessika Stewart, who won in 13.73, the Huskies also got a 20-foot PR in the discus from freshman Sadie Gordon, who took second with a throw of 82-1.
“The underclassmen and new kids stepped in and said ‘I’ll do this,’” Snow said. “Though their marks and times are not the greatest yet, their willingness is way bigger than a mark or time. If you’re willing to take a chance, there’s a lot of good that can happen.”
Junction City Invite
Boys Results
Top 3 and Sweet Home Finishers
Team Scores: (1) Central 649.5; (2) Newport 631.5; (3) Sweet Home 629.5; (4) Elmira 581; (5) Stayton 506.5; (6) Siuslaw 486.5; (7) Junction City 452; (8) Toledo 438.5.
100 – (1) Garrett Lewellen (E) 11.98; (2) Ryan Silwones (N) 12.08; (3) Conner Gibson (JC) 12.15; (6) Alex Coakley (SH) 12.43; (16) Tony Ramirez (SH) 13.13.
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