Hannah McClaskey and Tim Faulconer were named the Most Valuable Players for the girls and boys track and field teams at the teams’ annual awards dessert June 1 at Community Chapel.
McClaskey, a junior who regularly competed for the Huskies in three throwing events – the shot, discus and javelin – was also the girls’ top points scorer, said Coach Billy Snow.
“Hannah makes the program better,” Snow said. “She was competitive in all three throwing events.”
Faulconer, a senior, regularly competed in the 100, 200 and 400 and the relays for Sweet Home.
“He is the type of person you want to build your program around, ” said Assistant Coach Aaron Cloud. “He will do what you ask him to.”
The Will to Win Award went to Alex Brown and Heather Swanson, both seniors. Cloud said Swanson had to battle for her third straight trip to state in the hurdles, thanks to some serious competition from a Stayton runner. Brown, though smaller than most of his competitors in the javelin, still managed the only first-place finish at district for the Huskies this year.
The Newcomer Award went to Brandon Weist, who missed a medal in the triple jump at the state games by less than a foot. This was his first year in track for Wiest, a junior.
Hustle Award winners were Ole Bond and Ramiro Santana for the boys and Amanda Basham and Cassandra Schumacher for the girls.
The Coaches Award went to KC Hanscam, who was the team’s leading pole vaulter this year, and Ashley Danielson, who contributed significantly in the girls 800 and in the javelin.
Snow recapped the season, noting that this year’s team lacked depth, thanks in part to the number of students who dropped out from what was a “decent” turnout at the beginning of the season.
“Things started coming together at Spring Break,” he said. “We asked kids to try some different things.”
Snow said the Huskies turned the corner at the district meet, when virtually every time on the track was a personal record. On the field, he said, over half of his athletes registered PR’s. The boys ended up scoring 20 points more than they were expected to. Six Huskies ended up qualifying for the state meet: Schumacher, Swanson, Brown, Weist, Bond and Jess Keys.
Swanson was the lone four-year varsity letter awardee.
Three-year varsity letter winners were Bond, Peter VanDerlip, Jessica Trautman, Nathan Whitfield, McClaskey and Erika Snow.
Second-year varsity letters went to Kambria Schumacher, Cassandra Schumacher, Sarah Rosa, Megan Hershberger, Ashley Danielson, Ashley Bertucci, Basham, Faulconer, Brown, Keys and Ramiro Santana.
First-year varsity letters went to Rob Callagen, Marc Callagen, Marcus DeLong, Brandon Elliott, Kelsey Fisher, Land Florek, Hanscam, Cody Shipp, Jake Smith, Isaac Villarreal, Weist and Nic Wirth.