Huskies blessed with biggest turnout in years for track season

Scott Swanson

If numbers are any indication, Sweet Home track and field could be off to a good start.

Head Coach Nathan Whitfield boasted 62 teens on his roster as of Friday, March 11, which is a lot more than he was anticipating two weeks ago when he had 38.

“We ended up with pretty good numbers,” he said. “I was hoping for around 50 and we ended up with 60. I’ll 100% take that.”

Track, like a number of other sports at Sweet Home – especially those that don’t offer off-season competition and club options – suffered during the COVID-19 shutdown, which came literally as the 2020 season was ready to kick off, causing this year’s juniors and seniors to essentially miss a year of training and competition.

OSAA permitted a short six-week season last spring, which was better than nothing, but didn’t give athletes a chance to mature in their events, as then-senior Jessy Hart, who finished second at state last year, pointed out. It didn’t allow her to get in the kind of shape she had as a freshman and sophomore, particularly mentally. But her previous experience helped, she said.

” I feel pretty good, actually, just because I’ve had those two years before this. So I know what’s going on,” she told The New Era after her state performances.

Still, it was enough for now-junior Mason Lopez to figure out the javelin. He placed sixth at state in the event as a sophomore.

“We have a lot of good, athletic kids on the boys side,” Whitfield said. “I just don’t know where they will all fit in yet. We’ve got talent. We just have to figure out where that talent needs to go to be most competitive.”

Also back is senior Aiden Shamek, who placed sixth at districts in the long jump (19-3½) as teammate Tristan Caulkins won that event, then went on to claim the state title. The Sweet Home boys didn’t compete in the triple jump at districts, but Whitfield said Shamek could factor in that event.

“Aiden and Mason are both very versatile. We could put them in a lot of different places,” he said.

Shamek also has sprinter’s speed and ran cross-country last fall, which likely helped with his endurance.

“We could put him in just about any race we wanted to,” Whitfield said.

Also back for the boys are throwers Tanner Waldrop and Charlie Crawford, both of whom placed at districts last year as juniors, Crawford third in the shot and fifth in the javelin, and Waldrop fifth in discus.

On the girls side, Hart and Shelbey Nichol are both gone to graduation, after placing at state last year, but Whitfield is enthusiastic about his young talent.

“We have some good senior leaders. I’m actually really excited. We have a ton of great kids, probably one of better groups I’ve had. They’re not just great kids, but really talented – a lot of young depth, especially on the girls side.”

One of the up-and-comers will likely be sophomore Lydia Wright, who led a group of talented freshmen last year. Wright took fifth in the district 400 (1:07.64) and ran cross-country last fall, gutting it out as the team’s only girl for most of the season.

“I think, with the girls, with the speed we have, we’ll be pretty competitive on the track,” Whitfield said. “Our sophomore girls are looking pretty good. We have a supporting cast in the pole vault and the long jump.”

The vault was not a strong event for the Huskies last year, but senior Victoria Ferrioli, an East Linn Christian Academy transfer, vaulted 7-6 as a freshman and went 13-9 in the long jump, as well as running 29:57 in the 200 and 1:15.61 in the 400. Ferrioli did not compete much for Sweet Home in 2021, but Whitfield expects her to contribute this year.

“She is chasing our school record,” he said, adding that senior Mercedes Burks, who made significant progress in the event as a sophomore but did not compete last year, is returning as well.

The COVID shutdown “didn’t help development,” he said, but Whitfield attributes that to this year’s turnout, as many of the freshmen had no opportunity to participate in track at all in junior high.

“I think it helped the numbers. They’re all excited to do it, especially those freshmen,” he said. “I think with this group we can be competitive for the next few years.”

Assisting Whitfield are Chris Carpenter (jumps), Josie Macklin (sprints), Sam Macklin (sprints), Ramiro Santana (sprints and relays), Andy Waldrop (throws) and Randy Whitfield (throws), all Sweet Home alums. Dave Martin, who led the Husky cross-country program from 1985 through 2000, is returning to handle the distance crew, which, according to Martin, is “more promising all the time.”

“I think I’m up to 12 or 13 kids who are going to be with me most of the time,” he said.

Sophomores Ivy Dewitte and Riley Markell “are looking really good” on the girls side, and for the boys, senior Nate Coleman is also starting strong, along with freshman Kasey Kast.

Rounding out the team thus far this season are Deacon Bachand, Jackson Barringer, Payton Brookfield, Tierney Clarno, Harmony Davis, Zianna Duncan, Arielle Erickson, Iris Erickson, Rickey Erickson, Abygail Foss, Gavin Gardner, Colby Gazeley, Emilio Grajiola, Jon Hart, Kami Hart, Ryker Hartsook, Carter Hay, Alex Jacob, Taevon James, Evan Jensen, BlakeLee Jewell, Max Klumph, Natiyah Koenig Walters, Tyler Lemmer, Tristan Lemmer, Peyton Lindsey, Madison Lytle, Kallie Maas, Kaylynn Mamac, Peyton Markell, Jess Martineau, Eddie Martinez-Maya, Jenaya McElhinny, Cooper McKinnon, Jayce Miller, Konner Olson, Samantha Pineda Villa, Beatrice Reeve, Stephanie Saultz, Colton Savri, Isabel Sayer, Boden Sayer, Dakota Seiber, Dylan Sharp, Kyle Sieminski, Tomas Stafford, Conner Stevens, Amelia Sullens, Ben Tolman, Gracie Vaughn and Elijah Vincent.

The Huskies open the season Thursday, March 17, at the Tri-County Ice-Breaker, hosted by Junction City, followed by the Summit Decathlon-Heptathlon the following two days for any athletes that want to test their overall abilities.

Their first home meet will be April 7, when they host Newport. Sweet Home will co-host the Meet of Champions with Cascade on April 23 and, for the first time since 2010, will host the Oregon West Championships May 13-14.

“Our facilities are now nice enough that we can support a meet like that, which is what I like,” Whitfield said. “We get to showcase (Husky Field), make it look the best we possibly can.”

Whitfield expects Cascade to be the team to beat on the girls side, as the Cougars are led by senior Emma Gates, who won individual state titles in the 100, 200 and the high jump, and was a member of the 4×400 state championship relay team last spring.

“She’s No. 5 in the nation in the high jump,” Whitfield said. “She’s a stud.”

On the boys side, “it’s tough to gauge,” he said. “Everybody was so young last year.”

Including the Huskies. In fact, coaches put the prospective athletes through a “mini modified decathlon” during the first days of practice “just to get a basic idea of where they should be.”

“A lot of these kids have no clue,” Whitfield said. “They just want to do track. So we are trying to at least get a rough idea of where they fit in.”

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