With the district meet 2 1/2 weeks away, Sweet Home sent some of its more advanced track and field athletes to the Centennial Invitational in Gresham Saturday to get a second tough competition under their belts.
After the Meet of Champions on April 18, Coach Billy Snow said the chance to face the cream of the crop from many 6A, 5A, 4A and a few smaller schools, along with teams from Washington and California, would benefit the Huskies.
That was after Dakotah Keys broke his own school record in the pole vault on April 21 at Philomath, leaping 15-3
Though the weather at Centennial was poor, with strong winds, “it was good for them to see different competition,” Snow said of his team. “They ran it a lot like the state meet €“ the coaches weren’t allowed on the field, and that sort of thing. Those little things will pay off at districts.
With several of Sweet Home’s top athletes unable to compete because of prior commitments, including a choir trip to Seattle, the Huskies still did well, Snow said. The boys were fifth out of 39 teams, with 30 points, as Mead of Washington dominated the competition with 102 points. In the girls competition, Columbia River and Mead tied at 60 points, with Sweet Home 25th as the Huskies scored nine points.
Those came from Annie Whitfield’s fifth-place finish in the javelin with a throw of 118-0, and Jenny Hamn’s fourth-place finish in the shot put, with a one-foot PR of 35-9 3/4.
The boys got big points from Sam Macklin, third in the 100 with a near-PR of 11.45, and Keys’ win in the long jump (21- 7) and third-place finish in the 110 hurdles, in which he was second until he hit the final hurdle, Snow said. The 4×100 relay team of Tim McDowell, Nick Hall, Macklin and Keys took second in 44.60, winning their heat but losing to Skyview of Washington, which ran 44.34 in a different heat.
“If we had had a full complement of guys, we probably would have been third,” he said. “We were missing Robbie (Callagan), Marc (Callagan) and Alex (Santana). I felt pretty good about us and how our kids were competing.
Other PRs were established by Jessica Snow in the 400 (66.31), Josh Ward in the shot (36-06 1/2) and James Myers in the pole vault (13-0).
The Huskies will be back in action against league rival Central Thursday, April 30, in their last home meet of the season, which starts at 4 p.m.
Centennial Invitational
Sweet Home Finishers
Boys
All Times Automatic
100 €“ (3) Sam Macklin 11.45
200 €“ (29) Sean Potter 25.89
400 €“ (16) Nick Hall 53.59
1500 €“ (35) Byron Sanders 4:35.63
3000 €“ (36) Chris Thompson 11:17.42
110 Hurdles €“ (3) Dakotah Keys 15.20; (10) Jake Comstock 15.83.
300 Hurdles €“ (17) Jake Comstock 43.21
4×100 Relay €“ (2) Sweet Home (Tim McDowell, Nick Hall, Sam Macklin, Dakotah Keys) 44.60
Shot Put €“ (39) Josh Ward 36-06 1/2
Discus €“ (44) Josh Ward 95-09
High Jump €“ (12) Tim McDowell 5-11
Pole Vault €“ (9) James Myers 13-00
Long Jump €“ (1) Dakotah Keys 21-07
Triple Jump