Facing a cross-country field that was largely 5A schools, Sweet Home still managed a fourth-place finish on the girls side and fifth on the boys Wednesday, Oct. 12 at Waterloo Park in Lebanon.
The event, hosted by Lebanon, was held on a flat, fast course and the Huskies took advantage of it.
Nicole Rasmussen ran 20:14.5 for third place in the 84-runner girls race, which combined both varsity and JV runners.
Daniel Danforth was fourth in a field of 122 for the boys. Jakob Hiett was sixth, in 17:41.3, followed by Nick Mattson, 44th in 19:54.5 – a 57-second PR, Ian Wingo, 49th in 20:01.1 – a 29-second PR, and David Johnson, 52nd in 20:07.8 – a 29-second PR, rounded out the scorers for the boys.
“Those three guys that we needed to step up, the ran well,” Coach Billy Snow said of the latter three. “It was a good run for those guys. They moved us closer to Cottage Grove for that second spot.” An analysis based strictly on the 5000-meter times run by various teams during the season puts Sweet Home just eight points (places) behind the Lions at this point in the season.
The top two boys and girls teams in the Sky-Em district championships on Oct. 27 at Lane Community College will qualify for state.
The other finishers for the boys were Ryan Blackwell, 104th in 24:03.5, a 39-sec PR, and Trevor Melson, 120th in 27:31.4, a 57-second PR.
For the girls, behind Rasmussen, Paige Sanders lopped 22 seconds off the PR she set the previous Saturday at Philomath, running 21:24.5 for eighth place.
With two of the “middle” runners on the team. Sarah Wyatt and Trysta Lewelling, out with injuries, Kimber Swanson filled that spot, setting a 22-second PR to finish 39th in 24:08.6.
“I’m real encouraged by what Paige has done in the last two weeks,” Snow said. “And that was a lifetime PR for Kimber. I don’t know that having the missing runners would have moved them up a place, but to do that without their No. 3 (Wiley) – there is a good run.
“I really enjoyed watching the girls go out hard. They weren’t afraid to try.”
Tashana Mithen followed in 59th place (25:23.8, a seven-second PR), AnneMarie Miller was 66th (27:17), Laura Hoy was 74th (27:57) and Candalyn Johnson was 79th (30:28.3, a 1:51 PR in the third time she’s run the distance). Corvallis won the girls competition behind a first-place finish by sophomore Gwyneth McMorris (19:58.61) to score 38 points, followed by Crescent Valley (55), Woodburn (79), Sweet Home (126), North Eugene (130), Willamette (135) and Lebanon (141).
Crescent Valley won the boys race with 25 points, behind a 1-2 finish by Mark Stephens (16:53.88) and Spencer Barrett (17:07.69), followed by Corvallis (84), Woodburn (93), North Eugene (112), Sweet Home (129), Willamette (136) and Lebanon (154).
Next up for the Huskies is the Country Fair Classic Wednesday, Oct. 19, in Veneta. The course is fast and 32 teams, including some of the best in the state, are scheduled to be there. A combined boys-and-girls JV race will start at 3:45 p.m., with the varsity girls following at 4:30 and the varsity boys about 5 p.m.