Scott Swanson
Four Sweet Home track and field athletes qualified last weekend for the Oregon Division 4 track and field championships this Friday and Saturday, May 21-22 at Siuslaw High School in Florence.
Huskies Coach Nathan Whitfield said his team had a “great day” at the meet at Stayton High School, with ” a lot of PR’s all weekend,” as the boys placed third and the girls fourth in the team standings.
It was that way across the board, as athletes from throughout the district finished up their six-week season – about half the length of a normal year – with a flurry of personal bests.
The meet was held over two days, but there were no preliminaries in the track events and Day 1 was largely the field championships and Day 2, Saturday, was devoted to track. Athletes ran in seeded heats in the track events and the top eight finishers scored in each.
Seniors Tristan Calkins and Shelbey Nichol, and sophomore Mason Lopez came away with district championships, Nichol in the triple jump, Calkins in the long jump and Lopez in the javelin.
Sweet Home qualified “just about everyone we wanted to get through,” Whitfield said. He was hoping his girls short relay team would qualify as a wildcard entry after the Huskies finished a tenth of a second behind second-place Philomath, despite a bad handoff. But as of Monday, only one wildcard had been added to the 12 teams that qualified by placing first or second in their districts. Sweet Home’s finish was faster than two of those.
In addition to the district titles, Calkins qualified in the 100 and the 200, and Nichol in the shot. Senior Jessy Hart made it in to state in the 200 and 400.
Hart and Calkins both made state as sophomores, Calkins taking second in the long jump in 2019 and Hart finishing seventh in the 400.
Calkins had not bettered the jump of 22-3 he posted as a sophomore in three outings this season, but he posted a PR of 22-5½ to win at Stayton over Newport’s Larell Covington and Payton Cunningham, who were ranked ahead of him coming into the district meet, and who are the top three ranked in the long jump going into state.
“Mainly for me, it was nerves and stuff,” Calkins said after his win. “Honestly, I just kind of said, ‘Who cares, this is my senior year, just have fun, and having fun I just went out and competed and got a lifetime PR of 22-5.
“It’s good to also have great competition because, with COVID and the short season, there hasn’t been as much competition. It’s great to have everybody at one meet, as well.”
Hart said she was “kind of surprised” by her finish of 26.90 in the 200 after running a 29.11 in her only other race at that distance this season, in which she got a late start due to an injury.
“I had no idea where I was going to place going in,” she said. “I was a little nervous.”
She finished behind Cascade senior Emma Gates, who ran 25.35 and was named the girls Athlete of the Meet after winning the 100, 200 and high jump and helping the Cougar girls to a district championship in the 4×400 relay.
In the 400, Hart rand 1:01.88 to finish a step behind Cascade senior Ashley Fraser (1:01.72).
“I was hoping for first, but I was pretty close to that first-place girl, so I think I can get her at state,” Hart said, adding that she’d like to break 60 seconds in the event. “That’s my goal – whatever place that gets me.”
Nichol was clearly delighted to make state in two events, after making the medal stand as a sophomore in both the shot and the triple, but missing the big one.
She had a big day, PR’ing by over a foot in the shot (35-3) and far surpassing her winning triple jump of 31-5 on close scratches in which she was closer to the 33 mark.
“I definitely feel like I wanted to do better in the triple jump, but I scratched my last three jumps,” she said. “I’m really read for state and excited for the shot put too, because that’s something I’ve been working on for four years and to finally go somewhere with it, it’s a good feeling.”
Lopez, whose previous best in the javelin was 143-2, came up with a monster throw of 153-5 to win the event by 6 feet over his closet competitor, Stayton’s Connor Reidman (147-5).
“I didn’t expect it because, like, my PR is 10 feet under that,” he said. When I threw that I was just supper happy and excited.”
He said the throw “just felt a lot more powerful” than his previous attempts this season.
“It just makes me want to keep going. I’m pretty excited for next year.”
The Huskies posted 30 personal bests over the two days, with at least one for most of their competitors.
Whitfield said he most enjoyed “just watching all the PR’s especially with our young kids just coming out and competing well. They’re doing awesome.”
He noted that Calkins’ long jump series included four leaps over 22 feet, and “Mason Lopez throwing 10 feet further in the javelin and getting first, and Shelbey Nichol had a great day.
“With her triple jump, she has huge jumps still in her that hopefully come out at state, and she had a foot PR in the shot put. Yeah, it was big.”
The state meet will open to spectators at 10:45 a.m. on both Friday and Saturday, May 21-22. Admission is $3 per person and tickets will be on sale at bit.ly/siuslawtickets.
Spectators are asked to vacate the facility when they have seen the event they want to watch, since spectator capacity is limited to 100 people per seating area. Spectators will not be allowed in the infield.
For schools that do not allow overnight stays, athletes who cannot compete in a Friday heat will compete in a preliminary before the timed final on Saturday. Field event athletes who cannot compete on Friday will get three trials on Saturday and if their marks would put them in the top eight, they will be merged to determine the top eight spots. A second heat of the 3000 will be run on Saturday, if necessary.
Boys Results
Team Scores – (1) Sisters 82; (2) Newport 68; (3) Sweet Home 47; (4) Philomath 39; (5) Cascade 29; (6) Stayton 25; (7) Woodburn 22.
Top Three and Sweet Home Results
*Personal Best
100 – (1) Ashton Williams (C) 11.09; (2) Tristan Calkins (SJ) 11.23*; (3) Tomas Veliz (W) 11.39; (9) Charley Crawford (SH) 12.32*; (15) Chase Lopez (SH) 13.21*.
200 – (1) Tristan Calkins (SH) 22.28*; (2) Ashton Williams (C) 22.48; (3) Larell Covington (N) 23.25; (9) Aiden Shamek (SH) 25.83*; (11) Mason Lopez (SH) 26.16*.
400 – (1) Sean Cummings (P) 52.46; (2) Hayden Sharp (Sis) 52.59; (3) Ben Wiese (N) 53.36; (4) Gavin Walberg (SH) 54.19.
800 – (1) Brody Bushnell (P) 1:59.68; (2) Sam May (Sis) 2:00.93; (3) Levi Knutson (P) 2:03.10; (7) Eddy Martinez-Maya (SH) 2:12.04; (8) Nathaniel Coleman (SH) 2:16.09*; (15) Ben Tolman (SH) 2:26.29*.
1500 – (1) Brody Bushnell (P) 4:11.36; (2) Will Thorsett (Sis) 4:12.71; (3) Ben Hernandez (P) 4:15.95; (7) Eddy Martinez-Maya (SH) 4:29.23; (10) Ethan Hurst (SH) 4:45.94*; (11) Nathaniel Coleman (SH) 4:46.06.
3000 – (1) Ethan Hosang (Sis) 9:05.23; (2) Will Thorsett (Sis) 9:05.98; (3) Mateo Candanoza (P) 9:53.26; (8) Ethan Hurst (SH) 10:29.58*.
110 Hurdles – No Sweet Home competitors.
300 Hurdles – No Sweet Home competitors.
4×100 Relay – (1) Cascade 45.11; (2) Woodburn 45.88; (3) Newport 46.13; (4) Sweet Home (Charles Crawford, Mason Lopez, Gavin Walberg, Tristan Calkins) 46.45; (5) Sisters 48.05.
4×400 Relay – (1) Philomath 3:38.77; (2) Cascade 3:40.70; (3) Newport 3:45.01; (4) Woodburn 3:48.94; (5) Sweet Home (Mason Lopez, Ethan Hurst, Nathaniel Coleman, Gavin Walberg) 3:51.53; (6) Sisters 3:53.23; (7) Stayton 4:01.97.
Shot Put – (1) Connor Reidman (S) 43-4; (2) Cole Records (C) 41-6; (3) Charley Crawford (SH) 39-1½; (6) Tanner Waldrop (SH) 36-9½*.
Discus – (1) Noah Daniels (N) 123-1; (2) Payton Cunningham (N) 123-0; (3) Mason Rosenau (C) 115-2; (5) Tanner Waldrop (SH) 114-9; (11) Colby Gazeley (S) 86-1; (14) Jake Fanning (SH) 65-10.
Javelin – (1) Mason Lopez (SH) 153-5*; (2) Connor Reiman (Stay) 147-5; (3) Miguel Gaona (Sis) 132-1; (5) Charley Crawford (SH) 123-11*; (6) Chase Lopez (SH) 117-3.
High Jump – (1) Hayden Sharp (Sis) 6-0; (2) Micah Matthews (P) 5-10; (3) Taine Martin (Sis) 5-10; (9) Paul Amrein (SH) 5-4.
Pole Vault – (1) Micah Matthews (P) 10-6; (2) Collin Fischer (Sis) 10-0; (3) Taine Martin (Sis) 10-0; Paul Amrein (SH) NH.
Long Jump – (1) Tristan Calkins (SH) 22-5½*; (2) Larell Covington (N) 21-5; (3) Payton Cunningham (N) 20-9½; (6) Aiden Shamek (SH) 19-3½*.
Triple Jump – (1) Quintin Travis (N) 40-7½; (2) Carter Anderson (W) 39-5; (3) Colin Fischer (Sis) 38-5l; (6) Aiden Shamek (SH) 37-4; (12) Gavin Walberg (SH) 32-9.
Girls Results
Team Scores – (1) Philomath 82.5; (2) Sisters 69; (3) Newport 47; (4) Sweet Home 35; (5) Cascade 34; (6) Stayton 27.5; (7) Woodburn 17.
Top Three and Sweet Home Results
100 – (1) Emma Gates (C) 12.29; (2) Yahaira Rodriguez (W) 13.36; (3) Vynessa Romero (C) 13.56; (7) Crystal Wolf (SH) 14.03*; (10) Victoria Ferriroli (SH) 14.41*; (16) Kallie Maas (SH) 15.08*.
200 – (1) Emma Gates (C) 25.35; (2) Jessy Hart (SH) 26.90; (3) Ashley Fraser (C) 27.25; (8) Lydia Wright (SH) 29.51; (13) Hailey Green (SH) 31.11.
400 – (1) Ashley Fraser (C) 1:01.72; (2) Jessy Hart (SH) 1:01.88; (3) Cami Oliva (C) 1:03.98; (5) Lydia Wright (SH) 1:07.64*; (10) Ivy Dewitte (SH) 1:10.40*.
800 – (1) Madelynn Mitzel (Stay) 1:29.45; (2) Charlotte Gardner (N) 2:30.40; (3) Ingrid Hellesto (P) 2:34.18; (11) Zianna Duncan (SH) 2:57.25*; (13) Rylee Markell (SH) 2:59.78*; (15) Meeja Bitter (SH) 3:15.01*.
1500 – (1) Aliya Larsen (N) 5:07.67; (2) Pearl Gregg (Sis) 5:11.89; (3) Hope Bridge (Stay) 5:16.73; (9) Rylee Markell (SH) 6:01.54*; (11) Meeja Bitter (SH) 6:35.01*.
3000 – No Sweet Home competitors.
100 Hurdles – (1) Alivia Pittman (P) 16.22; (2) Lucy Roche (C) 17.07; (3) Yahaira Rodriguez (W) 17.29; (7) Crystal Wolf (SH) 20.42*; (11) Meagan Baham (SH) 21.74*.
300 Hurdles – No Sweet Home competitors.
4×100 Relay – (1) Sisters 52.92; (2) Philomath 53.40; (3) Sweet Home (Crystal Wolf, Shelbey Nichol, Victoria Ferrioli, Jessy Hart) 53.50; Cascade disqualified; Newport did not finish.
4×400 Relay – (1) Cascade 4:15.32; (2) Sisters 4:22.74; (3) Philomath 4:26.31; (4) Sweet Home (Shelbey Nichol, Lydia Wright, Ivy Dewitte, Jessy Hart) 4:32.90; (5) Woodburn 4:37.02; (6) Stayton 4:38.42.
Shot Put – (1) Mia Rust (P) 35-10; (2) Shelbey Nichol (SH) 35-3*; (3) Maile Porter (C) 31-0; (6) Angel Cordes (SH) 24-10*; (14) Iris Erickson*(SH) 10-7½.
Discus – (1) Sage Kramer (P) 103-4; (2) Isabelle Fisher (C) 94-6; (3) Mia Rust (P) 91-8; (14) Iris Erickson (SH) 43-4.
Javelin – (1) Erika Schones (N) 118-8; (2) Sage Kramer (P) 111-0; (3) Madelynn Mitzel (Stay) 104-7; (4) Kailey James (SH) 101-8; (6) Natalie Rodgers (SH) 101-1; (7) Jillian Lynn (SH) 98-1.
High Jump – No Sweet Home competitors.
Pole Vault – (1) Amey McDaniel (P) 9-4; (2) Shelby Larson (Sis) 9-4; (3) Emery Boutilier (P) 8-6; (8) Victoria Ferrioli (SH) 7-6.
Long Jump – (1) Hollie Lewis (Sis) 16-8; (2) Anya Shockley (Sis) 15-10; (3) Yahaira Rodriguez (W) 15-4; (6) Crystal Wolf (SH) 14-6; (14) Kallie Maas (SH) 12-3*.
Triple Jump – (1) Shelbey Nichol (SH) 31-5; (2) Sage Kramer (P) 31-3½; (3) Sophia Casarez (Stay) 30-3.