Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
It had been six long years since Sweet Home last sent a boys cross-country team to the state meet, and when the Huskies ran their final race this year, at Lane Community College Saturday, they made it count.
Sweet Home placed 11th out of 14 teams, but the Huskies beat league rival Philomath, which won the district meet a week before, in the process, 261-264.
“At the beginning of the season, our goal was to go to state,” said Peter Vanderlip, one of three seniors who led the team this year. “We did it.”
“It was definitely worth it, said Jess Keys, a senior who led the Huskies for most of the year. “It was better competition than other meets. It was definitely an adrenaline high.”
Keys was the top finisher for Sweet Home, in 34th place in the team scoring out of 126 runners, running 17:49 on a course that Coach Billy Snow said was a bit slow.
“I did not feel good for the first mile at all,” Keys said. “After that, I started passing people who beat me at districts. That was fun.”
Senior Jake Smith was second for Sweet Home (49th place, 18:00), followed by VanDerlip, another senior, (56th, 18:11), junior Ramiro Santana (59th, 18:14) and sophomore Robert Callagan (64th, 18:24) as the Huskies’ five scorers. Junior Land Florek, finishing his first season of cross-country, was 73rd (18:43) and junior Dallin Holden finished 85th (19:09).
“It was a slow course, very challenging,” said VanDerlip, who indicated he wasn’t feeling well. “We tried to stay as a group, to work as a team.”
Snow said the boys ran well and they accomplished their primary goal – beating Philomath.
“For all those guys it was their first time there,” he said. “They’ve never run in a race like that before.”
Snow said he hoped the Huskies could crack the top 10, but they came close.
“They ran really good – this was the smallest gap we’ve had all year long (between the fastest and slowest runners),” he said of his team. “We had two or three PRs and we were only five points out of 10th place, which in a race that big means we only needed a few runners to move up one or two places. We didn’t have the firepower to move up as a team.”
Senior Darrick Waugh of Henley outkicked North Bend junior Spenser Lynass in the final 100 meters to win the individual championship by two seconds in 16:11. Sophomore Elliott Jantzer of Phoenix was a close third in 16:16.
Cassandra Schumacher and Ashley Danielson ran as individuals in the girls race. Schumacher, a senior, placed 15th in 20:21 and Danielson, a junior making her first trip to state, finished 77nd in 22:57.
Snow noted that Schumacher bettered her time from last year, over the same course, when she ran 21:16 in the mud.
“I was hoping for a top-20 finish and she got 15th,” he said.
“Ashley, it was the first time she’s been there and she did well in the middle of the pack.”
Linsie Michels of Cascade took the lead from Hayley Belli of Philomath in the third mile and held on to win in 19:02, 11 seconds ahead of Belli. Junior Lauren Loutzenhiser of Molalla was third in 19:25.
Snow said the future looks promising for the Husky boys in particular.
“We’ve got a good core to work with next year,” he said. “As I told the young kids on the bus, ‘let’s make this a habit.'”
4A State Cross-Country
Championships
Boys Team Results
1. North Bend, 76; 2. Estacada, 84; 3. Marist, 88; 4. La Salle, 106; 5. Henley, 132; 6. Hidden Valley, 152; 7. Cottage Grove, 164; 8. Siuslaw, 168; 9. Scappoose, 237; 10. Tillamook, 256; 11. Sweet Home, 261; 12. Philomath, 264; 13. La Grande, 296; 14. Baker, 354.
Girls Team Results
1. Siuslaw, 50; 2. Molalla, 66; 3. Marist, 130; 4. Hidden Valley, 139; 5. Sisters, 200; 6. Illinois Valley, 200; 7. North Bend, 210; 8. La Grande, 210; 9. Scappoose, 219; 10. La Salle, 221; 11. Newport, 234; 12. Philomath, 264; 13. Baker, 313; 14. Astoria, 313.