Sweet Home’s cross-country boys placed first in the team competition at the Stayton Invitational held Saturday, March 13, at Stayton Middle School.
The girls were third.
Coach Kambria Schumacher said the Huskies, most of whom haven’t had the weeks of conditioning that normally goes into a high school cross-country season, “did better than I thought they would.”
She said she’s been working the team hard in practice and they were running tired.
Sophomore Jake Sieminski, who is new to cross-country, finished first for Sweet Home, third overall, in 19:23 over the 5K course.
Nate Coleman was fourth, in 19:28, followed by Ethan Hurst in eighth (19:59), Treyson Smith in 10th (20:17), Gavin Walberg in 14th (20:50) and Aiden Shamek 18th (21:18).
Senior Trace Marler rounded out the scorers for Sweet Home, running 25:34. Sophomore Dakota Seiber finished in 29:45.
“Jake Sieminski, finishing first for our team, did well and Nate Coleman had a really good race,” Schumacher said, noting that Coleman has been a late bloomer in previous seasons.
“He usually doesn’t come around till later, but he did mileage before the season and that helped him out a lot.”
Sweet Home’s boys finished with 38 points, ahead of Stayton (44), Woodburn (71), Harrisburg (119), Cascade (122), Scio (160) and Regis (190).
Brendon Del Grande of Stayton finished first overall, in 19:08, followed by Angel Marquez of Woodburn (19:13).
For the girls, senior Jessy Hart finished eighth overall (23:41) to lead the Huskies, followed by Sicily Neuschwander (27:13, 20th overall), Maren Weld (27:44, 22nd), Meeja Bitter (27:54, 24th) and Summer Hicks (29:35, 33rd).
They scored 68 points for third, behind Stayton (36) and Estacada (62), and ahead of Regis (74) and Cascade (94).
Saturday, Sweet Home will host the Husky Invitational starting at 9:30 a.m., with runners from 15 high schools and 12 middle school teams expected to compete in five waves. Boys and girls will run together.
Volunteers are needed. To volunteer, contact the Athletic Department at (541) 367-7629.