A summer of diligent training delivered dividends for Sweet Home’s cross-country runners Saturday, Sept. 6, at the Ultimook Race in Tillamook.
Although the Huskies did not field full teams in some races, “we had multiple really good races,” Coach Dave Martin said.
Two years ago, Martin took a team of freshmen and sophomores and a few junior high runners to the Ultimook meet, which is true cross-country – it features a deep mud pit that runners have to negotiate as well as two river crossings, which means it is not a fast course.
That’s why Martin was excited by what he saw from his athletes.
“Besides kids who’d never run a 5K (3.1 miles) before, on the boys side we had four boys who ran faster than they had ever run last year, and we had four other runners, three boys and one girl, who had the second-fastest time of their career.
One of those was senior McKenzie Miller, who was the girls’ top finisher, seventh in 19:52.30 among 206 runners in the varsity girls race. Sophomore Emma Whitton was ninth in 20:13, freshman Cassie Spencer was 43rd in 22:40.70 and senior Annabelle Morris was 170th in 27:45.50.
Philomath’s Cassidy Smart won the race in 19:08.10.
Miller ran the Ultimook in 22:05 and last year ran the much faster Northwest Classic course in a PR of 19:43.
Whitton and Spencer both competed in the 3K as junior high runners.
In the boys varsity race, the Huskies fielded seven runners, which gave them the five runners needed to score as a team, finishing ninth out of 29 teams.
They were led by junior Ryker Burr, who was 33rd out of 243 runners in 18:17.50.
Behind him were sophomore Acen Webber (55th,19:05.40), freshman Elijah Rodgriguez (59th, 19:12), junior Conner Spencer (67th, 19:19.20), sophomore Evan Knight (68th, 19:19.70), sophomore Louis Kistner (125th, 21:04.70) and freshman Hudson Ogden (120th, 21:07.20).
Burr ran 21:38.54 on the same course as a freshman two years ago and Spencer ran 23:37.66.
“The thing that stood out to me most was that our second through fifth boys – Acen, Elijah, Conner and Evan – there were 14 seconds between those guys. That’s team running I haven’t had at that level, that fast. Our fifth guy Saturday was faster than our third-fastest runner last year, and this is Week 1.”
Fountain Valley, from Southern California, was the top boys team with 110 points, with (2) Union of Vancouver, Wash. second in 122. Cottage Grove was fourth (151), Stayton sixth (189) and Sweet Home ninth (249).
Freshman Pyper Hall led the junior varsity girls with a 26th-place finish in a field of 118, running 25:45.10 in her first high school 5K race. Sophomore Madison Ciullo was 36th for Sweet Home in 26:29.10, followed by senior Delainie Pratt, 67th in 29:02.10 (she was 30:05 on the same course as a sophomore), senior McKenzie Ohlheiser (73rd, 29:49.50) and freshman Lexi Lee (94th, 33:37.70).
“I really thought Cassie had a standout race,” Martin said. “She ran really smart, really tough, right where I thought she was capable of running.
“Pyper Hall ran a phenomenal race, almost as fast as some of our varsity girls did in setting PRs last year. And this was her first 5K. I’m so pleased with her progress. She’s so improved, so much stronger. She’s running with so much confidence.”
Sophomore Noah Strawn led the JV boys, finishing 73rd in a field of 249 runners in 21:55.30, followed by Wes Goff (74th, 21:56.40); freshman Ryder Farris (119th, 23:12.70) and sophomore Eli Adams, 195th in 27.34.90.
Sweet Home’s middle school-aged runners, who compete at a club level, also ran well.
The middle school 3000-meter race competition was dominated by running clubs – Whisper Running of Vancouver, Bowerman Running Club of Portland and Timberhill Harriers of Corvallis.
Finishing first for the Sweet Home boys was Walker Farris, a fifth-grader, who ran 14:04 to finish 60th, just ahead of his brother Wiley Farris, an eighth-grader, who ran 14:10.60. Eighth-grader Xander Davis was 145th in the field of 154 runners, in 18:54.30. It was the first cross-country race for all three.
In the girls middle school race, eighth-grader Emma Davis finished 80th in 17:28.20 in the field of 119, in her first cross-country race.
Up next for the Huskies is the Oregon City Invitational Saturday, Sept. 11, at Clackamas Community College, where they will see more than 30 teams, including some of the big players at the 5A and 6A division level.