Sweet Home’s cross-country runners got a pretty good sense of how they match up against the rest of the league last week at their final pre-district race of the season, the Country Fair Classic in Veneta.
The event, hosted by Elmira at the Oregon Country Fair grounds, is one of the fastest courses in the state and produced personal-best times for all by one of the Husky boys and several girls.
“We had every single guy post a lifetime PR except for Issac (Justham),” Coach Andrew “Keebler” Allen said. “The JV boys had a great race. Thirty-second PR’s were normal.”
Jakob Hiett, whose time of 15:36 placed him among the top eight runners in the state – in all classifications – finished a close third behind Reilly Bloomer of South Eugene (15:17) and Jackson Mestler of Sheldon (15:35).
“That was a lifetime PR for Jakob,” Allen said. “The two guys who beat him were 6A.”
On the girls side, Kayleen Keeney and freshman Bethany Gingerich both broke the 22-minute mark for the first time, running 21:34 and 21:47 respectively.
The boys team, though, finished behind Elmira and Junction City, but Allen said the Huskies were closer to the others when conference team finishes in the race are calculated. He said each of the Huskies behind Hiett need to pass a couple of conference opponents at the district race this Thursday at Lane Community College.
“They are within range,” he said. “If they want to go to state, they need to pass people. Elmira’s the favorite, but even Elmira is not untouchable. It’s really going to come down to the fourth and fifth guys.”
On the girls side, Keeney ran very well Allen said, and Gingerich likely would have finished even faster if she hadn’t had a bout of asthma midway through the race.
“Maria (Daniels) and Kanon (Nakamura) had a great race,” he said. “We have a gutsy team. Even those who were hurting ran hard. Bethany and Sierra (Swanson) and Dana (Hiett) all came across the line and collapsed from exhaustion. No matter how bad they feel, they run hard and they run tough. That’s kind of what you want to see. They gave it their all; they didn’t quit.”
The Husky girls have been decimated by injuries this year, some not related to cross-country, and Sweet Home is lacking the depth it needs to be able to threaten for a fourth straight trip to state, as Sutherlin has joined the league with a wealth of young talent and Junction City has upped its game with new runners and some soccer players who are doubling up.
“We have kind of a banged-up squad this season,” Allen said. He said the girls could get fourth as a team in the league if they run well, but Keeney and Gingerich could theoretically qualify as individuals if they can finish among the top five runners.
The league championships will begin at 2 p.m. Thursday with the girls varsity race, followed by the boys varsity at 2:30, and a combined boys and girls junior varsity race at 3.
Country Fair Classic Results
Boys Team Results – (1) Sheldon 57; (2) South Eugene 59; (3) Marist 107; (4) Roseburg 159; (5) Marshfield 168; (6) North Bend 201; (7) Springfield 215; (8) Philomath 221; (9) Elmira 308; (10) North Eugene 309; (11) Pleasant Hill 322; (12) Newport 338; (13) Junction City 360; (14) Bandon 378; (15) Sweet Home 403; (16) Churchill 465; (17) Cascade 478; (18) Stayton 499; (19) Oakland 525; (21) Willamette 540; (22) Creswell 551; (23) Estacadaa 576; (23) Cottage Grove 667; (25) Sutherlin 709.
Boys Results Top 3 and Sky-Em Finishers
(1) Reilly Bloomer (South Eugene) 15:17.00; (2) Jackson Mestler (Sheldon) 15:35.00; (3) Jakob Hiett (SH) 15:36.00; (27) Gannon Jones (Elmira) 16:52.00; (37) Morgan McAdams (Junction City) 17:06.00; (40) Ridge Lemieux (JC) 17:09.60; (41) Ben Douthit (E) 17:10.40; (65) Trey Reed (SH) 17:39.00; (73) Shane Orme (E) 17:52.00; (74) Pete Frazee (JC) 17:56.10; (81) Austin Smith (E) 18:09.00; (91) Issac Justham (SH) 18:26.00; (99) Adam Najera (Cottage Grove) 18:33.00; (100) Ben Swancutt (JC) 18:34.00; (108) Carson Bain (E) 18:42.00; (113) Julian Hesberg (SH) 18:52.00; (115) Cody Wolkersdorfer (E) 19:00.00; (135) Blaine Loftis (E) 19:25.70; (136) Levi Hanson (E) 19:26.00; (137) Ethan Agnes (E) 198:27.00; (138) Joseph Rasmussen (SH) 19:28.00; (144) Ryan Parker (JC) 19:41.00; (148) Zach Bodi (JC) 19:47.30; (150) Haeden Rauh (Suth) 19:48.40; (154) Jarett Raade (CG) 19:55.00; (165) Noah Taraski (SH) 20:04.90; (167) Tristan Allen (Suth) 20:08.60; (169) Jasper Kamerer (E) 20:12.00; (176) Matthew Black (Suth) 20:34.00; (178) Kendrick Murphy (CG) 20:41.00; (179) Michael Tharpe (CG) 20:47.00; (180) Allen Cuilla (SH) 21:01.00; (185) Wyatt Keady (Suth) 21:09.00; (190) Max Gause (CG) 21:40.00; (191) Chad Bottorff (CG) 22:04.00; (192) Nelson Rodgers (SH) 22:15.00; (196) Santiago Gause (CG) 22:58.00.
Sweet Home JV results
(123) Adam Barber (SH) 22:23.70; (150) Jun Kaneyama 24:12.00; (154) Jake Hindmarsh 24:31.00.
Girls Team Results – (1) South Eugene 31; (2) Sheldon 72; (3) Marist 106; (4) Philomath 134; (5) Bandon 153; (6) Roseburg 227; (7) Estacada 262; (8) North Bend 263; (9) North Eugene 278; (10) Sutherlin 297; (11) Churchill 313; (12) Marshfield 342; (13) Cascade 359; (14) Junction City 367; (15) Pleasant Hill 375; (16) Elmira 416; (17) Sweet Home 448; (18) Crow 455; (19) Oakland 479; (20) Stayton 510; (21) Cottage Grove 556; (22) Creswell 563.
Top 3 and Sky-Em Finishers
(1) Sara Tsai (South Eugene) 17:37.00; (2) Gracie Todd (Sheldon) 17:57.00; (3) Olivia Powell (Marist) 18:06.00; (36) Camerin Feagins (Sutherlin) 20:51.00; (42) Evelyn Tedrick (Junction City) 21:04.00; (43) Brittany Hanson (Sutherlin) 21:04.80; (52) Kayleen Keeney (SH) 21:34.00; (53) Sydney Thielman (JC) 21:35.10; (62) Bethany Gingerich (SH) 21:47.00; (70) Morgan Craig (Elmira) 22.01.00; (86) Vanessa Crite (Suth) 22:22.60; (88) Shayla Solomon (JC) 22:25.00; (93) Millie Carpenter (E) 22:34.00; (95) Emma Matteo (Suth) 22:49.00; (96) Abril Leal-Coronel (Cottage Grove) 22:49.00; (98) Katelyn Godon (Suth) 22:53.00; (106) Myckenzie Moore (E) 23:15.00; (108) Sierra Swanson (SH) 23:27.00; (109) Miranda Harrison (E) 23:20.00; (113) Annalisa Linn (E) 23:25.00; (114) Kalea Galbreath (CG) 23:26.00; (122) Brandy Foust (JC) 23:41.00; (130) Rose Lay (JC) 24:17.00; (141) Allie Harris (CG) 24:52.00; (143) Kayla Tellez (JC) 24:57.00; (147) Hannah Robertson (E) 25:31.00; (151) Madeline Curtis (E) 25:57.00; (153) Yvonne Cochran (E) 26:25.00; (154) Jessica Ray (CG) 26:26.00; (158) Maria Daniels (SH) 26:36.00; (159) Kanon Nakamura (SH) 26.38.00; (160) Savannah Davis (CG) 27:06.000; (162) Kate Johns (CG) 27:10,00; (163) Brook Joser (E) 27:13.00; (164) Lacey McFaddden (JC) 27:16.00; (165) Dana Hiett (SH) 27:17.00; (167) Sierrah Owen (SH) 27:19.80; (169) Jessica Stockman (SH) 28:51.00; (171) Alicia Braunger (E) 31:28.00.