The track and field team’s annual awards potluck this year marked a transition between eras, Coach Billy Snow noted Wednesday, May 27, as he announced the Most Valuable Player awards for the 2015 Huskies.
Exiting is the boys winner, senior Jakob Hiett, who has scored 36 points at state meets for the Huskies over the past three years.
Entering is freshman Bethany Gingerich, who, although missing the state medals podium in the 200 and 400, qualified for more events than any other Sweet Home athlete at this year’s state meet and anchored the girls 4×100 relay team to a surprising sixth-place finish at state. She walked away with three individual awards at the banquet.
Hiett finished second in the 1500 and 3000 at state this year, after winning the 4A cross-country championship last fall.
Snow said this year’s Huskies started raw, but finished with a flourish – and, he said, “probably were one of the funnest groups of kids we’ve worked with in the long, long time.”
“I knew we were going to be a young team,” he said. “We didn’t have a big senior group coming back. We didn’t have a whole lot of experience.”
He said that, during an early practice, he sent all the newcomers to the program out onto the track while those who had been team members in the past stayed in the stands at Husky Field.
“Over 50 percent of the people were out on the track right away,” he said. “And about two-third of those sitting in the stands were at the JV level last year.
“But when we set the bar and said, ‘This is what we need you to do,’ they would do that.”
He the team’s representation of the school and community were evident when other coaches came up to him during the season and told him, “Tell your kids thanks for helping out today. Your kids are a great group.”
He said the boys, who finished second at the district championships, exceeded the pre-meet form chart by more points than any other team after being picked to finish fifth. The girls finished fifth, but were not far out of third in a tight team race and also picked up more points than anyone else.
“We had a great, great district meet,” he said. “For me, that was the highlight of the season.”
Newcomers of the Year were sophomore Nathan Hager of the boys, who tried high school track for the first time this year after excelling on the swim team, and Gingerich.
Assistant Coach Jim Kistner presented the awards, but noted that Hager was wearing a cast on his left elbow, “the result of a collision with a hurdle” – an event Kistner coached. Hager also threw the javelin and ran sprints.
“This is a young man that every coach here wanted to work with,” he said. “They saw a great work ethic, great habits. They saw a lot of athleticism. I got pretty excited with some of the young hurdlers and Nathan was one of those. He did a great job this year.”
Assistant Ramiro Santana, who coaches sprints, called Gingerich “an amazing runner” and said he is looking forward to working with her in the next three years.
Sprinters of the Year were sophomore Trey Reed, who qualified for state in the 400 for the second year in a row and just missed a medal by one place, senior Eric Flierl “who is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen,” Kistner said, adding that Flierl has also developed into one of the best technicians in the hurdles Sweet Home has ever had.
“But what sticks out to me more than anything is his leadership ability,” Kistner said. “I believe he is a really great leader.” Gingerich received the award for the girls.
Throwers of the Year were sophomore Andre Holmes for the boys and senior Jordan Miller for the girls.
Assistant Krystal Streight said Holmes “scared me so bad” at the district meet with a huge scratch on his first throw in the shot, then a couple of efforts in the 43-foot range, before edging into the finals and delivering a huge personal best of 46-4½ on his final throw.
Javelin coach Nathan Whitfield noted that Miller was only the second girl from Sweet Home to make state in the last 15 years.
Jumpers of the Year were Egan Shamek for the boys and Sierra Swanson for the girls.
Shamek overcame difficult situations at Hayward Field on Friday, May 22, when rain made the long jump runway so slick competitors were “crashing and burning,” as Snow put it.
Assistant Lindsey Haggas said “kids were sliding off the board and it was really scary to watch. He held his composure and went out there. We were worried if he was even going to make it into finals, but he did his job and did it well.” Shamek placed fifth in a competition in which the difference between him and the second-place finisher was three-quarters of an inch.
Snow noted that Holmes had similar problems in the shot at state, which prevented him from delivering a big throw there.
He said Swanson “cleared a height that placed at state, but unfortunately, she had too many misses. That seems to happen every year. But it was so close at 4-10. So close.”
Distance Runners of the Year were junior Kayleen Keeney, who despite a late start in distance conditioning due to basketball, finished as the team’s top distance performer, and Hiett.
The Hustle Award, for the “person who gets after it in practice as much as they would for a meet, always going 100 percent and doing what a coach or workout asks,” went to Flierl and junior Matt Davis. Davis, Kistner said, “is right behind Eric as a technician” in the hurdles. He noted that the two were so dependable that, for the first time in his coaching career, he had them lead practices with their peers when he wasn’t present.
Coaches Award winners, described as “person(s) whom coaches rely on, will sacrifice individuality for the team, are positive leaders and impact the team in positive ways in addition to competing,” were Shamek and senior Jessica Stockman, who developed into the team’s best 800 runner.
Haggas said the coaches unanimously agreed on Shamek as the boys recipient, as “a great athlete to coach.”
Allen noted that Stockman’s somewhat unique upright running posture is the result of a rod that corrects a spinal condition, which has made it difficult to run longer distances in cross-country, which she competed last fall.
“Had the district 800 meters ended at 600, she would have been in the top three,” he said. Stockman placed ninth, but ran a three-second PR of 2:43.73 to do it.
Fourth-year letter winners were seniors India Porter, Miller, Hiett and Flierl.
Third-year letters went to juniors Swanson, Josie Knight, Davis and TJ Baham.
Second-year letter recipients were senior Sean Worthen, sophomore Dillon Stutzman, Shamek, sophomore Nick Rietz, Reed, sophomore Natasha Rasmussen, Keeney, sophomore Dana Hiett, junior Julian Hesberg, junior Sarah Dunkley, junior Maria Daniels and sophomore Shania Baxter.
Receiving first-year letters were freshman Ricky Yunke, junior Allison Wickline, freshman Caylie Trewin, freshman Noah Taraski, freshman Kendyl Stutzman, Stockman, senior exchange student Barbara Raphaelli, sophomore Wes Parker, sophomore Gracie Olson, senior exchange student Kanon Nakamura, senior Jason Miller, freshman Cora McKee, sophomore Elea Hewitt, Hager, junior Charley Guerrero, Gingerich, senior Garrett Fox, sophomore Jacob Erickson, sophomore Justin Carpenter and freshman Chase Blanco.