Seniors Jessy Hart and Treyson Smith were named Most Valuable Runners for the Sweet Home cross-country team at its awards event Thursday, April 15, at the Community Chapel youth barn.
Coach Kambria Schumacher introduced Hart, saying she was “a joy to work with” throughout her four-year career at Sweet Home.
“She works hard, she doesn’t complain,” Schumacher said, noting that training for the sport involves hard workouts that include hill runs and temperatures that can be hot or cold.”
She noted earlier that Hart just missed the state meet in “a spectacular race.”
“She’s a state participant in my mind.”
Smith, like Hart, she said, is a hard worker and was a stable presence on the team.
“He was one of those who you could really rely on during races,” Schumacher said. “He would just go out and race and see what happens.”
Best Newcomer for the boys went to sophomore Jacob Sieminski, who was the Huskies’ top finisher in all the races he ran. Schumacher said Sieminski was a competitor.
“He was not the first one in our workouts,” she said. “He was usually, like, fourth or fifth, but during the races he just went out there as hard as he could. He wanted to win.”
Senior Maren Weld, who doubled with soccer this year, was the girls Newcomer of the Year.
“I wish I could have had her for four years,” Schumacher said. “She’s one of those who you just know she’s always going to be there and do the best she can, no matter how she’s feeling. She just went out there and raced as hard as she could.”
Most Improved for the boys went to junior Nate Coleman, who, Schumacher said, showed vastly improved consistency in his running.
“For the last couple of years he usually had, like one or two races where he ran really well, tand then it kind of like went off. This year he was consistent in every race that we had.
“He competed this year and it showed.”
Most Improved for the girls went to sophomore Meeja Bitter, who suffered from sideaches “pretty much every time she ran” in her first year, Schumacher said.
“This year she got things a little bit more on point as far as hydration and everything, so she was able to run much better,” moving into the third spot for the Huskies for most of the season.
Most Improved for the JV was senior Trace Marler, who was a late addition to the team and who dropped more time than anyone else over the course of what, for him was about a five-week season.
Most Inspirational was senior Sicily Neuschwander, who Schumacher described as “always in a good mood – she brings the energy up.”
“She’s one of those people who is very encouraging in a sport that can be very difficult at times and when you have someone encouraging you through those hard workouts and the hard times, it’s a very valuable asset to have.”
The Congeniality Award went to senior Gavin Walberg, who “definitely always comes with a smile on his face and does crazy things.”
“On morning runs, he’d come there, he’d have his music blasting with the bass going and you always knew who that was,” she said. “But he has a very happy personality that brings up the energy in the room.”
The Coaches Award, she said, was a “extra tough” decision, since it usually goes to a senior, “someone, you know, who puts the time in.”
However, Ethan Hurst, a transfer from East Linn Christian, who is running as a senior this season because he plans to graduate early, brought “very good energy” to the program, she said.
“He was one of those people who you couldn’t tell him no – he would just keep trying. Even though he had naysayers, he didn’t let that get to him. He wanted to go all the way and he didn’t let anyone stop him.”
Jessy Hart was the sole four-year letter winner.
Earning their third letter were Nate Coleman, Sicily Neuschwander, Treyson Smith and Gavin Walberg.
Second-year letter winners were Summer Hicks, Meeja Bitter and Jorel Leyba.
First-year varsity letters went to Aiden Shamek, Jake Sieminski, Maren Weld and Ethan Hurst.
JV awards went to Trace Marler and Dakota Seiber.
Following the team’s tradition, Schumacher also handed out some “goofy” awards.
Best Race Finish went to Aidan Shamek, who finished one race in an “all-out sprint” over the last 300 meters, passing “two or three people.”
Most Tenacious Runner went to Jacob Sieminski. with whom, she said, “it didn’t matter if they were the best condition or not.. It didn’t matter if they were, you know, they had any experience . (Sieminski) just went out there and gave his all, and it showed in the races.”
The Running Scavenger Award, which recognizes the individual who came back with the most impressive haul of roadside trash found during a workout run, was a tight competition, she said.
Sieminski brought back “a very large limb,” Schumacher said.
“No, it was literally like a small tree,” Sieminski piped up from the audience.
Coleman and Leyba returned with a desk.
“It was free, so why not?” Schumacher noted.
But, she said, the “weirdest” and winning find, brought back from a run, was “a live bunny” by Summer Hicks.
Most Time Dropped went to Trace Marler. Schumacher said that, since the season was so short, she decided to just compare times from the Sweet Home Invitational and the district race, both run at Community Chapel.
She said all her runners dropped “almost a minute of time.”
Hurst dropped 41 seconds, Walberg 1:01, Siminski 1:04, Smith 1:05, Leyba 1:14, Neuschwander 1:19, Weld 1:42, Hart 1:45, Bitter 1:49, Hicks 1:51 and Marler a minute and 52 seconds, she said.
Hart got the Wanderer Award, a new category. Schumacher said Hart got lost on “a couple of runs,” to the extent that “we had to wait a little extra to see if (she) would show up or if we would have to go search for (her.)
Another new award was the Cactus Magnet, which went to Meesha Bitter.
“For some reason, there’s one cactus in all of Sweet Home, the only one I’ve seen, actually, next to the road. But several of our kids managed to get poked by it. And I still don’t know how that happened because it also happened, on a couple occasions, they also ate the fruit of the cactus,” Schumacher said, tongue firmly in cheek.
Jorel Leyba got the Animal on the Hills Award. Schumacher said he “soars up the hills – pretty much does this consistently every time and it’s just amazing to watch him go up those hills.”