Senior Mason Lopez and junior Lydia Wright were named the Most Valuable Athletes for Sweet Home track and field at the team’s awards dinner Tuesday, May 30.
Head Coach Nathan Whitfield reviewed the team’s season, noting that the Huskies are still “rebuilding” after the COVID pandemic and other factors that have impacted the program. He noted that Sweet Home’s team had “about 30 kids” three years ago, which ended up being “about 24” by the end of the season.
“This year we started off with, I think it was 72, and ended with about 24,” Whitfield said.
Although the Huskies qualified athletes for state in only four boys events and no girls, “this year was one of the best districts we’ve ever had,” the coach said.
“I went back and counted up the number of (personal best performances) we had at districts. As a team we had 41. Last year we had 21 and in 2019, the year before COVID, we had 22. I went back to 2010 because that was the year we won a state championship. We had 23.
“You guys did pretty stinking well.”
The fact that the 4×100 relay team of sophomores Conner Stevens and Chase Cameron, and seniors Dakota Seiber and Taevon James, placed eighth when they were not expected to, and Lopez was third in the javelin with a throw very near his PR in that event, “ended up scoring and getting on the podium was great as well,” he said.
“Girls, next year I want you guys there,” Whitfield said, adding, jokingly, “It’s not fun just taking the guys.”
In presenting the MVP award to Lopez, Whitfield noted that the senior missed qualifying for state by one spot and fractions of a second in both the 110 and 300 hurdles, and “had a great district meet except for about 30 minutes” in which he was upset as the favorite in the javelin competition, placing second.
The competitors who beat him in the hurdles were “the second and third-fastest people in the state,” Whitfield said.
Wright, he said, was not only a top performer for the girls team but a true leader.
“One thing I loved was every day, during the sprinter warm-ups, Lydia was getting everyone in line, showing them what to do, how to do it. You can’t ask more. Us coaches wanted to give her the award but these (athletes) gave her the award.”
Distance Runner of the Year for the girls was freshman Mckenzie Miller, who set PRs of a minute in the 3000, more than 30 seconds in the 1500 and 20 seconds in the 800 in her first attempts at those distances.
Distance Coach Dave Martin noted that Miller ran a 30-second PR in the 3000 at the district meet “running all by herself,” which, he said, “was soemthing which is very tough for a distance runner to do.”
Kasey Kast was the honoree on the boys side. The sophomore qualified for state in the 800 with a PR of 2:04 and although “he didn’t run the race at state that either he or I wanted him to run, it was a great experience and he learned a lot,” Martin said.
Jumpers of the Year for the girls, introduced by Coach Josie Macklin, was freshman Loralai Mark, “who went into districts not thinking that she would place and ended up getting sixth in district (long jump) with a PR of 10 inches, which was awesome.”
Junior Deacon Bachand was the boys winner, after improving his long jump by nearly a foot and placed eighth in district, missing the podium on a tie-breaker.
Throwers of the Year were Lopez and sophomore Peyton Markell in the javelin, and freshman Selah Wright in the shot, and junior Nathan Aker, also in the shot, both of whom were new to high school track this year.
Sprinters of the Year were the boys 4×100 team members – Stevens, Seiber, James and Cameron, and for the girls, sophomore Kaylynn Mamac, who, as Macklin put it, “started off the season as a hurdler, then decided she was going to run fast,” ending up sixth in districts in the 200.
Newcomer of the Year went to Aker for the boys and Miller for the girls.
Hustle Award recipients, whom Whitfield described as “individuals that just, day in and day out perform non-stop – they don’t have an off switch,” were Stevens for the boys and Wright for the girls.
Martin, who presented the awards, said Stevens simply puts in non-stop extra effort in training, while “Lydia’s body does not like her as much as we like her,” adding that “she puts in a great deal of effort even on days when she doesn’t feel good,” a fact that was recognized by teammates who voted for them.
He quoted NBA legend Jerry West, who said “you don’t get much done in life if you just work hard on the days when you feel good.”
The Will to Win Award, presented to athletes who are most competitive and focused on winning, went to Wright, who ran the 400 and 800 and the 4×400 relay – “the hardest races in track,” said Macklin, who presented them.
“There were times she did all three of those when she probably shouldn’t have and we had to tell her, ‘No, you’re not running all three events because she would do it every single day. Her legs
would probably have fallen off by now if it didn’t stop her from doing so.”
They boys winner was junior Kyle Sieminski, who improved his time in the 400 by three seconds over the 10-week season which, Macklin said, was “impressive” in that event.
“I think he’s one of the only ones who did almost every workout exactly how it was written,” she said, adding that Sieminski’s improvement by the time districts rolled around was the consequence of that.
“He was the anchor of our four-by-four because he’s the only one I trusted to be the anchor of our four-by-four because I knew he was going to put everything out there no matter if we were losing by a ton or winning.”
The Coaches Award, the only one voted on by the coaching staff, went to junior Rylee Markell, Peyton Markell, junior Max Klumph, freshman Keegan Vogel and thrower Tomas Stafford.
Whitfield, who presented the awards, noted that the Markell sisters and Klumph consistently helped with after-practice cleanup, and, in Klumph’s case, showed up for winter lifting when no one else did.
Vogel, he said, also was a regular in weight training “and essentially became another coach.”
Stafford got his academics under control and “started working his butt off in the weight room,” becoming a team leader.
Martin, who is also Sweet Home’s cross-country coach and has he’s coached for 40 years in a variety of contexts – from small high schools to the college level, told the crowd of 100-plus, told the crowd at the dinner that his fellow Sweet Home’s coaches “love working with your kids,” which makes them stand out in his mind.
” We have a phenomenal coaching staff here because these people are dedicated and committed to the kids, to the sport, to wanting you guys to do better.
“I’ve never been around a better coaching staff. I’ve been around ones that are as good, but this is a phenomenal group. And for those of you guys who come out days for asking me to do you don’t understand how good these coaches are.
“I’ve been around for 40 years in coaching and I can guarantee you, moms and dads, this is as good a coaching staff as I’ve ever been around. You kids are very fortunate.”
The sole fourth-year letter winner of the night was Mason Lopez.
Three-year winners were Rylee Markell and Lydia Wright.
Second-year letters went to Jon Hart, Ryker Hartsook, Von James, Evan Jensen, Kasey Kast, Max Klumph, Kaylynn Mamac, Peyton Markell, Jess Martineau, Beatrice Reeve, Stephanie Saultz, Dakota Seiber, Dylan Sharp, Kyle Sieminski, Conner Stevens and Amelia Sullens.
Receiving their first letters were Nathan Aker, Deacon Bachand, Lily Bishop, Chase Cameron, Tierney Clarno, Dillan Davis, Rickey Erickson, Abygail Foss, Gavin Gardner, James Hearick, BlakeLee Jewell, Cannon Klumph, Jackson Knight, Natiyah Koenig-Walters, Loralai Mark, Cooper McKinnon, Mckenzie Miller, Conner Pace, Laird Pettner, Delainie Pratt, Jake Sieminski, Exavier Stratman, Keagan Vogel and Selah Wright.