Hannah McClaskey was named Most Valuable Performer for the girls team, and Land Florek and Dakotah Keys were named the boys MVPs Tuesday night, May 22, at the Sweet Home High School track and field team’s awards potluck.
It was the second year in a row that McClaskey, a senior thrower who plans to compete next year for Northwest Nazarene University, was named MVP by her teammates. She placed seventh in the shot at the 4A state track and field finals May 17.
Keys, a freshman, was a workhorse for the Huskies this spring, competing in six different events at various track meets throughout the season and qualifying for state in four, the maximum possible. He finished fourth in the 110 high hurdles, sixth in the javelin and just missed qualifying for the state finals in the 300 intermediate hurdles and the boys 4×400 relay.
Florek, a junior in his second year of track, placed sixth in the state 400 meters and nearly led the boys 4×400 relay team to the state finals this year.
Keys was also named the Top Newcomer for the boys, while Natasha Perry, a freshman sprinter, was the pick on the girls side.
The Hustle Award, also voted on by team members, for effort in practice and in meets, went to sophomore Rob Callagan, who set personal records in the 800 every time he ran the race this year, and to senior distance runner Cassandra Schumacher. Both were state qualifiers this year, Callagan in the 800 and Schumacher in the 3000. Schumacher finished the season as the second-fastest girl in the Val-Co League in the 3000 and the third-fastest in the 1500, winning twice in both events during the season.
Coaches Awards went to senior thrower Nathan Whitfield, senior jumper and thrower Ashley Bertucci and junior Amanda Basham, who qualified for state this season in the 300 hurdles.
The Will to Win Award went to Ashley Danielson, who would have qualified for state if the Val-Co League had not had two of the top-ranked javelin throwers in the state ahead of her, and to Marc Callagan, who made great strides in the throws and also was pressed into service in the 400 meters on several occasions.
In addition to Florek, Keys, Callagan, Basham, McClaskey and Schumacher, other state qualifiers who received certificates for that feat were senior Jess Keys (high jump and alternate in the 4×400 relay), senior Brandon Weist (long jump), junior Ramiro Santana (4×400 relay) and sophomore Sam Macklin, an alternate on the 4×400 relay team.
“That was the fastest 4×400 relay team we’ve had since 2002,” Coach Billy Snow said. “Every year we have a good 4×400 team, but this year it wasn’t because we had four fast guys. It was because we had five or six fast guys.”
A new award, honoring top performers in the various classes of events, was announced during the presentations.
Jumpers of the Year were seniors KC Hanscam for the boys, who bettered his personal record of 11 feet prior to districts by jumping 13 feet at districts, and Erika Snow for the girls, who cleared 8 feet in the pole vault “more times than any other vaulter I’ve ever coached,” Billy Snow said.
Sprinters of the Year were Florek for the boys and Basham for the girls.
Throwers of the Year were Whitfield for the boys and McClaskey for the girls.
Distance Runners of the Year were Jess Keys, who took his 3000 meter time down to 9:37.23, for the boys, and Schumacher for the girls.
Erika Snow, McClaskey and Peter VanDerlip were four-year letter winners for the team.
Third-year letter winners were:
– Basham, whom sprints coach Aaron Cloud told at the beginning of the season that she should get down to 49 seconds in the 300 hurdles, though, he confided to the audience on Tuesday, he was merely “hopeful” that would occur. In the district finals she ran 49.98 and “was way ahead of the girls who normally run 49 seconds” on the turn for home.
– Ashley Bertucci, who came on in the triple jump to finish the season with a top mark of 29-3, and who also cracked the top 10 in the league in the discus, throwing 88-5.
– Danielson, who, throws coach Mike Severns said, “is just a great athlete and competitor. It’s looking very good for her (next year) in the javelin, at least.”
– Jess Keys, who, Snow said, he wished he had “one more year” to work with and predicted that Keys could do some “great things” in the jumps;
– Sarah Rosa, who struggled with injuries all season, but still managed to contribute in the sprints by the end of the season;
– Santana, who was slowed by injuries and illness for much of the season, but still managed to run a PR of 2:06.54 in the 800 and help the 4×400 relay team to state;
– Schumacher, who, distances assistant coach Kym Hunt said, lapped nearly everyone in one race at Newport, though she didn’t run the way she hoped to at state;
Second-year letter winners were Marc Callagan, Rob Callagan, Marcus DeLong, Brandon Elliott, Kelsey Fisher, Florek, Hanscam and Weist.
First-year letters went to: Dakotah Keys; Macklin; Dustin Collman, who finished the season with the fastest 1500 time in the league for a freshman, 4:37.6; sprinter Terren Burgess; jumper Sabra Perry, thrower Ethan Rowe; Byron Sanders, who posted the fastest 3000 time in the league for a freshman, 10:24.88; thrower Kerrie Streight and Aris Somatis, of whom, distances coach Kambria Schumacher said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kid with his form.” Somatis, a junior in his first year of track, ran 10:15.54 at the Val-Co district meet to post the seventh-fastest time in the league.
Billy Snow praised team members for stepping up consistently through the season, which began with a lot of question marks.
“We had probably one of the best district meets we’ve ever had,” he said. “We have won district meets in the past, but (at this year’s) we went as far or farther as we possibly could come.”
The Huskies are losing an estimated 40 points on the girls side with graduating seniors, and 50-some on the boys side, but Snow said he expects current junior varsity athletes and returning letter winners to make up that difference.
“On the girls side, it won’t be hard to improve at all with the group we have coming back,” he said. “The guys, if everything comes together, could compete for the district title.”
Best of all, Snow said, it was a fun season for the coaches.
“I looked forward to going to practice every day,” he said.