Sweet Home’s young cross-country team was a little depleted Saturday, but they still ran well, Coach Dave Martin said.
Competing at the Northwest Classic at Lane Community College in Eugene, the Huskies were missing two of their top boys runners and one of their fastest girls – and there weren’t a lot of PR’s across the board, despite a competitive field and a reasonably fast course.
“We competed well and we didn’t get rewarded with the kind of marks that effort would normally have got,” Martin said, adding that he was trying to figure it out. “I was pleased with our efforts and our times were respectable, but something was a little off that day.”
The only varsity runner who finished with a personal best was freshman Hudson Ogden for the boys, who ran 20:59.20.
Elijah Rodriguez, also a freshman, ran the fastest time of the day for Sweet Home, finishing 25th in 18:29.29 in the boys field of 152 runners. Evan Knight was 74th (20:20.74), Louis Kistner 89th in 20:56.37, Wes Goff was 108th (21:42.51) and Noah Strawn was 109th in 21:43.54; all are sophomores. Missing were Ryker Burr and Acen Webber, which gave Goff and Strawn a chance to run varsity.
The boys were 14th as a team in a field of 21. Cottage Grove was second, with Phoenix eighth, Marist ninth and Junction City 12th as 4A Division finishers ahead of Sweet Home.
McKenzie Miller was the girls’ top finisher, finishing sixth in a field of 104 in 20:03.53, behind Banks senior Sophie Schoolmeester, who won in 19:12.56, followed by Cottage Grove senior Ella Cardwell, second in 19:30.63, and Schoolmeester’s freshman sister Molly, who was fourth in 19:48.37.
Sophomore Emma Whitton was not able to run, but freshman Cassie Spencer finished 38th in 23:04.08, junior Noelle Helfrich 64th in 25:15.32 – a seven-second improvement over the previous week, freshman Marian Helfrich was 79th in 26:20.30, freshman Pyper Hall 87th in 27:35.87 and sophomore Madison Ciullo 88th in 27:36.18.
In the JV boys race, freshman Bentley Uhlry was 92nd in a field of 204 runners in his first-ever cross-country race, in 22:47.12, followed by Ryder Farris in 22:56.87; Sam Strawn in 25:08.36; and Eli Adams in 25:50.98.
In the girls JV race, junior Miu Simmons, also running her first-ever cross-country race, finished in 26:42.95, followed by Delainie Pratt (28:31.54), McKenzie Ohlheiser (28:39.27 – a 20-second PR), Lexi Lee (31:41.03, also a PR), Zoie Allison (46:12.48) and Nevaeh Mize (50:56.40), both running their first 5K.
Sweet Home’s middle school club runners also competed, running a 3000: Wiley Farris (13:18.31), Walker Farris (13:34.15), Brady Goff (15:13.36) and Zander Davis (22:09.96) for the boys, and Emma Davis (14:54.29) and Violet Steinborn (20:19.60) for the girls.
Up next for the Huskies is their own home meet Saturday, Sept. 27, at Community Chapel, 42250 Ames Creek Road. Racing starts at 10:30 a.m. with middle school girls, middle school boys at 11 a.m., and the four high school races at 45-minute intervals starting at 11:30 a.m.
The course is a true cross-country course with two creek crossings for high-schoolers and some uphill climbs and twisting trails.
“Nobody’s going to PR on this course,” Martin predicted. “It’s a much more challenging course than any so far.”