A few years ago, a handful of Sweet Home High School graduates were competing in college athletics – runners Kambria and Cassandra Schumacher at Oregon State University and Amanda Basham at Pacific, Mackenzie Marchbanks in softball at the community college level and then at Corban, Trevor Tagle in wrestling at OSU.
How times have changed.
As the 2011-12 school year begins, 14 alums are expected to compete at the college level, ranging from Jayce Calhoon and Dakotah Keys at NCAA Division I schools to half a dozen at various two-year colleges.
“We’ve had some very high-quality athletes come through our program the last couples of years,” said Athletic Director Kostanty Knurowski. “It’s really a testament to the hard work they put in and the high level of coaches we have here who have a dedication to helping kids succeed.
Knurowski noted that there are now enough alums competing in college that it’s getting harder to keep track of them all.
They include:
Jayce Calhoon, a sophomore swimmer at Wyoming. Calhoon, a two-time All-American in high school as he led the Sweet Home boys to two straight state championships, specialized in backstroke and long-distance freestyle events for the Cowboys, setting a pool record at San Diego’s Canyon View Aquatic Center last February in the 1,000-yard freestyle, 9:32.69, during a three-way meet with the University of California at San Diego and Hawaii. At the Mountain West Championships in late February, he was sixth in the 1650 freestyle (15:38.90), eighth in the 200 backstroke (1:49.48), fifth in the 400 Individual Medley (3:57.84), making All-Mountain West in the 1650 and 400 IM.
Ashley Cochran, a freshman playing softball at Mt. Hood Community College.
Brock Crocker, a sophomore wrestler at Southern Oregon University.
Drew Emmert, a sophomore playing basketball at Hesston College in Kansas, where he helped the Larks to an 18-12 record as a freshman shooting guard, regularly scoring in double figures as the season progressed.
Shelby Gillespie, a freshman playing sophomore at Chemeketa Community College.
Olivia Johnson, a freshman running cross-country and track at Corban University. Johnson was named National Christian College Athletic Association Student-Athlete of the Week after she finished fourth to lead the Warriors, running 19:43.22 on Sept. 10 over the 5,000-meter course in her collegiate debut. In the Warriors’ second meet she led Corban again with a 14th-place finish (23:53.00) in a field of 57 runners over the 6,000-meter course at McIver State Park in the Lewis & Clark Invitational, leading the Warriors to fourth place. She was second for Corban Saturday at the Cascade Collegiate Conference Preview meet in Ashland, running 20:16.50 on the 5K course.
Gavin Kauffman, a freshman playing basketball at Chemeketa Community College.
Dakotah Keys, a redshirt freshman competing in track and field at the University of Oregon. A decathlon specialist, Keys ended up red-shirting during the outdoor track season due to an injury. He finished fourth in his first career heptathlon during the indoor season, scoring 5,332 points at the UW Invitational, and posted a season best in the pole vault (15-7) and a career mark in the shot put (42-11). He also set heptathlon PRs in the 60 meters, long jump (22-10) and high jump (6-7).
Maria Kropf, a freshman who will compete in track and field at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Ariz.
Kris Newport, a freshman who will wrestle at Southwestern Oregon Community College.
Tasha Sanders, a freshman playing sophomore at Chemeketa Community College.
Kieran Schaefer, a sophomore swimmer at Seattle University. Highlights of his freshman year include a 5:12.07 500 freestyle for sixth place against Whitworth and swimming the final leg on the fourth-place 800 freestyle relay in 1:52.69 (7:30.74).
Zane Wise, a 6-2, 276-pound junior offensive guard for the Willamette University Bearcats football program, which lost its opener 8-6 Sept. 3 against Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Willamette beat Southern Oregon at home Saturday, 31-9.
Editor’s note: If you know of any former Sweet Home athletes who are competing at the college level, who are not listed here, contact Scott Swanson at (541) 367-2135 or [email protected].