Scott Swanson
One way to describe the Sweet Home boys cross-country team’s prospects going into this season is: It’s a blank slate and they’ve got lots of crayons.
The Huskies have lost state champion Jakob Hiett to the University of Portland, but second-year Coach Andrew “Keebler” Allen has one of the largest boys teams in recent memory primed to open their season Friday, Sept. 4, at The Invitational (formerly the Marist XC Invite) at Richardson County Park on the north end of Fern Ridge Reservoir.
As of last week the roster showed 18 boys.
“On the guys side, I think we’ve reloaded very well – even better than last year,” Allen said. Those numbers mean the Huskies can field full varsity and JV teams, which have seven-plus runners each. The top five finishers from each team score and low total score determines placement in the team competition.
On the girls side, thus far, the Huskies again have enough runners for a varsity team – six, but not much more so far. Allen is hoping to pick up a few more runners, hopefully some incoming freshmen, before the season officially gets under way.
After several years of fielding the district champion or runner-up, the Huskies last year found themselves without a true front-runner and that continues into this year, Allen said.
“We don’t have a Nicole Rasmussen,” he said, referring to Sweet Home’s most recent titlist.
The lack of numbers in the program finally caught up with the Huskies, who finished fifth at district with half of the team suffering from injuries – none of them direct results of cross-country. That ended the girls’ run of three straight trips to the state championships.
Sophomore Bethany Gingerich, who placed ninth in last year’s district meet, is the best hope, though Allen said the Huskies have others who could provide a solid block of finishers for Sweet Home.
Senior Kayleen Keeney is back after a 10th-place district finish, right behind Gingerich last year, and fellow senior Sierra Swanson and junior Dana Hiett are back after a disappointing 2014 season marred by injuries.
“They are veterans,” Allen said. “Kayleen and Bethany both ran on the outside edge of getting into state. I think the two teammates that were injured are as good as them. It depends what they want to do.”
Joining them are senior Maria Daniel, who has shown steady improvement in three years of cross-country, and soccer player Alison Wickline, a senior, who has decided to double this year.
Allen said Gingerich, in particular, could push her way to the front of the district.
“The talent level is there,” he said.
What the girls also have is experience.
“Four of our six girls were on the last team that went to state,” Allen said. “That was just two years ago. None of the boys have. Not one individual on the boys team has ever seen the state cross-country course, as far as competing on it.”
With Hiett gone, the Husky boys, like the girls, have no dominant front-runner. But Allen said they have plenty of potential, and it’s tightly grouped.
“If I look at my varsity line-up, I see one guy who will be on varsity,” he said. That would be junior Trey Reed, who was the No. 2 runner for the Huskies last year and finished eighth at district. Though his summer training was limited by an injury, Allen said, Reed should be one of the front-runners in this year’s meet, particularly with the departure of three of the top six finishers from last year’s championship to graduation.
Fairly tightly packed and not that far behind Reed are the rest of the Huskies.
Allen said they are remarkably close to each other for this early in the season.
“I’ve seen the ninth person (speed-wise) look like the second person and the second person looking like the ninth person. It depends who’s feeling good that day, who’s ready to roll.
“At this point in the season, I did not expect to see 15 or 16 guys that close in time. We could easily have a situation where we end up having 15 guys run at least one varsity race by the end of the year.”
Back with experience to help lead the boys are seniors Julian Hesberg, Joe Rasmussen and Allen Cuilla.
Sophomore Noah Taraski didn’t get as much mileage in during the summer as would have been optimal, Allen said, but he trained as a firefighter, which made a difference.
In addition to returnees Adam Barber, Jake Hindmarsh, Nick Rietz, Cameron Taber and Nick Tolman, the boys have gotten some additions from other sports – senior TJ Baham, who also plays soccer; swimmer Sean Wolthuis, a junior; and wrestlers Kobe Olson, also a junior, and sophomore Ricky Yunke.
“Having an athlete coached by (swimming coach) Doug Peargin or (wrestling coach) Steve Thorpe adds another dynamic to our team,” Allen said.
Freshmen Christian Baham, Noah Dinsfriend – who has indicated he wants to double with soccer, and Tanner Sayer round out the team.
“We’re missing talent on the guys side, not having a No. 1, but the end-of-season goal is getting to state,” Allen said.
This year’s schedule is a mirror image of last year’s, except that The Invitational has been moved to the morning – after sizzling temperatures last year put some runners, including at least one from Sweet Home, in distress.
Allen sees Sisters as, once again, the favorite on both the girls and boys sides, despite the departure of girls district champion Aria Blumm. The fact that Blumm was followed by underclassmen teammates in third- through fifth-place at last year’s district race tells the story.
“Sisters is still the front-runner,” he said. “They’re just a little too far out there. But the team that scares me the most is Junction City. They started putting it together last year and they had momentum in the track season.”
The Huskies will “be in the mix” and Allen said their goal, like the boys, is state, even if it means placing second to Sisters. Sutherlin, which was the surprise last year with a sudden surge to second place in the closing weeks of the season, is “the dark horse,” he said.
“They lost a lot of people,” he said, “but something magical happened last year. They went from fifth to second halfway through the season.”
On the boys side, Sisters seniors Tony Hooks and Dyut Fetrow should give the Outlaws a leg up after placing second and third at districts last year, followed closely by then freshman Jordan Pollard in seventh, whose brother Brandon has moved on to Gonzaga and placed second in the 1500 (3:56.51) in the Pan American Junior Championships this summer, two-hundredths of a second behind Oregon runner Blake Haney.
“I expect (Jordan Pollard) to become fairly good, but he’s not there yet,” Allen said, adding that the league is going to be “competitive.”
“I would not put it past that the team I would predict for fourth place could take the district title. It’s going to be good competition for everyone. There are no front-runners like last year, but they are all quality teams.”