Two seniors on the Husky track team find themselves having to set new goals after Sweet Home’s opening track meet at Salem Academy.
Mike Severns broke his own school record of last year in the javelin (modern javelin) with his throw of 175’7″, toppling the mark by six feet. The coaches weren’t overly surprised with his performance, based on his work in practices and the new javelin that he is using. Coach Billy Snow thinks this might be a common occurrence throughout the season. But Severns, who opened with his personal best last year in this same meet, was a little surprised that it came so early.
“I’ve been working hard on the fundamentals, but I wasn’t expecting the 170’s at all,” said Severns. “It’s making me think way higher now.”
Likewise, Brocard has had to rewrite her goals in the triple jump after her effort of 34’10” also broke the school mark of 33’11” set by Abby Murray Virtue in 1995. This caught her way off guard, considering that she hadn’t practiced very little on this particular event this year. She had only done a few drills and gotten her mark once in practice. Plus she hadn’t been particularly pleased with her effort in the long jump, which was facing into the wind just like her triple jumps would be. Add to that the fact that she had a long layoff between events and the rest of the track meet was finished before the triple jump even began.
While the rest of the team clapped rhythmically for her and other teammates entered in the event, she soared to a series of spectacular jumps after her first jump was off slightly.
“It must have been the clapping,” Brocard said. “I think I understand more this year of what I need to do to get that far.”
Her second jump was past 33 feet followed by a school record record 34-9 which lasted only minutes before her 34-10 capped off her performance.
There were other positive signs for the Husky program, though the competition with Salem Academy, Gervais, and Willamette Christian was not as competitive as they had hoped.
“The meet was designed to get the new kids to understand what a high school meet is like,” said Snow. “For the vets, it was just a checkpoint to see where they are.”
Though Snow saw many newcomers have decent starts to their track careers, he cited freshmen performances, Jason Long in the 400 and Hannah McClaskey in the throws, as two of the better efforts. Donny Cliver, a first year senior, also did well, reacting well after a slow start because of an early set call by the meet’s starter to record a winning 12.54 time in the 100 meter dash and later coming back with a 143 foot throw in the javelin.
Despite the lack of competition, many of the veterans had solid starting points, performing at or near last year’s marks.
“There’s a beginning there,” said Snow. “There’s certainly room to improve, but I think we’ve got the tools to be able to do that.”
Sweet Home hosts a thrower’s meet on Thursday during spring break. Then on Friday and Saturday, the Huskies host a heptathlon and decathlon meet. All events start at 11 a.m.