District track meets are always highly charged, competitive events, but this year’s might have been more so, especially for Sweet Home.
The Husky boys finished second to Philomath and the girls were fourth, but Sweet Home had 10 individual qualifiers for state – nine for the boys – as well as both boys relay teams.
For the Husky girls, junior McKenzie Miller was the lone state qualifier, with a gusty second-place finish in the 3000 to open the track competition on Friday.
In the boys points race, Sweet Home finished with 162 points, well behind Philomath’s 190.5. Newport was third with 130.
“The team did great,” Coach Nathan Whitfield said. “We had PR’s across the board. But we didn’t have enough to catch the studs that Philomath had. For instance in the 200, our guys finished third, fourth and fifth, but they took first and second. They scored more points.”
On the girls side, Philomath ran away with the title with 210 points, ahead of Cascade (160), Stayton (110) and Sweet Home (83).
Sophomore Nick Larson was an individual district champion in the pole vault, the 110 hurdles and the 300 hurdles, and the boys 4×400 relay team of Ryker Burr, Kasey Kast, Dillan Davis and Kolton Wilmarth finished the competition with a victory in that event to take home the crown.
Larson said he enjoys districts because “you get to know the people in your district if you talk to them. You get to race with family and friends.”
After placing third in the high hurdles last year as a freshman, “I promised myself that I would get it this year,” Larson said. “It just takes very hard work and a lot of dedication, and you just can’t give up.
In addition to Larson’s three events and the long relay, the Huskies also got state qualifiers in Davis and Wilmarth in the 400, Ryker Burr and Kasey Kast in the 800; Gavin Tyler in the shot, Jack Simmons in the javelin; the boys short relay team of Conner Stevens, Wilmarth, Davis and Chase Cameron.
This will be Cameron’s third state relay appearance and the senior said he thinks the Huskies can go faster.
“We were pretty good. We were in a pretty bad lane (three) but we all put our work into it,” he said, adding that he thinks this group can make the podium.
“I’m thinking we can do it if we just really try our best, you know, all do our jobs perfectly.”
For the girls, junior Loralai Mark came close in the long jump, finishing third with a 1-foot PR of 15-11½ , and senior Peyton Markell was third in the javelin.
Simmons, who was seventh in the javelin as a junior, posted an almost 12-foot PR on his first throw, 160-10, to place second.
“I felt like I was just gonna get a mark, just throw it out there, and then I threw a PR of 11 feet,” he said. “I just kind of expected this might be my last time to ever throw, so I might as well throw big, so that’s what I did.”
Davis, a junior who came into track after winning a state title in wrestling, said he was happy to break 23 seconds in the 200, just missing state. His 400 time (50.48) was a two-second PR.
“I just want to place in the top five and get it done,” he said.
He’ll be there with Wilmarth, who moved to Sweet Home this year from a 1A-sized high school in Arizona. Wilmarth qualified on time with a 50.55, seven-hundredths of a second behind Davis.
Also, the girls long relay team of Sophia Stock, Noelle Helfrich, Miller and Brooke Elder finished third after two other teams were disqualified – Cascade, the favorite, for a false start, and Newport for spiking the baton at the finish line after edging the Huskies in the final meters of the race.
Near misses for the boys were sophomore senior Chase Cameron, third in the 100; Davis, third in the 200; senior Conner Pace, third in the discus; and sophomore Kaeson Walker, third in the triple jump.
The drama came in the 800, in which Burr challenged defending district champion Noah Larson of Newport, a senior, for the entire race and taking the lead before Larson edged past him in the final meters.
Then they collided and fell together at the finish line, leaving Larson with a broken collarbone and opening the door for Kast, who was third, to move into the qualifying slot.
“My goal was to stick near Noah and pass him in the last 100,” Burr said. “I went for it right before the last 100 and held the lead for about 80 meters, but he got me right at the end.”
He said they both collapsed at the finish line – “we both gave it all we had” – and that was when they collided.
“That was a great race,” Burr said. “I’m grateful to have been able to race him as a senior, because I won’t be able to race him again.”
Kast also placed third in the pole vault, in only the second time he had competed in that event, and only missed a trip to state because he had more misses than Philomath’s Blake Hauck, both finishing at 10-4.
Another dramatic finish was Miller’s in the 3000.
Miller has had near-misses in her bids to qualify for state in both cross-country and track repeatedly as a freshman and sophomore, and she literally brought tears to the eyes of her supporters Friday when she finally notched a state berth with a gutsy 20-second PR to finish two-tenths of a second ahead of Philomath senior Adele Beckstead, who was competing for her third straight state appearance in the 3000.
Miller spent the first half of the race tucked behind Beckstead and Philomath freshman Cassidy Smart, but Beckstead fell back about 20 meters and Miller managed to stay within striking distance of Smart.
Distance Coach Dave Martin said he had told Miller to stay in third until someone slowed, then move up.
“She ran the race exactly the way I told her to,” he said.
Beckstead, though, has qualified for state in the 1500 and 3000 every year she has run track and was second last year in the 1500 at Hayward Field.
With about 300 meters to go Beckstead started closing the gap between second and third and by the time Miller hit the home stretch, Beckstead was closing, taking advantage of her longer stride as they sprinted the last 100 meters.
“I panicked when I saw her foot at the very end,” Miller said. “I felt like she was on me the whole time. People told me she was slowing down, but I didn’t think she was, like, far, and I knew she was gonna catch me on the stretch. Then I just gave it every single thing I had.”
Martin said the race was “a tremendous run for a lot of reasons.”
“That’s the best race she’s ever run, in terms of the second half of the race, where she just kept gritting it out and running tough,” he said. “She ran a 20-second PR. She’s now the second fastest girl in the history of Sweet Home High School.
“It was just, it was such a great race. And obviously she’s so well-liked by her teammates, by the coaches, by everybody. We were overjoyed because this has been a huge goal of hers for a long time. I couldn’t be happier.”
Reviewing what he considered the high points of the meet, Whitfield said: “It’s hard not to mention Dillon Colton in the 400. Then you have McKenzie in the 3000 and Loralai Mark in the long jump. Jack Simmons’ 160-foot throw was big.
“Pretty much everybody did great. We had a season’s best from our girls 4×100 and it didn’t stop on Saturday. All the way around, they did really well.”
The Husky boys finished with 20 personal bests and 14 for the girls, not counting the relays, in which they chopped significant amounts off their season’s bests in all four.
Fifteen of Sweet Home’s scorers on the boys side were underclassmen – out of 25 scorers in all. For the girls, out of a total of 20 scorers, five were freshmen or sophomores, with eight more finishing ninth – one place out of scoring.
The 4A state championships start at 9 a.m. Friday, May 30, at Hayward Field in Eugene with the girls 4A 3000, followed by preliminaries in all the track events shorter than 1500 meters. The 4A boys pole vault and shot put will be at 11 a.m. and 11:30, respectively.
Track finals events start with the short relay at 12:54 p.m. Saturday. The 4A boys javelin will be at 9:30 a.m.
Whitfield said he just hopes the Huskies can do their best.
“Realistically, I just want them to go out and PR, do best they can, see what happens,” he said. “In just about every event we’re in, we’re not the top dog but we can score.
“The state meet is kind of a crap shoot. Gavin Tyler is throwing a foot further than Dylan Sharp was last year. I think he’s going in seeded ninth and Dylan placed seventh last year. There are some really good athletes out there this year.”
Burr said qualifying for state has been a dream since he got a chance to watch the state championships as a seventh-grader.
“I just recognized the high atmosphere and all the high achievers there and how legendary and historical the place is,” Burr said. “Ever since that moment, I’ve been working and that’s been one of my main motivations. I’m super grateful to run there. It’ll be new and exciting to be able to run on the same track as a lot of my idols.”
Boys Results
Note: In accordance with a directive from the OSAA, all the field events were measured in metric units, as they will be at the state meet.
Team Scores – (1) Philomath 190.5; (2) Sweet Home 162; (3) Newport 130; (4) Cascade 82; (5) Stayton 68.5; (6) North Marion 22.
Top Two (State Qualifiers) and Sweet Home Results (Note: Finishes lower than eighth are prelims finishes)
* Personal Best Time/Mark
100 – (1) C.D. Nuno (Philomath) 11.44; (2) Nicholas Gianni (Newport) 11.55; (3) Chase Cameron (SH) 11.63; (7) Landon Murry (SH) 11.94; (11) Conner Stevens (SH) 12.31.
200 – (1) Warwick Bushnell (Philomath) 22.52; (2) C.D. Nuno (Philomath) 22.78; (3) Dillan Davis (SH) 22.91*; (4) Kolton Wilmarth (SH) 23.06*; (5) Chase Cameron (SH) 23.92.
400 – (1) Warwick Bushnell (Philomath) 52.00; (2) Dillan Davis (SH) 50.48*; (3) Kolton Wilmarth (SH) 50.55* (qualified on time).
800 – (1) Noah Larson (Newport) 2:02.37; (2) Ryker Burr (SH) 2:02.44*; (3) Kasey Kast (SH) 2:06.07 (qualified for state after Larson was injured); (13) Acen Webber (SH) 2:18.07*.
1500 – (1) Noah Larson (Newport) 4:08.92; (2) Leo Pausch (Philomath) 4:13.27; (3) Avery Chandler (Newport) 4:15.00 (qualified on time); (11) Kace Stevens (SH) 4:48.14*; (12) Louis Kistner (SH) 4:48.40; (15) Evan Knight (SH) 4:52.35*.
3000 – (1) Avery Chandler (Newport) 9:03.71; (2) Leo Pausch (Philomath) 9:07.60; (10) Evan Knight (SH) 10:24.71*; (12) Conner Spencer (SH) 10:44.15*.
110 Hurdles – (1) Nick Larson (SH) 16.90; (2) London Swank (North Marion) 17.22; (5) Kaeson Walker (SH) 18.45*.
300 Hurdles – (1) Nick Larson (SH) 43.69; (2) Blake Baker (Cascade) 44.26; (9) Jack Simmons (SH) 46.98.
4×100 Relay – (1) Philomath 43.92; (2) Sweet Home (Conner Stevens, Kolton Wilmarth, Dillan Davis, Chase Cameron) 44.61; (3) Newport 44.81; (4) Stayton 45.59; (5) Cascade 47.03; (6) North Marion 48.95.
4×400 Relay – (1) Sweet Home (Ryker Burr, Kasey Kast, Dillan Davis, Kolton Wilmarth) 3:31.50; (2) Philomath 3:33.70; (3) Newport 3:33.70; (4) Stayton 3:46.85; (5) Cascade 3:49.13; (6) North Marion 4:13.52.
Shot Put – (1) Liam Brewer (Cascade) 16.43 meters/53-11; (2) Gavin Tyler (SH) 14.34/47-0¾; (6) Jackson Barringer (SH) 11.74*/38-6¼ ; (13) Caden Folley (SH) 9.55/31-4.
Discus – (1) Liam Brewer (Cascade) 52.47 meters/172-1; (2) Jamin Peters (Philomath) 43.11/141-5; (3) Conner Pace (SH) 37.90/124-4; (11) Cannon Klumph (SH) 29.62/97-2; (12) Jon Hart (SH) 28.91/94-10.
Javelin – (1) Josiah Peters (Philomath) 55.22 meters/181-2; (2) Jack Simmons (SH) 49.03*/160-10; (7) Ean Tackett (SH) 39.01*/128-0; (12) Gunnar Summers (SH) 33.91*/111-3.
High Jump – (1) Dreyton Nuno (Philomath) 1.85/6-0¾ ; (2) Samuel Hernandez (Philomath) 1.82/5-11½; (7) Sam Barringer (SH) 1.69*/5-6½; (9-three-way tie included) Elisha Scofield (SH). Mason Tyler (SH) 1.64/5-4½ (PR for Tyler).
Pole Vault – (1) Nick Larson (SH) 3.45 meters/11-3¾; (2) Blake Hauck (Philomath) 3.15/10-4; (3) Kasey Kast (SH) 3.15*/10-4; (5) Elisha Scofield (SH) 3.00/9-10.
Long Jump – (1) Kaden Howard (Philomath) 6.66 meters/21-10¼ ; (2) Aaidyn Bokura (Newport) 6.40/21-0; (4) Landon Murry (SH) 5.76/18-10¾; (5) Kaeson Walker (SH) 5.72/18-9¼; (11) Mason Tyler (SH) 5.27/17-3½.
Triple Jump – (1) Aaidyn Bokuro (Newport) 13.65 meters/44-9½; (2) Kaden Howard (Philomath) 12.74/41-9¾; (3) Kaeson Walker (SH) 12.22/40-1¼ ; (4) Sam Barringer (SH) 12.07/39-7¼.
Girls Results
Team Scores – (1) Philomath 210; (2) Cascade 160; (3) Stayton 110; (4) Sweet Home 80; (5) Newport 69; (6) North Marion 18.
100 – (1) Janice Hellesto (Philomath) 12.42; (2) Allison Course (Cascade) 13.02; (8) Loralai Mark (SH) 13.83; (9) Brooke Elder (SH) 13.54; (13) Jayla Moore (SH) 14.18.
200 – (1) Janice Hellesto (Philomath) 25.05; (2) Lillian Pickett (Cascade) 25.38; (9) Brooke Elder (SH) 28.66; (11) Jayla Moore (SH) 20.27*; (15) Sophia Stock (SH) 30.27*.
400 – (1) Lillian Pickett (Cascade) 59.96; (2) Natalie Dunne (Philomath) 57.97; (3) Makenna Fraser (Cascade) 1:01.25 (qualified on time); (6) Sophia Stock (SH) 1:08.19*.
800 – (1) Haliey Butenschoen (Stayton) 2:18.52; (2) Reagan Nuno (Philomath) 2:23.34; (4) Noelle Helfrich (SH) 2:37.36*.
1500 – (1) Cassidy Smart (Philomath) 4:49.56; (2) Alexandra Curtis (Newport) 4:57.21; (3) Adele Beckstead (Philomath) 5:01.32 (qualified on time); (4) McKenzie Miller ()SH) 5:04.53*; (5) Emma Whitton (SH) 5:19.08; (9) Miu Simmons (SH) 5:48.21.
3000 – (1) Cassidy Smart (Philomath) 10.44.38; (2) Mckenzie Miller (SH) 10:52.53*; (6) Emma Whitton (SH) 11:41.18; (9) Miu Simmons (SH) 12.52.49.
100 Hurdles – (1) Makenna Burns (Cascade) 17.03; (2) Evelyn Welch (Stayton) 17.58; (3) Delanie Pratt (SH) 17.94*.
300 Hurdles – (1) Evelyn Welch (Stayton) 46,60; (2) Petra Hernandez (Philomath) 49.24; (10) Amara Gonzales (SH) 55.08.
4×100 Relay – (1) Cascade 48.66; (2) Philomath 49.28; (3) Stayton 51.73; (4) Newport 52.56; (5) Sweet Home (Brooke Elder, Delainie Pratt, Jayla Moore, Loralai Mark) 52.74; (6) North Marion 53.40.
4×400 Relay – (1) Philomath 4:08.95; (2) Stayton 4:15.26; (3) Sweet Home (Noelle Helfrich, McKenzie Miller, Sophia Stock, Brooke Elder) 4:31.80; (4) North Marion 4:53.49 (Newport and Cascade DQ’d).
Shot Put – (1) Kalina Saechao (Cascade) 12.77 meters/41-10¾ ; (2) Molli Emmert (Stayton) 10.64/45-11; (5) Selah Wright (SH) 10.03/32-11; (9) Sydney Dominy (SH) 9.35/30-8¼; (10) Emerson Martineau (SH) 9.31/30-6½.
Discus – (1) Kalina Saechao (Cascade) 35.94 meters/117-11; (2) Musti Ferguson (Newport) 32.25/105-9; (5) Selah Wright (SH) 29.37/96-4; (7) Mailey Brewer (SH) 29.37/94-11; (11) Emerson Martineau (SH) 21.86/71-8.
Javelin – (1) Mia Morley (Stayton) 36.27 meters/119-0; (2) Olivia Frizelle (Cascade) 35.36/116-0; (3) Peyton Markell (SH) 32.73/107-4; (5) Abygail Foss (SH) 30.08*/98-8; (8) Selah Wright (SH) 28.18/92-5.
High Jump – (1) Anneka Steen (Philomath) 1.60 meters/5-3; (2) Hanna McDaniel (Philomath) 1.54/5-0½; (6) Loralai Mark (SH) 1.30/4-3¼ ; (10) Emma Whitton (SH) 1.25/4-1¼.
Pole Vault – (1) Aspen Russell (Philomath) 2.89 meters/9-5¾; (2) Ruby Strawn (Stayton) 2.76/9-0½; (5) Delainie Pratt (SH) 2.24/7-4 ¼.
Long Jump – (1) Janice Hellesto (Philomath) 5.44 meters/17-10¼; (2) Livia Free (Cascade) 5.05/16-7; (3) Loralai Mark (SH) 4.86*/15-11½; (9) Yadira Martinez (SH) 4.18*/13-8¾; (13) Khloe Wood (SH) 3.93/12-10¾.
Triple Jump – (1) Madelyn Olson (Stayton) 10.58 meters/45-8½; (2) Hailey Eckhold (Philomath) 10.38/34-0¾ ; (3) Reagan Nuno (Philomath) 10.38/34-0¾ ; (6) Beatrice Reeve (SH) 8.96*/29-4¾; (7) Amara Gonzales (SH) 8.84/29-0; (9) Miu Simmons (SH) 8.74/28-8¼.
District Track Championship Photos
