Sweet Home was among 19 schools that competed in the 24th annual French Prairie Invitational Track Meet held at Woodburn High School Saturday. The competition included a mix of 4A through 2A schools from around the Willamette Valley. To be entered, athletes had to meet qualifying standards or times.
“We had a lot of kids qualify but due to conflict with prom, we took a small group of just six athletes,” Coach Billy Snow said.
They included Jared Allen, Keegan Burnett, Mike Severns, Ashley Smith, Lisa Brocard and Rachel Gaskey qualified in nine events.”
“This was a great opportunity for the kids,” Coach Snow said. “This is a big meet, held at a quality site. Woodburn ran a great meet and the kids got to see some big time track and field that is completely different from our usual 2-3 way meets. It was great preparation for the district meet for these athletes.”
Team scores were not available at press time but Oregon City won the girls side with Silverton second and Newberg winning the boys side.
“Overall, our kids had a great day,” Coach Snow said. “Out of nine events, our kids set seven personal records on the day. Along the way, the kids placed in seven of nine events and set or bettered six Sweet Home class marks and one all time mark. We were really proud and pleased with how they rose to the level of competition.”
In the long jumps, Mike Severns, Ashley Smith and Lisa Brocard all had PRs on the day. Severns had all three of his jumps over 18 feet and finished 12th out of 16 jumpers. His mark betters the No. 6 frosh mark in school history. Smith struggled with her check mark and had only three legal jumps. Her best of 15-03 1/4 took fourth place overall and puts her No. 5 on the frosh list. Brocard had six legal jumps and all but one was over her previous PR. Her best of the day was 15-01 which placed her seventh overall and placed her No. 5 on the frosh list.
Rachel Gaskey continued her improvement in the shot put. Gaskey had a best put of 31-07 1/2 on the day, good enough for sixth place overall. Her mark places her No. 5 on the school frosh list.
In the triple jump, Severns had a big jump in the prelims of 32-08, about a foot over her previous PR. The mark was good enough for fourth place overall and places her No. 5 on the all time school list and established a new frosh record by more than 1 1/2 feet.
In the high jump, Brocard came back to place sixth. She struggled wit her mark early but a slight adjustment allowed her to make 4-06 on her first attempt and she placed higher due to fewer misses.
In the pole vault, Keegan Burnett make 10-06 for the third meet in a row to place sixth. It’s a matter of time before Burnett goes higher in a meet. He has cleared 11-06 in practice and will do so in a meet when he puts it all together, Coach Snow said.
In the 100M dash, Severns caught a fast race track and made the most of the opportunity. He ran a season PR of 11.99 auto which is comparable to an 11.8 hand-held timed. That time placed Severns 13th out of 20 runners and No. 3 on the frosh list.
In the final event, Jared Allen ran a 44.70 auto for eighth place overall in the 300M hurdles. Although Allen’s time is well off his season PR, everyone in the heat was a second or more slower than their best. The wind had picked up and the temperature had dropped, Coach Snow said. “After a full day of waiting, most of the runners were off their normal routine.”