After Sweet Home’s wrestling and girls swimming programs topped the academic all-state lists for winter season, the baseball and softball teams have both won the top 4A academic all-state award for the spring season.
“I’m really impressed with our girls swim team, ranking first in the entire state with a 4.0,” said Athletic Director Mark Looney. The wrestlers finished with a 3.8 GPA, also the highest among all divisions statewide.
The baseball team is running with a 3.69 GPA, and the softball team is at a 3.8 GPA. Both are number one in the 4A Division.
Also among winter award-winning teams, the boys basketball team was fourth in the 4A with a 3.7 GPA.
“Nearly all of our spring sports were scholar athletes in the top 10,” Looney said. “It’s coaches holding kids accountable and working with parents and teachers.”
For spring, girls track is second with a 3.78 GPA; girls golf, second, 3.8; band, third, 3.6; boys track, eighth, 3.29; boys golf, 10th, 3.18 GPA; and choir, 10th, 3.07.
Along with the success in state championships and sportsmanship, academic success is rolled into choosing the winner of the OSAA cup, Looney said. Right now, Sweet Home, with 1,752.5 points, is second among 4A schools statewide, trailing Valley Catholic, a perennial front-runner, with 2,102.5 points. Sweet Home is fifth statewide among all divisions.
Looney noted that Sweet Home is the top public school in the 4A and third among all public schools.
“I’m very proud of our kids,” Looney said. “It’s the students and coaches striving to have academic excellence and sportsmanship.”
Trailing Sweet Home is Marist, 1,732.5 points, Looney said. Baker, 1,667.5 points, is in fourth place.
“I can’t wait to see what happens with our spring sports,” Looney said. Sweet Home could still earn more points toward the OSAA Cup. “I think the community should be proud of how our students are doing athletically and academically.”
In the five years Looney has worked in Sweet Home, he said, “we always stress that they’re student athletes – students first, athletes second.”