It might not have been exactly what they’d hoped for, but Sweet Home athletes came away with medals in four events from the 4A state track and field championships held Friday and Saturday, May 29-30, at Hayward Field in Eugene.
The boys short and long relay teams both finished seventh, and Dillan Davis was fifth in the 400, while senior Selah Wright, the only Husky girl to qualify, was sixth in the javelin.
“Things went pretty well,” Head Coach Nathan Whitfield said. “It was about what we anticipated.”
Davis’ finish was the highest of the meet for Sweet Home, as the boys finished tied with Hidden Valley and St. Helens at eight points each. Crook County won the team title with 78 points, followed by Henley (74), Marist (46) and Scappoose and The Dalles, which tied for fourth with 42 points.
The senior was unhappy that he didn’t break 50 seconds, his goal, but he was happy to get a medal.
“I was just hoping for a 49, but I didn’t get that,” he said. “I got pretty close, prelims and finals, so it was pretty disappointing. I just kept thinking about that 49 so much, I kept finding myself looking at the scoreboard instead of just trying to finish the race.”
He said he was also a little disappointed with the 43.74 finish he and junior Landon Murry, sophomore Sam Barringer and freshman Brayden Driver clocked in a seventh-place finish.
“We didn’t perform our best, but that’s right,” he said. “They’ve got next year.”
The 4×400 relay, though, proved to be a big finish for the Huskies, who were entered in the slower of the two heats.
Running third after legs by Driver and junior Ryker Burr, Murry was able to pull even with Madras’ Chris Gutierrez-Hernandez as they approached the final exchange, after battling past Hidden Valley’s Rylan Bohannon on the home stretch, and Davis took over to win the race, running a 49-second split in the final 400 for a time of 3:29.27 as Scappoose led the faster heat to win the event in 3:22.03, outleaning Henley 3:22.12.
Murry said he had to run in Lane 2 for much of the race, trying to pass the others.
“It was kind of tiring,” he admitted.
Davis said he was “confident” they could win the heat.
. “I knew we’d pull, pull through. We all had a long journey together.
He noted that Driver was at state as a freshman. “This guy’s in his first year in high school and he’s already racing the same speed as me.”
Driver said he was just happy to be at state.
“It’s a lot different environment,” he said. “I’m basically one of the only freshmen here, so I’m just stoked to be here. It’s awesome to be here with Dylan. He’s, like, my inspiration. Just seeing him run makes me excited.”
Burr, who had struggled with illness earlier in the day in a 2:13.24 finish in the 800, nearly 12 seconds slower than the time he’d run a week earlier at districts, said they worked together as a team in the 4×400.
“Not all of us are feeling our best, but we definitely went out there because we love each other,” he said. “We work hard for each other, so we can have that accomplishment and bond together. So, none of us were feeling amazing, but we gave our best effort, that’s what counts.”
Friday was cold and damp, which affected Wright’s state debut in the javelin.
“Everybody out there was struggling with the rain and cold,” Whitfield said, noting that only one of the 13 competitors posted a personal best. “She still did good, considering the conditions.”
Wright hit her biggest thrown on her second attempt, which was about 8 feet short of the PR
of 115-9 she threw at districts, which would have put her third in the state competition.
Barringer had trouble in the high jump early Saturday, as the opening bar was set at his personal best – 5-10. Barringer came close, particularly on his third attempt in which the bar appeared to stay put for a moment, then fell.
“That was a tough one for Sam,” Whitfield said. “It was a big ask to come in on a cold morning and jump your personal best on the first height. He just barely clipped the bar twice.”
Driver, who competed in four events in the meet, was disqualified in the 400, but came back to place 10th (43.16) as the only freshman in the field of 13, missing the final by a second and a half.
“Braden got DQ’d for stepping on the line, but he did good in the 300,” Whitfield said. “For him, it’s about getting that state experience, seeing what he could do next year.”
Murry was 14th in the 100, against what Whitfield described as one of the strongest fields he has seen at state in years.
“Landon had his work cut out for him in the 100,” the coach said. “State was really tough this year.” .
Senior Joseph Janney of Henley set a new meet record of 10.74 to win the event.
Davis just missed the final of the 200, finishing ninth in 22.81, as Janney went on to win that one as well, finishing in 21.49, one-hundredth of a second slower than the meet record he set last year as a junior.
Junior Gavin Tyler injured his knee in districts, and was only able to semi-spin on one throw in the shot, in which he placed 11th.
His biggest throw was 45-1, about 6 feet short of his PR of 51-8½, set the week before at districts, which would have gotten him fourth in the state competition.
“I think we had a great season,” Whitfield said, noting that both the boys won the majority of their meets and girls won multiple meets.
“Overall, we can’t complain about coming home with the district title. We did great all year.
I think we had a great season. Overall, we can’t complain about coming home with a district title. We did great all year.”
