Three Sweet Home runners qualified for the state championships Saturday at the district meet, hosted by Philomath.
Senior McKenzie Miller clinched her first-ever slot in the 4A girls championship race, while teammate Emma Whitton finished fourth. Runners who finish in the top seven, who are not already on a team that has qualified for state, qualify as at-large individuals.
The girls finished third as a team, behind Stayton and Philomath, which clinched automatic berths.
On the boys side, junior Ryker Burr finished sixth to qualify as an individual as the boys team placed fourth in a tight varsity race.
“This was the most competitive racing we have done at the district meet in the last four years,” Coach Dave Martin said. “We got two girls and one boy to state.”
Whitton placed fourth in state last year as a freshman, but Burr is the first boy to qualify for state from Sweet Home since Tanner Sayers did it in 2017.
Martin said he hoped his entire girls team could qualify for the single at-large team berth, but Molalla was chosen to go to state instead of the Huskies, who were lacking their No. 3 runner, Cassie Spencer, who had to sit out with an injury.
“I’m sad for our girls, but it’s fair,” Martin said. “It looks right.”
The Huskies had eight boys and six girls post personal bests, and those who didn’t weren’t far off on the soaking wet Philomath course. Rain fell during the entire meet.
“When you get people having their best race at the district race – they came and they raced well,” Martin said.
Sweet Home’s boys finished with 69 points, scored by a junior – Burr, three sophomores and a freshman. Philomath won the district title with 45 points, led by senior Leo Pausch, who led wire to wire in 16:06.41. Newport was second (54), followed closely by Stayton (56). Cascade was fifth with 139 points.
The girls finished with 66 points, scored by a senior – Miller, a junior, two sophomores and a freshman. Philomath won the girls team title with 33 points, led by individual winner Cassidy Smart, a sophomore who finished in 18:14.16, running away from the field at the start. Stayton was second (49) and Newport finished fourth (83).
“In the boys race, we scored as many points as the girls did, but we came in fourth,” Martin noted. “That tells you how competitive that race was. We scored less points than we have in the last four years and we were still fourth.”
But, he added, “we are getting close to where I want this program to be.”
For one thing, Sweet Home’s girls were the only ones to have at least five junior varsity runners, which is the number it takes to score in cross-country.
“I was really pleased with that,” Martin said. “It shows our depth; our quality is improving.”
Miller led the girls, running 19:19.81 for second, one second off her personal best for the 5K distance, followed by Whitton, fourth in 19:35.66 behind Newport junior Alexandra Curtis.
“McKenzie Miller had a phenomenal race, considering the fact she’s been battling some injuries and illness,” Martin said. “To have her run within one second off her lifetime PR, she just looked phenomenally strong.”
Rounding out the Husky finishers was junior Noelle Helfrich who was 21st in 23:38.86, leading a pack of Sweet Home’s other runners: sophomore Madison Ciullo, 22nd in 23:48.62 (a 22-second PR), freshman Pyper Hall, 23rd in 24:04.62 (and eight-second PR), who edged fellow freshman Marian Helfrich (24:04.76).
For the boys, Burr ran a PR of some 20 seconds to finish just shy of the 16-minute mark in 17:02.48. Freshman Elijah Rodriguez was ninth in 17:32.14, a three-second PR and 45 seconds ahead of the next freshman finisher, followed by sophomore Evan Knight, 12th in 17:59.32, a six-second personal best and his first time under 18:00.
“That’s the first time we’ve had three guys under 18 minutes in a long time,” Martin noted.
Sophomore Acen Webber was 15th in 18:10.09, sophomore Louis Kistner 27th in 18:58.10 after taking a fall midway through the race, junior Conner Spencer was 30th in 19:28.05 and sophomore Noah Strawn was 32nd in 19:35.48, an 11-second PR.
In the girls JV race, junior Miu Simmons placed third for Sweet Home in her third race of the year, after completing her girls soccer season earlier in the week. Her time of 24:58.01 was a personal best by nearly a minute, something she has done in all three of her races this season, her first in cross-country.
“Miu Simmons just had a phenomenal race,” Martin said. “She’s gotten better every race. She ran well, so well.”
Junior McKenzie Ohlheiser was eighth in 26:23.29, a 15-second PR, followed by senior Delanie Pratt, ninth in 27:25.65, freshman Lexi Lee in 30:42.30, followed by Zoie Allison in 32:42.99, a roughly 14-minute PR in only her second 5K of an injury-ridden season, and freshman Nevaeh Mize in a six-minute PR of 44:21.32 in her second 5K of the season, in which she also has been hobbled by injuries.
The junior varsity boys finished fourth in the team competition with 80 points, behidn Stayton (36), Philomath (45), Newport (74) and ahead of Cascade 100.
Sophomore Wes Goff finished 11th in 20:17.74 to lead Sweet Home, followed by freshmen Hudson Ogden, 12th in a one-second PR of 20:21.70, and Bentley Uhlry, 13th in 20:21.71, a 27-second PR.
Close behind was freshman Ryder Farris in 18th, running 21:05.72, sophomore Eli Adams in 21:42.48, a personal best by about half a minute, and junior Sam Strawn in 22:54.05, a PR by nearly a minute.
Martin noted that the young Huskies are no longer also-rans on either side.
“They were paying attention to us, to our team in competition,” he said. “We’ve made huge strides in how well we’ve raced as a team in big meets. I came away very pleased.
“It was a nice way for our kids to finish.”
The 4A state championships, held at Lane Community College in Eugene, start Saturday, Nov. 8, with the boys race at 11:45 a.m. The girls will follow at 12:20. There is an admission charge; tickets are available at www.osaa.org/tickets.
