Sweet Home completed its regular-season track schedule last week with a home victory over Newport on Monday, May 12, and multiple PRs from the Oregon West JV Districts meet held Thursday at Stayton.
On Senior Night Monday, against Newport and Mohawk, the Huskies fielded a limited line-up and seniors were allowed to choose events they wanted to compete in.
Senior Kasey Kast had a good day, finishing second in the 100 (12.30) and going 9-6 in the pole vault, which actually places him seventh in the league standings, in his first attempts in those events in high school.
So did sophomore Nick Larson, who posted a personal best of over a foot to win the pole vault in 11-8.
“That was a pretty laid-back, easy meet,” Coach Nathan Whitfield said. “Our big standout was Nick in the pole vault.”
Senior Jackson Barringer had a 3-foot PR of 37-7 to place third in the shot, senior Conner Pace had 4-foot PR (35-10) and sophomore Caden Foley finished with a 2-foot personal best (33.2).
Sophomore Henry Jones had an 11-foot personal best in the discus (82-1), while senior Dylan Sharp competed for the first time this year in that event and finished third with a throw of 103-2.
Dillan Davis clocked a 1-sec PR to win the 400 in 52.50 to win and sophomore Conner Spencer won the 800 in 2:27.35, his first time running that event in high school.
On the girls side, junior McKenzie Miller posted a three-second PR of 2:31.07 to win the 800 and sophomore Miu Simmons was second in 2:43.77, a five-second personal best /
Freshman Bailey Newens notched a 4-foot PR of 77-9 to place fourth in the javelin and junior Delanie Pratt cut nearly half a second off her PR in 100 hurdles to win in 18.40.
Sweet Home won both the boys and girls team competitions, the boys scoring 129 points to 27 from Mohawk and 13 from Newsport, which did not field some of its big performers.
The girls finished with 107.5 points over Newport (31.5) and Mohawk (4).
On Thursday, the boys won the JV Districts meet, which included Regis (located next door to Stayton), going away, with 115 points to 98 from second-place Cascade and 74 for Philomath, followed by Stayton (63), Regis (37) and Newport (29).
On the girls side, Cascade finished with 131 points, with Sweet Home second (75), Philomath third (47), followed by Stayton (37), Newport (33) and Regis (24).
Some of the bigger performances for the Huskies came from the sophomores – Logan Anderson, who posted a three-second PR in the 300 hurdles (49.69) to win the event, Mailey Brewer with a nearly 2-foot PR in the shot (26-5) to finish third and McKenzie Olheiser with an 8-foot personal best in the javelin (63-9).
Freshman Malakai Walls had a 15-foot PR in the javelin (93-8) and Braden Eggers, also a freshman finished fourth with a thyroid of 96-11, his best by 4½ feet.
Senior Boden Sayers was right behind with 96-8, a 6½ foot PR.
On the girls side, freshman Sydney Dominy continued steady improvement with a nearly 2-foot PR of 75-7 in the discus
This weekend things get real for the Huskies, as they will compete in the Oregon West Conference championships at Philomath Friday and Saturday. The boys finished second last year and Whitfield said they want the big trophy.
“We’re hoping for a district title, especially with the guys,” Whitfield said, adding, “They have their work cut out for them. Philomath is going to be tough to catch, but they’ve got a chance.
“On the girls side, we’ve got a steeper hill to climb,” he said. “We just don’t have the numbers that we do on the guys’ side. It’s so hard to get up there in the team points without those numbers.”
Philomath’s girls are the defending state champions, with Cascade tying for second at last year’s state meet.
Six of the Warriors are back from that girls team, including three of their four 4×100 and 4×400 team members and they’re joined by a group of freshmen who are just as talented.
Boys District
On the boys side, Phlomath’s Warwick Bushnell and C.D. Nuno are the top two in the 100 and 200, with Sweet Home’s Colton Wilmarth third in the 200 (23.29) behind Nuno (22.70) and Bushnell (22.36) with Davis a close fourth (23.37 and Chase Cameron fifth (23.51).
Wilmarth is ranked second in 400 (51.62) behind Bushnell (50.44) with Davis fourth (52.50).
Huskies sophomore Ryker Burr is second in 800 (2:03.46) behind Newport senior Noah Larson (2:01.40). Kast ranked sixth (2:06.85), ‘
Sweet Home has nobody in the top 10 in the 1500 or 3000 going into the meet.
Larson is ranked first in 300 hurdles (43,62), half a second ahead of the competition, and second in the 110 high hurdles (16.88) behind Philomath freshman Blake Baker (16.81).
Incidentally, Sweet Home senior Jack Simmons, who has run the event once, is ranked sixth (46.34) in 300s after that single race.
The Huskies’ best in the 4×100 this year is 45.38, third-fastest in league behind Newport (44.87) and Philomath (43.65), so that race may very likely come down simply to execution.
In 4×400, Sweet Home is second in the rankings (3:34.81), half a second behind Philomath (3:34.30), with the closest competition at least seven seconds behind.
In the shot, Sharp is second at 48-5 behind Cascade’s Lam Brewer (50-0) , who dominates the heavy throws. Sophomore Gavin Tyler is a close third (47-9), three feet ahead of the next competitor.
Simmons has the second-best effort in the OWC javelin standings at 149-6, 6 feet ahead of the nearest competitor but well behind Philomath junior Josiah Peters (181-0).
Sweet Home has no one near the top in the boys high jump, but the Huskies are one-two in the pole vault with Larson at 11-8 and Elisha Scofield tied with Phikomath’s Blake Hauck for second at 10-6.
In the long jump, Sweet Home’s Landon Murry is third (19-10¾ ), about nine inches behind the top two, with Mason Tyler a close fourth at 19-3.
In the triple jump, sophomore Kaeson Walker is ranked third (40-11), with Sam Barringer fourth (40-3¾),
Girls District
Sweet Home has no girls anywhere close to the top of the league in any of the sprints, going into the meet, or in the 800.
McKenzie Miller is fifth in the 1500 (5:09.03) and fourth in the 3000 (11:12) with Emma Whitton right behind (11:37, but Miller is about 30 seconds out of contention as Philomath runners dominate the top two spots in both distances. Freshman Emma Whitton beat both of the Warriors’ top distance runners, senior Adele Beckstead and freshman Cassidy Smart, in cross-country, but she has yet to reach their level this track season.
In the 100 hurdles Pratt is fifth (18.50) , but she’s about a second out of contention.
Both girls relays are ranked fifth.
In the throws, Cascade’s Kalina Saechao is way out in front in shot and discus. The Huskies’ junior Selah Wright is fourth in shot (33-9), but she needs a big PR to get into competition for a trip to state. She’s closer in the discus, in which she’s also fourth (101-6), a 5-foot PR would put her into contention for a trip behind Saechao.
Senior Peyton Markell has progressed in the javelin, moving into the No. 2 spot in the league (112-4).
In the girls high jump, two Phomath seniors, both back from last year’s state meet, have cleared 5-2, but five have jumped 4-8, including Sweet Home’s Sophia Stock, so if someone can’t deliver this weekend, it could be a vigorous competition for a state berth.
The same is true in the pole vault, in which Pratt is fourth (8-0), and a big PR could move her right into the thick of things as two Phlomath vaulters have cleared 9 feet.
In the long jump, Philomath senior Janice Hellesto has a solid lead at 18-2, but Loralai Mark (15-2) is within seven inches of the second- and third-ranked jumpers.
The district meet starts with field events at 3 p.m. Friday, and running heats beginning at 3:30 with the 3000 finals. Depending on temperatures, the 3000 could be moved to the evening and the heats for shorter events would then be moved up.
Finals for field events on Friday will be girls high jump, javelin and long jump, and boys pole vault, long jump, discus and shot.
Saturday’s events begin at 11 a.m. with the boys high jump and girls pole vault, followed by girls triple jump and shot put, boys javelin and triple jump, and girls discus.
Track events start with the short relay at 1 p.m., followed by the 1500. Finals for all the other track events will follow.