Scott Swanson
After a four-year run of state-trophy success for the Sweet Home track and field teams – two firsts and a second for the boys, two fourths and a third for the girls during that period, the Huskies are looking at a new era. The question is what kind of an era it will be.
The cupboard isn’t bare, but it doesn’t look like it did going into last season, with speedsters Alex Santana and Alex Coakley on the boys side and Maria Kropf back from winning state championships for the girls.
Gone are the experienced seniors who helped lead the charge to the state medals stand – sprinters Kropf, Santana and Coakley, thrower Zach Jackson and distance runners Olivia Johnson and Carissa Swanson.
“We have 80 to 82 kids out right now,” Coach Billy Snow said. “Only 35 have been in a track meet. That lets you know we’re a rookie group. I told the other coaches we’re going to have to think outside the box.”
That means the Huskies can expect to be the subjects of some experimentation, he said, as coaches try them in different events “to see what they can do.”
The good news is that the 35 returnees include some athletes with significant experience.
Back for the girls is senior Annie Whitfield, who finished second in the state javelin competition last year and will be looking to improve on her school record of 142-4, set when she won the district title.
Also back is senior Davyn Makin, the district champ in the long jump (17-3) and runner-up (behind Kropf) in the 100, and freshman Nicole Rasmussen, who won a district title in the 3000 (11:29.12). Senior Laura Mauer, who was third in the district discus competition, and Kaitlyn Watts, who was fourth as a freshman, are back as well.
Senior sprinter Jessika Stewart also returns, who, together with Makin and Whitfield, make up three legs of the 4×100 relay team that, with Kropf anchoring, won two state titles and placed a close second last year. Stewart injured her knee during the fall, but has battled back.
“That girl is tough as nails,” Snow said. “I have a lot of respect for her. It would have been so easy for her to say, ‘gosh, I’ve had it. I keep hurting myself.’ But she didn’t.”
On the boys side, senior Nick Hall is back after winning the district titles in the 400 and 300 hurdles, in which he placed sixth and fifth, respectively, at state.
Also back is Jake Johnson, the district champ in the discus as a junior. Daniel Danforth, who qualified for state in the 3000 returns, as does Zane Jackson, fifth in the shot as a sophomore, and Chris Carpenter, third in the 110 hurdles at district as a junior.
Snow said he thinks sophomore Spencer Knight could add some speed to the boys, after finishing as the top freshman in the 200 at the district meet last year.
“Spencer had a good season as a freshman,” he said. “We asked a lot of him. I saw him mature this year in other sports. I hope that carries over.”
He said both the girls and boys have a “good, core distance group.
“I’m letting those kids have the reins, letting them take over and see what they can do. I’ll tell you what, they’ll all get to run the 4×400.”
As of last week, the girls roster also included Samantha Ashlock, Anna Chang, Kara Clement, Olivia Coakley, Macy Cockrell, Jade Corliss, Sonya Corliss, Crystal Crites, McKenzie Curtis, Kayla Daniels, Alena Davis, Sabrina Davis, Anastasiya Domashenko, Sadie Gordon, Shiho Harada, Courtney Kent, Konane Leslie, Jordan Miller, Tashana Mithen, Chloe Muir, Phoebe Olsen, Sierrah Owen, India Porter, Tahali Robbins, Karson Rodgers, Paige Sanders, Faith Swaney, Kimber Swanson, Yoshiko Tomono, Christina Ulmer, Nicole Wilson, Jasmin Yoder and Kelsie Zartman.
The boys roster is rounded out by Hunter Burge, Caleb Castle, Clint Doles, Eric Flierl, Kyler Gaskey, Robert Gourley, Daniel Goughnour, Joseph Hefty, Jakob Hiett, Chace Hutchins, Brody Johnson, David Johnson, Dalton Jones, Brett King, Austin Koerschgen, Nick Mattson, Bryce Mitten, Angel Negron, Maxx Nguyen, Joshua Pickett, Zach Pratt, Kyle Rose, Alex Seitz, David Skeen, Dakota Snow, Scottie Stockman, Ashton Stuzman, Ben Terry, Anthony Vincent, Justin Webb, Ian Wingo, Kyle Wodtli, Shawn Wodtli and Parke Young.
Snow said the Huskies don’t appear to have the speed they’ve shown in the past several years, particularly on the boys side, but he said the returnees with state experience will likely make a difference.
“I still think we can come up with some competitive relays on both boys and girls side, especially when we graduate Maria and both Alexes,” he said. “We’ve got to find some younger hurdlers. We’re going to have to try kids in a lot of events and see where they’re best. Maybe they think their best event is the 100. We might find out they’re better in the 200 or the 400.
“We’ve got some kids back with some pretty good resumes. They’re going to have to step up, be leaders and show the other kids how to work. It remains to be seen where we’re at. It’s hard to make any prediction.”
Snow said he and other coaches will be pushing athletes to try events they may not immediately consider.
“We’re going to take the kids and force them to try other things, see what they can do. We’ll really be pushing the throwers, telling them to pick the shot or disc and then do another event.”
In addition to the preponderance of rookies, weather and early training has prevented the Huskies from getting on the track, so the actual work on specific events really started late last week, Snow said.
This year’s schedule starts March 22 with the Darrel Deedon Icebreaker at Cascade, which, if it wasn’t the first meet of the season and therefore a non-scoring event, would be, as Snow termed it, “a high-powered meet if that were in the middle of the season. You’re looking at some pretty good teams – Cascade, us, Philomath and Scappoose.”
Joining veteran assistants Randy and Nathan Whitfield (javelin), Mike Severns (javelin), Crystal Streight (girls shot, discus), Jim Kistner (sprints, jumps, hurdles), Ramiro Santana (sprints), Aaron Watts (discus), and Jess Keys (high jump) will be two newcomers, Andrew Allen, who ran for the Huskies in the late 1990s and then at Eastern Oregon, and Sevin Clayson, who is assisting with the throws.
“I’ve got a pretty good crew out there,” Snow said. “Everybody’s back except for Kate (Buhler, who is now teaching in Japan). I’d love to have her back but I think she kind of likes it over there in Japan.”
New this year on the schedule will be two late-season meets: the Rob Allen Twilight Invitational on Lebanon’s brand new track on May 4 and a three-way meet at Sprague with North Salem on May 9.
“That will be fun, spreading our wings against teams you never, ever see,” Snow said. “The district meet is a week later, so that works out pretty good,” he said of the Sprague meet. “We can control where we put the kids in a big meet like that and it will be a good measuring stick for kids.”
Snow said he expects Sisters to be the team to catch on both the boys and girls side.
“They have a ton of speed and they have one of the better girls pole vaulters in the state. I think everybody else will be on the outside, looking in.”
Sisters, Cottage Grove and Junction City all have new head coaches, so the Sky-Em League “looks a little different,” Snow said.
Though they are only in their second year in the league, Snow said the Huskies get to host the district meet on May 17 and 19.
“It’s the way the rotation fell for this league. They plugged us in alphabetically and off we go,” he said.
“That will be fun.”