Tristan Calkins and Jessy Hart were named the Most Valuable Runners for the Sweet Home track and field team Saturday, May 29, at an awards luncheon held at The Barn at Community Chapel.
The two were selected by their teammates as the best all-around athletes on the team, Head Coach Nathan Whitfield said.
Calkins won the state long jump title and placed second by three-thousandths of a second in the 200, after a fourth-place finish in the 100.
Hart was second in the 400 and fifth in the 200 at state.
Whitfield said Calkins “has been a stud since his freshman year” for the Huskies, placing second in the long jump as a sophomore after suffering an injured hip flexor.
“To be honest, I wish we had more time this year and could have found in another place potentially or seeing what the relays could have done to get him his fourth event at state,” Whitfield said. “He’s been rock solid all four years, been a great athlete and a great competitor.
“He’s been an absolute pleasure to coach. He’s worked his butt off, on and off the track, in the offseason getting in the weight room, making himself better. He’s a great example for the younger kids.”
Hart was introduced by Sprints Coach Ramiro Santana as someone who is “like one of your kids” to him as a coach.
He described how Hart has to battle sickness after running hard races, “and that’s hard, but she goes out there and runs.”
He said, after coaching her for four years, “you get to know her, the way she works, the way she behaves before practices and races,” and, he added, “you wish everything will go well for her.”
He said “it is hard” to let Hart go, but “it’s been a pleasure.
“It happens, and I wish you the best in your future,” Santana told Hart as he presented the award.
Whitfield said the track season was “an absolute pleasure” and while he hates seeing this year’s seniors leave, “they’ve been an absolute blast to coach and they’ve been great examples, every single one of them.”
“But I’ am also looking forward to these freshmen,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of freshmen coming up that I see a lot of potential for these kids. It’s going to be a pleasure looking forward. I expect some great things out of them. Same with the juniors and sophomores. I am really looking forward to the future.”
He noted that the Huskies finished in the top 10 in the academic standings among 4A track teams. The girls were fourth, with a 3.79 GPA, and the boys were 10th.
“Great job, all you guys, for keeping your grades up, particularly in these chaotic times,” Whitfield said.
Distance Runners of the Year were sophomore Meeja Bitter and junior Eddie Martinez-Maya.
Best Jumpers were seniors Tristan Calkins and Shelbey Nichol, both of whom were not only the team’s top performers but were league leaders in their events as well, Whitfield said. Calkins finished the season as the third-best performer in the long jump in school history. Whitfield noted that Nichol’s track career eventually focused on the shot and the triple jump, “a weird combination that you don’t normally see,” he noted, adding that she made it to state in both this year.
Best Throwers were Nichol and sophomore Mason Lopez, who won the district meet and placed at state with big throws on his final attempts in both competitions.
Sprinters of the Year, introduced by Ramiro Santana, were Hart and Calkins.
Hustle Award recipients, recognized by team members and coaches as those “working the hardest all day long, every day,” as Whitfield put it, “to improve as best they could,” went to Charlie Crawford, Crystal Wolf, Lydia Wright and Martinez-Maya.
The Best Newcomer Award went to three freshmen, Ivy Dewitte, Rilee Markell and Deanna Zianna Duncan, and to senior Ethan Hurst, who transferred from East Linn Christian Academy this season.
Will to Win awards, which go to athletes who never stop competing, “who are always looking to win, even against their own team,” as Whitfield put it, went to Hart, Nichol, Gavin Walberg and Nate Coleman.
Coaches Awards, presented to individuals that coaches “think are special people on the team that really stand out,” went to three individuals who were “the heart and soul of this team,” Whitfield said.
They were Walberg, Hart and Nichol.
Whitfield said the three were like “a second set of coaches” on the field, who would advise younger athletes and set them straight when needed.
Walberg, he said, “was the one who did that for me the most. He was a great leader on this team.
“He wasn’t necessarily the fastest, but he was, I would say, the heart and soul of this team.”
Whitfield said Hart was “the rock around which our girls team has been built for the last four years.
“She always tried to compare herself to (2018 graduate) Bethany Gingerich, though little does she know, she actually ran faster than Bethany in the 400 in both senior years.
“If you had last season and this season, there was a chance you would have 100 percent beaten Bethany in just about every category,” he told Hart, noting that the runner had a goal to break one minute and ran 1:00.00 in the state final.
Nichol, Whitfield said, hated running, so he was “surprised” when, on a bus ride home from a track meet, she told him she’d be willing to run the 4-by-400 relay.
“My jaw dropped. As soon as I told Santana, he almost cried,” Whitfield said. “She absolutely stepped up and filled in anywhere we needed and ended up being a great runner. Great jumper. Great thrower. She fills all the slots.”
Fourth-year letter winners were Shelbey Nichol, Gavin Walberg, Natalie Rodgers, Tristan Calkins and Jessy Hart.
Third-year letters went to Hailey Green, Kailey James, Aiden Shamek, Jillian Lynn, Crystal Wolf, Paul Amrein, Nate Coleman, and Tanner Waldrop.
Second-year letter winners were Colby Gazeley, Jake Fanning, Eddie Martinez-Maya and Charlie Crawford.
First-year letters went to: Mason Lopez, Lydia Wright, Rylee Markell, Kallie Maas, Kami Hart, Victoria Ferrioli, Iris Erickson, Ivy Dewitte, Zianna Duncan, Meeja Bitter, Angel Cordes, Ben Tolman, Ethan Hurst, Chase Lopez and Meagan Baham.
Participation awards went to Evan Jensen, Tyler Lemmer, Tristan Lemmer and Max Klumph.