Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
It looks to be another tight race among Val-Co cross-country teams this year and Sweet Home has a chance to be in the thick of it on both the boys and girls sides – that is, if the Huskies can overcome the challenges they face.
On the boys side, the loss of four seniors leaves the team in rebuilding mode, while on the girls side the Huskies not only have to rebuild after the departure of three seniors, but they have few additions to rebuild with.
Girls Cross-Country
Female runners wanted.
That was the message from cross-country Coach Billy Snow this week as school began.
Coming off their first district championship in 14 years, the Huskies are hurting with the loss of three seniors and a lack of new recruits – thus far.
The cupboard is not bare, though.
Despite the loss of district champion Amanda Basham, four-year varsity veteran Ashley Danielson and Justine Calhoon to graduation, Sweet Home returns four members of last year’s district and state team in sophomores Olivia Johnson (third at districts), Carissa Swanson (fourth at districts), Jill Mahler (16th at districts) and Jenna Kistner (28th in the 32-runner field).
The team also includes junior Natasha Perry, who ran junior varsity last year, senior Louise Wilcox, who also was a JV runner, and newcomers Caroline Amendola, a sophomore in her first year of cross-country, and freshman Sarah Hawkins.
“We’re actually a fairly young team,” Snow said. “We don’t have enough bodies. Last year we could throw a few subs in. This year we don’t have that luxury.”
Snow said that without Basham, who switched from volleyball her senior year to become one of the best distance runners in school history, the Huskies will have to concentrate on running together to get their scores as low as possible.
“Instead of having the top three or four (runners) like last year, we’re going to have to pack them in as close as we can,” he said.
“Olivia and Carissa can be one and two and the rest, we’ll have to pack them in as close as we can.”
Mahler ran under 24 minutes last year over the typical 5000-meter distance and Snow is hoping one or two of the rest can get into that range as well.
“If we can find three other girls who can run in the 23’s, I think we can do pretty good,” he said. “Olivia and Carissa both are a year smarter and have a year of experience behind them. They’re tough little runners.”
The question right now is who’s coming back and who is coming in for the rest of the teams in the league.
Philomath, which is ranked in “Who’s Who in Oregon Track and Field” as the most successful program in the state on both the boys and girls sides, has qualified its girls team for state 28 straight years – more than any other team, on any level, in state meet history.
The Warriors, like Sweet Home, lost heavily to graduation – four seniors who finished in the top 18 at district, three of them in the top 10, including district runner-up Yessie Alverado. But sophomore Sierra Grunwald, who qualified for state in the 1500 and 3000 behind Basham last spring and ran fifth in cross-country district last year, is expected back and it will then be a question of who else Philomath has coming through its program.
The same goes for Central, which lost three seniors as well from its varsity, though its top three runners were underclassmen, all placing 13th or better at districts. Neither Taft nor Newport really challenged Central for third place last year.
“It really depends on who has what coming up,” Snow said. “If I were a betting person, just having the depth that Philomath has, I’d pick them No. 1. It’s a toss-up between Central and us for second.”
Boys Cross-Country
The Sweet Home boys have lost three key seniors from their varsity team that was shoved out of the state meet by Central in last year’s district race.
Ramiro Santana, Brinden Sanders and Land Florek have graduated, leaving junior Jayce Calhoon (12th in last year’s districts and a state qualifier along with Santana and Sanders), junior Byron Sanders (14th at districts) and senior Rob Callagan (16th) to lead this year’s team.
But there are promising contributors out there, Snow said. Back from last year’s junior varsity are Nikki Smith and Josh Rice, both of whom got some time in on the varsity, along with Chris Thompson, Alex Whitlow, David Rinehart and Conner Cunha. New to the team are Casey Keys, Dakotah Keys, James Myers, Joe Stroud, Brad Pitts, Anson Davis, Nick Hall, Avery Shamek and Lorenzo Virgen.
The Keys brothers and Myers, all juniors, decided to switch from soccer to cross-country and bring experience from track and field. Dakotah Keys won the junior national decathlon title in July.
Snow called his team “solid” and noted that Byron Sanders “has been putting in the miles. He’s looking good.”
Callagan, who has made no secret of the fact that he is aiming for the school record in the 800 this year in track, will be a contributor, Snow said, and Calhoon showed last year that he can make the transition from swimming (where he is a multiple state champion) to cross-country.
“On the guys side I don’t see us breaking two or three people out there like last year, but if we can pack them right, we might be able to break through with Philomath and Central,” Snow said.
Those schools are his picks as favorites this year in the league.
The top three finishers at districts, Central’s Martin Saldana, Louis Donadio of Philomath, and Kian Flynn of Taft, have graduated, but Philomath has last year’s fourth- and fifth-place finishers, senior Tyler Thomas and sophomore Jeff Schreiner-McGraw, back despite losing five seniors who finished in the top 20.
“They have the depth to replace them,” Snow said. “They have a kid who didn’t even run cross-country last year but is as good as their number three guy.”
That would be sophomore Josh Seekatz, who finished sixth in the district 1500 last spring in 4:30.59, ahead of Donadio.
Central, though, may be the team to beat, according to Snow. Saldana was the only departure from the varsity team that placed second in districts and four of the returning Panthers – seniors Javier Orozco, Joe Deardorff and Bryan Linn, and sophomore Quinn Lindley, consistently ran under 19 minutes – Orozco and Deardorff under 18.
“I think they could put seven guys under 19 minutes,” Snow said.
“It will be interesting, both Philomath and Central, to see who new shows up. That will be kind of key when we all know what we’ve got coming back.”