Sweet Home’s boys cross-country team made a statement Thursday, Sept. 25, finishing ahead of three other Sky-Em schools at the Harrier’s Challenge meet at Schwartz Park in Cottage Grove.
Jakob Hiett, still recovering from a stress fracture that kept him from training much of the summer, continued his steady improvement with a second-place finish in the field of 106, in 16:59 over the course that included a nasty climb up an earthen dam face that forces most runners to walk. Hidden Valley’s Shane Crofoot was first in 16:41.
The boys finished fifth with 155 points, one point and one place behind Hidden Valley, the top 4A Division school in the race. Crater (30 points) won the boys race, followed by Thurston (71). Elmira finished behind Sweet Home with 168 points, with Junction City 10th (233) and Cottage Grove 11th (273).
Finishing 21st for Sweet Home was sophomore Trey Reed, in 18:59, followed closely by fellow sophomore Issac Justham, 25th in 19:08.
For first-year Coach Andrew “Keebler” Allen, it was encouraging to see things start to come together for the boys, who have not run with a complete team once this season. Even on Thursday, normal No. 4 runner Julian Hesberg didn’t run, though he had a better-than-average excuse: He’d given blood earlier in the day.
The performances of freshman Noah Taraski, in his first official high school race, and junior Joseph Rasmussen, who got a late start this season, were a big shot in the arm for the coach. Taraski was 25th in 21:23, with Rasmussen right behind, in 21:26.
“Noah and Joseph really pulled together,” Allen said. “Isaac was right there with Trey too.”
In the girls race, Grants Pass was first in the team competition with 41 points, followed by Hidden Valley (63). Sutherlin, led by Camerin Feagins in seventh place overall, was the top Sky-Em finisher, in fifth with 151 points, followed by Junction City, eighth with 201 points and Sweet Home ninth with 213. Cottage Grove, led by Breanna Wright’s third-place overall finish, was 11th (228).
Freshman Bethany Gingerich was the Huskies’ first finisher, 23rd in 24:05, with junior Kayleen Keeney right behind in 25th (24:12).
Sierra Swanson and Dana Hiett, both nursing injuries, rounded out Sweet Home’s scorers. Swanson was 57th in 25:30 and Hiett was 72nd in 27:29 to round out Sweet Home’s scorers.
The Cottage Grove race is usually an indicator of how things will play out at district, but Allen said the league is so competitive this year on the girls side that, other than the fact that Sisters appears to be a lock for first, the second state berth appears to be up for grabs.
“We could be anywhere from second to fifth in this conference on that day,” he said. “Sutherlin was the best team (Thursday) but two weeks ago Sutherlin was behind Junction City and Cottage Grove. The biggest thing right now is it’s up for grabs. The only team that doesn’t have a shot is Elmira.
“The entire conference is good. Either we’re going to state or we’re staying home and it won’t be because we have that bad of a team.”
On the boys side, the Huskies have steadily moved up the Sky-Em ladder and, after the Cottage Grove race, the Huskies appear to have three of the six fastest runners in the conference in Hiett, Reed and Justham – the latter both sophomores.
“That race was a momentum-changer,” Allen said.
In the boys junior varsity race, which also included junior high runners, Allen Cuillo finished in 23:29, Adam Barber in 25:56 and Jake Hindmarsh in 27:23. Sweet Home had no girls in the JV race.
Cottage Grove marked the end of the meets featuring tough terrain for the Huskies. The emphasis from here on out will be speed, the coach said, starting with the Paul Mariman Invitational at Philomath on Saturday, which is one of the most viewer-friendly courses on the team’s schedule. It’s also one of the fastest courses on the schedule.
The junior varsity girls will start at 1 p.m. behind the grandstands at Philomath High School, followed by the JV boys at 1:30, varsity girls at 2 and varsity boys at 2:30.
Harrier’s Challenge (Cottage Grove)
Boys Team Scores: (1) Crater 30; (2) Thurston 71; (3) North Eugene 139; (4) Hidden Valley 154; (5) Sweet Home 155; (6) Elmira 168; (7) Marshfield 174; (8) Pleasant Hill 192; (9) La Pine 226; (10) Junction City 233; (11) Cottage Grove 273; (12) Creswell 296; (13) Crow 300; (14) Jefferson 349.
Boys Top Three and Sky-Em Finishers: (1) Shane Crofoot (Hidden Valley) 16:41; (2) Jakob Hiett (SH) 16:59; (3) Jake Littrell (Thurston) 17:06; (14) Gannon Jones (E) 18:17; (21) Trey Reed (SH) 18:59; (22) Ridge Lemieux (JC) 19:02; (25) Issac Justham 19:08; (34) Riley Craig (E) 19:46; (37) Austin Smith (E) 19:53; (42) Pete Frazee (JC) 20:07; (47) Connor Howard (CG) 20:17; (51) Carson Baine (E) 20:25; (52) Cody Wolkesdorfer (E) 20:26; (53) Adam Najera (CG) 20:31; (57) Levi Hanson (E) 20:46; (58) Ethan Agnes (E) 20:47; (61) Jarett Raade (CG) 21:09; (62) Noah Taraski (SH) 21:23; (26) Joseph Rasmussen (SH) 21:26; (65) Ben Swancutt (JC) 21:33; (66) Zach Bodi (JC) 21:36; (67) Ryan Parker (JC) 21:36l (68) Haeden Rauh (Sutherlin) 21:42; (73) Kendrick Murphy (CG) 21:54; (74) Anthony Trujillo (CG) 21:57; (76) Jayden Tucker (CG) 22:16; (78) Nick Rietz (SH) 22:22; (82) Nelson Rodgers (SH) 22:31; (88) Tristan Allen (Sutherlin) 22:47; (94) Michael Tharpe (CG) 23:54.
Girls Team Scores: (1) Grants Pass 41; (2) Hidden Valley 63; (3) Crater 100; (4) North Eugene 146; (5) Sutherlin 151; (6) Pleasant Hill 162; (7) Thurston 189; (8) Junction City 201; (9) Sweet Home 213; (10) Marshfield 213; (11) Cottage Grove 228; (12) Crow 245; (13) Jefferson 335.
Girls Top Three and Sky-Em Finishers: (1) Jordan Monroe (Crater) 20:07; (2) Zaruba Anderson (Hidden Valley) 21:02; (3) Breanna Wright (CG) 21:03; (10) Camerin Feagins (Sutherlin) 22:09; (19) Evelyn Tedrick (JC) 23:22; (23) Bethany Gingerich (SH) 24:05; (25) Kayleen Keeney (SH) 24:12; (27) Brittany Hanson (Sutherlin) 24:19; (28) Sydney Thielman (JC) 24:28; (41) Katelyn Godon (Sutherlin) 25:15; (42) Amanda Darcy (JC) 25:16; (43) Kalea Galbreath (CG) 25:18; (44) Vanessa Crite (Sutherlin) 25:18; (49) Emma Matteo (Sutherlin) 25:27; (57) Sierra Swanson (SH) 25:30; (54) Miranda Harrison (E) 25:36; (64) Rose Lay (JC) 26:37; (68) Allie Harris (CG) 26:54; (72) Dana Hiett (SH) 27:29; (73) Hannah Robertson (E) 37:32; (74) Kanon Nakamura (SH) 27:37; (79) Jessica Ray (CG) 28:03; (80) Maria Daniels (SH) 28:03; (81) Lacey McFadden (JC) 28:29; (82) Lacie Brown (JC) 28:43; (83) Kate Johns (CG) 28:55; (84) Madeline Curtis (E) 28:58; (88) Kaitlyn Brooks (CG) 29:18; (95) Sierrah Owen (SH) 31:21; (103) Alicia Braunger (E) 36:04.