Sweet Home athletes got a chance to see some large-school competitors Saturday, May 3, in the Centennial Invitational, and a lot of Huskies rose to the occasion.
The meet featured 32 teams, only 10 of which were Sweet Home’s size or smaller. Sweet Home finished 12th out of 30 teams on the boys side, with the girls finishing in a three-way tie for 18th out of 24 teams.
“There were a lot of big schools there, like with the PR for our 4×100 – the guys took 12th but that was going against some pretty fast 6A, 5A teams,” Head Coach Nathan Whitfield said.
That team, of seniors Conner Stevens, Kolton Wilmarth and Jack Simmons, and junior Dillan Davis, ran 45.38 to lower Sweet Home’s previous season’s best by a third of a second.
The girls also finished with a season’s best in the 4×100, delivered in 53.64 by sophomores Brooke Elder and Jayla Moore and juniors Delainie Pratt and Loralai Mark.
Throwers were a big part of the Huskies’ finish, on both sides, Head Coach Nathan Whitfield said.
In the shot, senior Dylan Sharp was third (46-10½) and sophomore Gavin Tyler was right behind in fourth (45-1¼).
Junior Selah Wright was third in the girls discus, matching her personal best set last year with a throw of 101-6, her best effort this season by 13 feet, and senior Peyton Markell popped a 3-foot best in the javelin, throwing over 100 for the first time this year to go 112-4.
In the boys javelin, senior Jack Simmons, in his first year of high school track, posted a 3-foot PR of 149-6 to finish seventh.
“They are the ones who scored most of the points,” Whitfield said.
But not the only ones – Kaeson Walker upped his PR in the triple jump to 40-11, to finish fourth and Sam Barringer went 39-7½ for eighth, good enough to score points for Sweet Home.
“In the triple jump, they had a kid (winner De’Vontae Hillman of Parkrose), who is in the top 100 in the nation, jumping 47-4. They still placed, our two guys there.”
The competition drove the boys to 10 PR’s and nine for the girls, a lot of them coming from newcomers to high school track.
Freshman Louis Kistner 1500 in 4:47.16, nearly a nine-second PR and almost exactly 30 seconds faster than he was the first time he ran that event roughly a month ago.
Freshman Madison Cuillo did the same thing in the 800, cutting 17 seconds off her personal best to finish in 3:04.28, 33 seconds faster than she ran in her first-ever 800 a month ago.
Freshman Acen Webber posted a six-second PR in 800, running 2:20.43.
And sophomore Conner Spencer cut 17 seconds off his best in the 3000, finishing in 10:52.77. In the 300 hurdles, sophomore Amara Gonzales posted a 3½-second PR, clocking 55.03, and added a 1-foot best of 29-2 in the triple jump.
The Huskies will get a look at some Oregon West Conference opponents this Saturday, May 10, at the Stayton Invitational, which is scheduled to include 18 schools, including 4A Banks, Estacada, Newport, North Marion, Stayton and Tillamook. Following that, on Monday, May 12, Sweet Home will host its final home meet, which is also the last before the varsity Huskies go to the district meet May 23-24 at Philomath. Junior varsity athletes will compete May 15 at the OWC JV Districts, hosted by Stayton.
“Our goal is just getting ready for districts – just fine-tuning and starting our taper here soon to get them ready for that, and to try to go win the district title.
“The kids are doing well. They’re competing like crazy.”
Centennial Invitational
Boys Results
Winners and Sweet Home and Lebanon Finishers
* Personal Best Time/Mark
100 – 1) Antoin Hawthorne (Grant) 10.83; (22) Kolton Wilmarth (SHJ) 11.60; (65) Conner Stevens (SH) 12.52.
200 – (1) Revac Banfield (Columbia River, Wash.) 21.93; (4) Cade Weber (Lebanon) 22.01; (12) Dillan Davis (SH) 23.37*; (13) Kolton Wilamarth (SH) 23.40.
400 – (1) Cade Weber (Lebanon) 49.46; No Sweet Home competitors.
800 – (1) Zachary Zamora (Battle Ground, Wash.) 1:59.87; (16) Kasey Kast (SH) 2:06.85; (46) Acen Weber (SH) 2:20.43*; (52) Louis Kistner (SH) 2:30.29*.
1500 – (1) Logan King (Hood River Valley) 4:00.06; (12) Louis Kistner (SH) 4:47.16*; (16) Evan Knight (SH) 4:56.06*; (17) Kace Stevens (SH) 4:56.45*.
3000 – (1) Logan King (Hood River Valley) 8:47.05; (39) Conner Spencer (SH) 10:52.77*.
110 Hurdles – (1) Khen San (Centennial) 15.22; (4) Grayson Jackson (Lebanon) 15.80; (20) Nick Larson (SH) 18.01.
300 Hurdles – (1) Khen San (Centennial) 40.24; (4) Grayson Jackson (Lebanon) 41.95; (13) Nick Larson (SH) 44.04; (38) Cannon Klumph (SH) 51.19.
4×100 Relay – (1) Grant 42.77; (11) Molalla 45.11; (13) Sweet Home (Conner Stevens, Kolton Wilmarth, Dillan Davis, Jack Simmons) 45.38.
4×400 Relay – Was not competed.
Shot Put – (1) Jonas Jacobson (Westside Christian) 49-2¼; (3) Dylan Sharp (SH) 46-10½; (4) Gavin Tyler (SH) 45-1¼; (39) Jackson Barringer (SH) 34-2¾.
Discus – (1) Lucas Fish (Columbia River) 147-7; (9) Conner Pace (SH) 124-6; (33) Jon Hart (SH) 105-6; (37) Cannon Klumph (SH) 98-10.
Javelin – (1) Brandon Roberson (Molalla) 184-3; (5) Eric Natterer (Lebanon) 154-6; (7) Jack Simmons (SH) 149-6*; (36) Ean Tackett (SH) 118-8; (53) Gunnar Summers (SH) 100-8.
High Jump – (1) Calvin Stewart (South Salem) 6-5; (8) Zechariah Halsey (Lebanon) 5-8; (19) Sam Barringer (SH) 5-4.
Pole Vault – (1) Nicolas Ricardo (Columbia River) 12-0; (11) Nick Larson (SH) 10-6*; (17) Elisha Scofield (SH) 9-0.
Long Jump – (1) Quentin Currier (Grant) 21-4¾; (7) Bohdi Brown (Lebanon) 19-10; (46) Logan Estep (SH) 15-8.
Triple Jump – (1) De’Vontae Hillman (Parkrose) 47-4½; (4) Kaeson Walker (SJ) 40-11*; (5) Zechariah Halsey (Lebanon) 40-2; (28) David Anderson (SH) 35-4¾ .
Girls Results
100 – (1) Jadyn Crawford (Beaverton) 12.54; (28) Donna Whitacre (Lebanon) 13.56; (32) Loralai Mark (SH) 13.59; (60) Delainie Pratt (SH) 14.62; (61) Jaylan Moore (SH) 14.64.
200 – (1) Zamorah Frazier (Mountain View) 25.67; (35) Brooke Elder (SH) 29.13; (41) Jayla Moore (SH) 29.86.
400 – (1) Harriet Roberts (Liberty) 57.48; (32) Brooke Elder (SH) 1:08.28; (38) Sophia Stock (SH) 1:10.62*.
800 – (1) Celia James (Salem Academy) 2:17.69; (43) Madison Cuillo (SH) 3:04.28*.
1500 – (1) Amelia Campbell (Grant) 4:45.07; (8) McKenzie Miler ()SH) 5:15.48; (28) Miu Simmons (SH) 5:52.95*.
3000 – (1) Maya Crimin (La Salle) 10:33.04; (22) Miu Simmons (SH) 12:51.17*.
100 Hurdles – (1) Peyton Craven (Molalla) 14.66; (4) Brooklyn Hensley (Lebanon) 16.00; (28) Delainie Pratt (SH) 19.37; (33) Grace Gardner (SH) 20.51.
300 Hurdles – (1) Peyton Craven (Molalla) 47.45; (4) Brooklyn Hensley (Lebanon) 49.98; (29) Amara Gonzales (SH) 55.03*; (32) Grace Gardner (SH) 57.32*.
4×100 Relay – (1) Beaverton 49.12; (7) Lebanon 50.47; (18) Molalla 53.63; (19) Sweet Home (Brooke Elder, Delainie Pratt, Jayla Moore, Loralai Mark) 53.64.
Shot Put – (1) Bailey Shields (Beaverton) 39-6; (11) Selah Wright (SH) 29-7; (14) Sydney Dominy (SH) 27-11; (15) Emerson Martineau (SH) 27-9.
Discus – (1) Alithia Lam Tiang (Barlow) 119-5; (3) Selah Wright (SH) 101-6; (20) Emerson Martineau (SH) 76-5; (25) Mailey Brewer (SH) 71-9.
Javelin – (1) Alison Pace (Beaverton) 131-0; (3) Peyton Markell (SH) 112-4*; (7) Selah Wright (SH) 96-1*; (10) Abygail Foss (SH) 90-2.
High Jump – No Sweet Home competitors cleared a height.
Pole Vault – (1) Sophia Strong (Mountain View) 11-0; (9) Delainie Pratt (SH) 7-6.
Long Jump – Peyton Craven (Molalla) 17-3½; (9) Addilynne Pickles (Lebanon) 15-8¼; (18) Loralai Mark (SH) 14-11*; (35) Khloe Wood (SH) 13-0¾.
Triple Jump – (1) Ruby Vandenbos (Lebanon) 34-10½; (17) Amara Gonzales (SH) 29-2*; (24) Miu Simmons (SH) 27-5; (24) Beatrice Reeve (SH) 26-10½.
Mixed 4×400 Relay – (1) Barlow 3:44.80; (15) Sweet Home (Brooke Elder, Mckenzie Miller, Dillan Davis, Kolton Wilmarth) 4:00.95; (23) Molalla 4:08.34; (22) Sweet Home “B” (Sophia Stock, Emma Whitton, Ryker Burr, Kasey Kast) 4:08.55.