Rose tops three events, Neece wins shot put; second in hammer

May 6, 2022 — The Siuslaw and Mapleton track teams are both coming down the stretch of their regular season schedule. Both teams are gearing up for their district meets that will be held at the end of next week.

On May 3, Siuslaw was in Coos Bay at the Steve Prefontaine Track for a Sky-Em League meet.

Top performer of the day for Siuslaw was junior Jonathon Rose, who took home first-place medals in all three throwing competitions.

Rose won the shot put with a 41’0.75 toss. He threw the discus a personal record 140’8 to win that event too. Finally, Rose won the javelin with a career-best throw of 149’3.

Rose was excited to win all three events in one meet for the first time in his track and field career. He said he likes the direction the season is going.

“That was a first for me,” Rose said. “It was a great experience. I’ve been throwing really good lately. I was expecting a big one for discus and that 140’ felt really great. Javelin was a big PR for me too. Shot put — I’m looking to win district this year, so I was pleased to be at 41’6.”

He has big goals for the rest of the season.

“I’d like to win both shot put and discus at district,” said Rose. “Right now, I’m ranked number four in the state in discus, so for that event I’d like to place at state.”

Thanks to the points from Rose’s three first-place finishes, along with many other high finishes, Siuslaw finished first in the team standings on the boys side, edging host school Marshfield by just three points, 112 to 109. The Siuslaw girls team scored 51 points and was third in their standings.

There were many individual highlights for the Vikings.

Junior Hunter Petterson was just two one-hundredths of a second off his personal best time when he won the 100m in 11.53a.

Petterson, along with fellow juniors Jacob Blankenship and Sam Ulrich and freshman Wesley Nichols, won the 4x400m relay, edging Marshfield by less than half a second with a time of 3:32.37a.

After winning the 3000m last weekend in Stayton, Ulrich won the 800m in 2:02.01a. The 800m on the girls side also went to a Viking. Senior Rylee Colton ran the fastest 800m of her career to win the race in 2:25.83a.

Siuslaw sophomores swept the 1500m also. Corduroy Holbrook continued her stellar season with a winning time of 5:28.30a. Freshman Macy McNeill (5:38.91a) finished right after Holbrook to finish second in the girls race. Sophomore Talan Ross won on the boys side with his time of 4:47.91a.

Multi-skilled senior James Smith put on a display of his many talents to score a bunch of points for his team. Smith finished second in the triple jump with a PR leap of 38’8.5. He was third in the 400m with a 55.82a. He was also third in the discus with a throw of 110’6.

Siuslaw was scheduled for a meet in Cottage Grove last night in Cottage Grove but, on Wednesday ,the Vikings pulled out of the event.

“We feel like we will be better prepared for district next week if we use more of the time we have left to practice,” said SHS Coach Chris Johnson.

Next up for Siuslaw is the Sky-Em District Meet in Junction City on May 13-14.

Also on May 3, Mapleton was in Crow for the Cougar Country Cinder Classic. Two athletes, one boy and one girl, represented the Sailors.

Junior Emily Neece continued to show her prowess in the throwing events.

She won the shot put with a 28’2.5 throw.

Also, for the first time this season, Neece tried the hammer throw. She threw the hammer 50’6 and finished second in the event. She was also fifth in discus (62’2).

“Emily had an amazing night,” said Sailor Coach Ed Dillahay.

Senior Joe Shepard continued his super season by winning three events.

Shepard PR’d to win the 110m hurdles (21.73). He won the long jump with a 18’2 leap. He also won the triple jump with a 40’ jump, his second longest of the season. Shepard is currently the top-ranked triple jumper in Special District 2 and third ranked in all of 1A.

Shepard also set a personal record in the discus (81’11) to finish fifth. He scored 35 points for the Sailor team all by himself.

The Sailors were in Toledo on Friday, May 6 ,after press deadlines for the Toledo Twilight Meet.

Next, Mapleton and the rest of Special District 2 will hold their district meet in McKenzie on May 13.