SHS track did more with less in 2022

In 2021, the Sandpoint boys track team finished third at the Class 4A Idaho state track meet, with the girls placing ninth.

That Bulldogs team from a year ago brought down 25 athletes and came away with 13 medals. This year, at the state meet, Sandpoint brought 15 athletes and took home 15 medals from both the boys and girls teams.

“I’m happy that they were prepared mentally,” Sandpoint track coach Matt Brass said. “When they’re prepared physically, that's from all the hard work they do throughout the season. But when they're focused mentally, that’s what’s going to win races at the state level.”

The boys finished sixth with 40 team points. The boys brought home a total of 10 medals during the state meet.

The most notable being Rusty Lee, who broke his own school record twice in both the 110 meter hurdles and 300 meter hurdles.

The junior set marks in both events good enough to break the state record, but he was racing against Texas A&M commit Landon Helms.

The senior from Emmett beat out Lee during both events, but Lee never backed down from the challenge.

“He doesn’t fold under pressure,” Brass said. “He likes good competition and understands what he needs to do in order to win. He went toe to toe with a great hurdler to end the season and he wasn’t scared at all. He drove him to his breaking point.”

Helms will be graduating this year and attending Texas A&M in the fall, so next year, the hurdling events will be Lee’s world, with everyone else just living in it.

“The great thing about (Rusty) Lee is that he’s very humble,” Brass said. “He understands the nature of the game when it comes to hurdles. He’s very aware of his placement heading into next year and he’s excited because he knows it’s going to be a challenge.

Senior Will Hurst capped off his track career at Sandpoint High School with a sixth place finish in the shot put event and a second place finish in the discus event.

This was a perfect way for Hurst to end his career after thinking he wouldn’t be able to compete this season after tearing his ACL in October.

“(Will) came in to talk to me and told me that his surgery was scheduled for December,” Brass said. “He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to throw this year and I told him that was okay because he didn’t want to turn his issue into a lifetime problem.”

After the surgery, Hurst was in the weight room almost immediately working out his upper body and doing rehab on his knee.

“I was able to ask about his knee and he finally told me that he wasn’t going to be doing track,” Brass said. “One day he was lifting about a week into track season and Ryan Knowles asked him if he wanted to do drills, so he came out and did some. He came back to practice every day after that and we were able to see how his progression went.”

Hurst’s ability to battle back from an ACL tear and place at the state track meet speaks volumes of his character and physical ability, according to Brass.

“I wasn’t surprised by the result because I knew what he was capable of. I was just worried about his knee,” Brass said. “He just strived to be the best and he really put in the work before and after surgery and that really helped him in the long run.”

The girls on Sandpoint’s track team finished 12 overall with 24.33 points along with five state medalists.

Senior Megan Oulman ended her stint as a member of the Bulldogs track team with a sixth place finish in the 3200 meter race with a time of 11:41.60.

Brass recalled the time he met Oulman. He and his wife had gone down to Sandpoint Middle School four years ago to do some recruiting for the cross country team when he and Oulman first crossed paths.

“She had never run before and she just sat and listened to us talk and said this is what I want to do,” Brass said. “She ran a 12:53, which is a great freshman time. She continuously put in the work and continued to get better.”

She’ll be remembered for what she did for herself and her teammates, according to Brass.

“Her devotion to her team and training were unmatched,” Brass said. “Her love for her team and coaches was also amazing. She is a team-first type of girl.”

Erika Edmundson and Devin McDaniel both placed in the pole vault event. The duo placed second, and fifth, respectively.

Edmundson was one of the most consistent pieces to Sandpoint’s track team all season.

“She really put the time in over the summer and the fall,” Brass said. “She also has a great coach in Blake Houchin.”

Sophomore Ivy Smith finished her second year as a member of Sandpoint’s track team with a fourth place finish in the shot put event.

The sophomore spent a lot of time in the offseason trying to improve her technique. But her biggest accomplishment was how much she improved mentally, according to Brass.

“She spent a lot of time on the shot and disc in hopes of improving and she definitely did that,” he said. “But I was most excited to see her maturity improve. She was much more level headed at the meets and she was gaining a lot of confidence towards the end of the year. I’m thrilled she had a great state meet. She’ll only get better as her junior and senior year approaches.”