E AST O REGONIAN
Tuesday, May 4, 2021
FOLLOW US ON
TWITTER @EOSPORTS |
FACEBOOK.COM/EOSPORTS
A11
OREGON GROWN, HERMISTON APPROVED
Prep track and field contemporaries come together as adults to build Dawgs’ program
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
H
eRMIsTON — The
first time emilee
strot met Mykael
Bothum, they were
competing against
one another at the
2003 4A state track and field
championships.
strot was a junior and a
powerhouse thrower from
Gresham High school, while
Bothum was a sophomore at
Hermiston High school.
strot won the state shot
put and discus titles that year,
and returned in 2004 to do
the same. Bothum was on the
state podium with strot both
years for the shot put, placing
second in 2003 and eighth in
2004.
Fast forward 17 years, and
two of the best throwers to
come out of the Pacific North-
west in the past 20 years are
coaching together at Hermis-
ton High school, along with
two other 2004 state cham-
pions.
Hermiston football coach
david Faaeteete, compet-
ing for North Medford, won
the 2004 4a state title in
the discus (168-4) and was
second in the shot put (57-9).
Pendleton’s sarajane
Rosenberg, who won state
titles in the triple jump in
2003-04, joined the Hermis-
ton track program as a jumps
coach in 2011.
“I don’t know how we all
landed in the same spot,” said
strot, who is in her seventh
year as head track coach at
Hermiston. “The one cool
thing about our staff is every-
one has a passion for track
and field, which is what I
want. Coaches building rela-
tionships with kids. If my
coaches love the sport, that
translates to the kids coming
out.”
all of the high school
accolades are great, but all
four coaches went on to have
stellar college careers at four
different universities, and
have brought their expertise
to the Hermiston program.
“We know of each other’s
success, but we rarely talk
about it,” strot said. “To
be honest, we are a humble
group of people. It’s a pretty
special group.”
Hermiston athletic direc-
tor Larry usher said he takes
no credit for the track and
field coaching staff. Most of
the pieces were already in
place when he came in six
years ago, but he is proud to
have them coaching at the
school.
“a lot of credit goes to
emilee for doing a good
job recruiting,” usher said.
“david came with football,
and Mykael was a great great
hire for the Hermiston school
district. she helps out with
volleyball and basketball, and
is a great role model for our
student athletes. sarajane also
is a great athletic role model
for our kids.”
Strot may know her stuff
when it comes to track, but
one of her greatest assets
to the athletic programs at
Hermiston comes in the
weight room.
“How many schools do
you know have the number
of kids who buy into the
weight room, and who have
a strength and condition-
ing coach?” usher asked.
“That was a better hire than
any coach we have brought
in. Her girls lifting program
is impressive. emilee has
the perfect combination of
caring, but she pushes them
to their maximum ability. you
want to have someone who
cares about kids, and they
care about her as well.”
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Hermiston High School track and field coaches Sarajane Rosenberg Gutierrez, left, Emilee Strot, David Faaeteete and Mykael
Bothum Mannucci pose for a photo at the high school on April 22, 2021.
tant under Hodges from 2008
until he took the reins of the
football program in 2015. He
also worked with the track
team upon his arrival in
Hermiston.
at Oregon, Faaeteete tried
his hand at track for a couple
of years, but once he had to
make the hard choice between
football and track, football
won out.
“I was more success-
ful with the football side
of things,” he said. “I got to
throw with the track team,
but I competed unattached.
I threw in four, five or six
meets, but I always had foot-
ball practice to go to. It was
fun.”
during his time with the
ducks, Faaeteete played in
three bowl games, winning
two.
unlike his counterparts
on the Hermiston coaching
staff, he does not own his high
school records in his signa-
ture events, but he does rank
second with a discus throw
of 175-6, and second with a
mark of 57-9 in the shot put.
Faaeteete’s relationship
with Hermiston football goes
back to his junior year in 2002
when North Medford lost a
16-13 game to the Bulldogs in
the second round of the state
playoffs.
His senior year, North
Medford lost an 18-6 game
to Tigard in the 4a state title
game
as a basketball player,
Faaeteete played in the 4a
state tournament as a senior.
The Black Tornado lost to
Jesuit in the first round.
Mykael Bothum
Mannucci
Cal Athletics/Contributed Photo, File
Cal’s Emilee Strot throws the javelin during a meet in 2005.
Strot ranks second all-time in the event at Cal with a mark of
152-10. She held the school record from 2006-2018.
Hermiston will compete
in the Mid-Columbia Confer-
ence championships on
Thursday, May 6, at Richland
High school.
The Bulldogs have the top
boys discus thrower in Caden
Hottman, and one of the best
girls throwing teams in the
conference, led by Bailey
young and Paige Palzinski
— not to mention great jump-
ers, sprinters and distance
runners.
“We have put together a
pretty good team,” strot said.
“Two years ago, we won one
dual meet against Pasco.
Now we are both 6-2. It will
be interesting to see how we
stack up against the confer-
ence.”
as these four former high
school standouts have come
together to form a strong
team, each brings something
from their own background.
Emilee Strot
strot comes from a track
family. Her dad, Guy, started
taking her to the state track
meet when she was in the
second grade. When it came
time for her to compete, she
did not disappoint.
strot still holds the records
at Gresham High school
in the shot put (46-2¾) and
discus (152-4). Her throw of
152-4 in the discus set a state
record in 2004, breaking the
1990 mark of 149-9 set by
Molly duggan of Redmond.
The record stood for several
years.
after graduating from
Gresham High school in
2004, strot had a fair number
of college offers, and she
chose uC Berkeley, where
she threw for the Cal Golden
Bears, and still is one of
the best to go through their
program.
strot holds the Cal fresh-
man record in the discus at
177-11 (2006), and the javelin
at 152-10 (2006).
The javelin mark also
was the top throw in school
history until it was surpassed
by Chrissy Glasmann in 2018
with a mark of 164 feet.
she is second all-time in
the discus with a toss of 181-4
(2007), and is seventh on the
shot put list at 49-11¼.
In 2007, strot placed
second at the Pac-10 cham-
pionships in the discus with
a throw of 181-4. she also
placed ninth in the shot put.
at nationals that year, the
Bears finished eighth in the
team standings.
“That was a really big
deal,” strot said of the
national placing. “It doesn’t
feel that long ago.”
after three years at Cal,
strot made the decision to
leave the program, and wound
up at Kentucky.
University of Oregon Athletics/Contributed Photo, File
David Faaeteete was a three-year starter at defensive tackle
for the University of Oregon.
“I really liked Jenni-
fer Joyce, who was the Cal
throws coach,” strot said.
“she threw the hammer for
Canada. Then she decided to
leave and focus on her throw-
ing for the Olympics. Track
brought me to Cal, but I felt
athletics was a huge part of
who I was. The coach who
tried to recruit me when he
was at Kansas was now at
Kentucky. I already knew
him and it seemed like a good
fit.”
at Kent uck y, st rot
finished fifth at the seC
Indoor Championships in the
shot put (50-3¼), and later
placed second at the seC
Outdoor Championships in
the discus with a throw of
173-2¼.
she ranks eighth all-time
at Kentucky in the discus with
a mark of 174-7 (2008), and in
the shot put with a throw of
49-11¾.
after t wo years at
Kentucky, she tried to do
post-collegiate throwing but
her body wasn’t holding up.
“I knew I wanted to be a
teacher, and I got accepted to
Concordia university,” strot
said. “(Olympic champion)
Mac Wilkins was the throws
coach and I got to be a grad
assistant. That was cool.”
after strot got her teach-
ing degree, she attended a job
fair in spokane, where she
met people from Hermiston.
a job came up and she’s been
there ever since.
“My first year, I was a
volunteer coach,” strot said.
“There was no position for
me. The next year, the head
job became available and I
applied. I had no idea what I
was getting myself into.”
David Faaeteete
Better known for his
football playing days at the
university of Oregon, Faae-
teete also was a standout
basketball player and track
athlete at North Medford
High school.
His senior year of high
school he was the 4a defen-
sive Player of the year, which
reinforced Oregon’s decision
to give him a scholarship. He
also was a first-team all-state
guard.
Faaeteete went on to start
three years at defensive tackle
for the ducks, and was invited
to NFL camps by the Oakland
Raiders and Chicago Bears.
His pro career never took off,
but his teaching and coaching
careers did.
His former high school
track and football coach,
Mark Hodges, was at Herm-
iston when he asked if Faae-
teete would like to teach and
coach in eastern Oregon.
Faaeteete, who teaches
social studies, was an assis-
Mannucci comes from a
rodeo family, but the sport
never took hold with her.
Instead, she played soft-
ball — from T-ball through
her freshman year in high
school. That included pitch-
ing lessons and asa games
as she got older. she was
introduced to track during Pe
class her freshman year and
she was hooked.
“I have no regrets,” she
said, “but my parents were
upset with me.”
she also played volleyball
and basketball at Hermiston.
she was on the basketball
teams that went to state from
2003-05.
While there was never a
state track title on Mannuc-
ci’s list of achievements, there
still were many things to cele-
brate.
she holds the Hermiston
school record in the shot put
at 44-10, and is third in the
discus at 133-5.
It was at the university of
Idaho that Mannucci found
her groove.
she twice qualified for
the NCaa Indoor Track and
Field Championships (2009-
10), and the Outdoor Cham-
pionships in 2010.
In 2009, she finished
seventh in the shot put (53-1½)
at the NCaa division I
Indoor Track National Cham-
pionships in College station,
Texas, earning all-ameri-
can honors. she also was an
all-american in 2010, plac-
ing sixth.
she competed in the
Outdoor Track National
Championships in 2010, plac-
ing 19th in the shot put.
she won the Western
athletic Conference (WaC)
outdoor title in 2010 with a
throw of 52-8¼, and threw a
personal best 165-11¾ in the
discus.
she also won the 2010
WaC indoor title with a mark
of 56-5¼.
See Track, Page A12