A lot has happened in Stayton High athletics in the past 11 years. State championships in dance/drill, boys soccer and girls basketball. Massive amounts of facilities upgrades, including the opening of the stunning Ty Hart Memorial Fitness Center last fall.
Athletic Director Darren Shryock was in the middle of it all. Shryock, 60, who retired at the end of the school year, will tell you that others played just as big a role as he did, but an athletic department at a modern U.S. high school depends upon so many things going right – student involvement, district support, the right coaches, community and booster participation and the right person in the AD seat.
“I see the fruits of his labor all over SHS,” North Santiam School District Superintendent Lee Loving said of Shryock. “It has been exciting to see so many of our athletic teams excelling these past few years under his watch and stewardship. Teams are seeing success that they have not seen in a long time, and Darren has been a key part of this success through his support, expectations, hiring of quality coaches, and guidance.”
For Shryock, the highlights are too many to count, or to narrow down to a short list.
“It is hard to single out one or two events.,” he told Our Town. “The coaching staff we have been able to assemble is amazing. Just about any school in the state regardless of size would readily swap us coaching staffs if given the chance, and that is quite a statement for a 4A school. The Ty Hart Fitness Center has to be near the top of the list. To see the community rally around and build something that extraordinary is really special.”
Shryock hired Erin Holm (track and field/cross country), Randy Nyquist (football), Tal Wold (girls basketball) and Steve Salisbury (baseball). Facilities changes have taken place all over the campus, including signs for each piece that give the overall appearance a distinctly classy feel.
“One of the reasons it feels like the right time to walk away is we don’t really lack anything major in regards to facilities,” Shryock said, noting turf additions for football, soccer, baseball and softball, hitting facilities for both baseball and softball, a redone interior of the gym, and the Ty Hart Center. “There are very few schools, no matter the size, that can match what we have currently.”
The next big one, Shryock said, would involve new grandstands and seating at the football/soccer/track facility “but I am sure that will need to be a bond project.”
Shryock worked well with the Stayton Boosters Club and noted that his arrival as AD coincided with that of Randy Forrette as a leader of the boosters.
“The timing could not have been better for me,” Shryock said. “Randy and his team have spearheaded a ton of the projects that have been accomplished here, and I will be forever grateful to Randy for his dedication and hard work to make them happen. Andy Gardner (12 years as superintendent) was a tremendous supporter of athletics so the boosters and district worked hand in hand to make many of these things happen. I just needed to not get in the way and support where I could.”
Shryock also helped out with coaching, leading both the girls and boys basketball teams after a sterling career at Silverton, where he twice led the boys to third-place finishes at the state 5A tournament. He twice took the Eagles girls to the 4A tournament.
Shryock grew up “all over” because his father was in the Marines: Virginia; Ohio; the Philippines; Santa Barbara, California. He played college basketball at Santa Barbara City College and Corban University (formerly Western Baptist College). He received his bachelor’s and master’s from Western Oregon and went to George Fox for his admin license.
Post-retirement plans include spending more time at the Foothills Church, where he is an elder, and enjoying his family – all three of his daughters still live in the Stayton area. His wife, Janet, is a retired kindergarten teacher.
His favorite teams remain the Cincinnati Reds, Ohio State and the Boston Celtics. He claims all of his hobbies are “sports related. It is hard to buy gifts for me because I lack hobbies. And I had no time for hobbies as an AD.”
On a personal note the thing I will miss most about Shryock is his accessibility. If I had a question he always got back to me. Good news or bad news. He always responded. He will be missed.
Track & Field: Cascade’s girls put on an impressive show in the Class 4A track and field championships, finishing third with 52 points. Philomath won the team title with 80 points, while La Grande was second at 69.5. Lillian Picket of the Cougars won the 400 (55.77), took second in the 200 (25.25) and ran the anchor leg on the 4×100 relay team that triumphed in 48.79. Also running on the relay were Julia Duncan, Makenna Fraser and Allison Course, who also took sixth in 200.
In the field, Kalina Saechao of Cascade finished second in the shot put (43-1.5) and the discus (120-0). Liam Brewer of the Cascade boys won the discus at 176-2 and took fourth in the shot (51-10).
Stayton’s Haley Butenschoen finished second in the 4A 800 (2:18.19), while teammate Mila Morley was second in the javelin (132-7) to help the Eagles finish 10th. Evelyn Welch was third in the 300 hurdles (47.13) and Molli Emmert fifth in the shot put (35-5.25) for the Eagles.
Regis’ Stuart McLaughlin was fifth in the 3,000 (9:24.78) and eighth in the 1,500 (4:17.98) for the Rams in the 2A meet. Abe Richter of Regis was sixth in the shot (41-7.75).
Softball: Regis, the last team in the Stayton area still standing as May ended, advanced to the Class 2A-1A quarterfinals before falling 6-5 to Salem Academy. The Rams, the No. 5 seed, finished 19-3 after running the table in a perfect 15-0 Special District 3 season.
Got a news tip? Email me at james.d@mtangelpub.com.
