Then-freshman Jared Northrop wrapped up a baseball doubleheader at Jiggs Dodson Stadium in spring 2017 by sprinting to Hans Petersen Memorial Field to run the 3,000 meters in Siuslaw's annual Central Coast Invitational.

The Vikings senior has kept a torrid pace ever since, slowed briefly by injury his sophomore year, now with the final months as a senior derailed by the state's schools shutdown.

Northrop, a finalist for the Florence Future First Citizen award, still entertains hopes of representing Siuslaw in three spring Oregon School Activities Association events — band, baseball and track and field.

It may not come to pass, but before he packs his 4.053 GPA and heads to Oregon State, the school's National Honor Society treasurer has been investing his time in preparing to play.

The 5-foot-6, 140-pound infielder-pitcher on the baseball team plays the clarinet for the band and runs distance races for the track team.

He also has been active in Rotary's Interact Club since his freshman year.

Northrop obviously is a team player, working well with others.

Recently returned from taking a care package to an elderly relative in Bend, he took time to respond to some questions from Exploding Whale Sports:

What are you doing, on your own, for school and the activities you participate in?
I just finished my online Vector Calculus class that I have been taking through Oregon State. I will be taking the next math class spring term. I was running regularly with some of the distance track team, but with the stay-at-home order, I have just been running with my brother. I have also been throwing daily for baseball, keeping my arm in shape in case we ever get back to having spring sports.

For band, what instruments do you play, and will you continue after high school?
For symphonic band I play the clarinet. Hopefully we will get to have some sort of district or state festival since the band performed very well at the OSU band festival. In jazz band I play the piano. I have played the piano from a young age. I don't plan to continue band in college. I enjoy the piano, and you can find me playing it every day; so hopefully, I'll have a piano or keyboard wherever I may live. 

For baseball, what position(s) will you play. Will you play past high school?
I play second base, short stop, and pitch. Unfortunately it doesn't seem that we will be able to have any games this season. I was looking forward to the season and had high hopes for what the team could achieve. After graduation, I plan to play American Legion ball again during the summer with the closest team, North Coos. We had a great team last year. Not sure that will be happening with the current situation.

For track and field, what events will you compete in, and how do you plan to incorporate the runner's lifestyle into your future plans?
In track I run distance events (1500m, 3000m). I have mostly run only 3Ks, because it is the second to last event at track meets, which makes it possible for me to play baseball and run track meets if games and meets happen on the same day. I plan to keep running throughout my life to keep healthy and stay in shape.

You were a finalist for Future First Citizen. What have you done during your school years to earn that recognition?
From freshman year, I have participated in the Rotary's Interact Club. I have enjoyed helping with all the club's projects such as the Community Easter Egg Hunt, the Rotary Auction, and the Soroptimist's Christmas food baskets. I am also a member of the National Honor Society, and this year I am the treasurer. Since the school closure, I have been taking food down to the local food share.

Where do you plan to go to college, and what do you plan to study, and for what purpose?
I plan to go to Oregon State University to study mechanical engineering. I want to become a robotics engineer and work for a company like Boston Dynamics. I would have liked to have gone to MIT and, although it is a super tough school to get into, I decided to put in the effort to apply and even had a good interview with an MIT alum.  Unfortunately I was not one of the 1500 admitted of the over 20,000 who applied. It was a great learning experience anyways.

What are your thoughts on how your classmates, the school district and the community have come together during these tough times?
This town has been very supportive of students. The school has done a great job delivering food and trying to get together an online curriculum. A number of athletes got together to continue practicing when school closed, but unfortunately that cannot continue. The community seems to be doing a good job supporting one another.

Any other thoughts you'd like to share?
It is important to give support to those around you and stay in contact with those who might feel isolated in times like these.

SIUSLAW VIKINGS SENIORS

Band (8)

• Andrew Austin
• Chloe Madden (track and field)
• Jared Northrop (baseball, track and field)
• Luke Olson
• David Spencer (track and field)
• Sam Steiner
• Caleb VanWinkle
• Anthony Yauger

Baseball (6)

• Caleb Hennessee
• Donnie Luizi
• Jared Northrop (band, track and field)
• Clayton Remilong
• Zach Stinger
• Logan York

Softball (3)

• Nina-Grace Aaron
• Elissa Hurley
• Liz Rosinbaum

Track and field (13)

• Brooklyn Cahoon
• Bryn Clement
• Matthew Horrillo
• Brendon Jensen
• Kiger Johnson
• Isaiah Jones
• Ricky Loza-Sanchez
• Chloe Madden (band)
• Jared Northrop (band, baseball)
• Hannah Rannow
• Ryan Rendon-Padilla
• David Spencer (band)
• Anne Wartnik