Philomath High cross-country and track standout Cassidy Smart added another exceptional athletic accomplishment to her résumé this past Friday by winning her heat and placing fourth overall in the 2,000-meter steeplechase at the Nike Outdoor Nationals.
Competing against 50 other girls in the Championship division, Smart was first in Heat 2 with a personal-best time of 6:56.98. Smart ranks 16th nationally among high school athletes in the event. All 14 girls ranked ahead of her are either juniors or seniors.
“Cassidy is a natural in this event, not just because of her cross-country running experience, but because of her mountain biking experience,” PHS cross-country and track and field coach Joe Fulton said about the rising junior. “Jumping over obstacles is not an issue for her.”
The Nike Outdoor Nationals meet was held June 18-22 at Hayward Field in Eugene. Fulton said the event is considered to be “the unofficial national high school championships.”
In the 2,000 steeplechase, Smart held back in fourth on the first lap but took the lead on the second lap. She ended up winning the heat by 16 seconds over the runner-up, a competitor from Nevada.
“She approaches each barrier with confidence, rarely shortens her stride and comes off each hurdle and water barrier ready to stride out,” Fulton said. “She steps on the barrier for the water jump and uses her spikes to push off and get a long stride to avoid landing in too much water. It’s poetry in motion. I personally think it is her best event.”
Overall, Smart’s time placed her fourth behind girls from California, Iowa and Louisiana. The winner, Kamilah Salim of Torrance, California, covered the course in 6:43.13 and is ranked fourth nationally.
This past spring, Smart won the 2,000 steeplechase at the Aaron and Marie Jones Invitational at Blue River in 7:35.60.
Smart has proven to be one of the top runners in Class 4A over her first two years of high school. Last fall as a sophomore, she won the 4A cross-country title in Eugene. A year earlier as a freshman, she placed 10th.
In track, Smart added two more state titles with first-place performances in the 1,500 and 3,000 — both with personal-best times. She was also on the 4-by-400 relay and took second. During her freshman season at state, Smart placed fifth in the 1,500, eighth in the 3,000 and was part of the third-place 4-by-400 relay.
In other Philomath-related results from the Nike Outdoor Nationals, Sammy Hernandez, who will be a junior this fall, finished in a tie for 20th in the high jump’s Emerging Elite division. Hernandez cleared 5-11.5.
His older brother, Lukas Hernandez, finished third in the 5,000-meter racewalk. Hernandez, who graduated earlier this month with the Class of 2026, had a time of 34:28.84.
Another member of the Hernandez family, Olivia, competed in four events at the middle school level. One of 109 entries in the Middle School Enroute division’s 1,500-meter run, Hernandez was 31st with a time of 4:53.63. She also competed in the division’s 1,600-meter run and finished 37th out of 109 in 5:14.49.
Hernandez, who will be a freshman this fall at PHS, was 38th out of 109 in the Middle School division’s mile run in 5:16.51. And in the 800, she came in with a 2:25.12, which put her at 61st overall among a field of 111 runners. All four of her times were personal records.
Another rising freshman, Sienna Smith, was 89th in the 800 with a time of 2:29.23.
