This coming Saturday in Eugene, Philomath High’s girls cross-country team will have the reigning conference champion and the reigning state champion on the same starting line.
Freshman Olivia Hernandez won the Oregon West Conference girls title Saturday at Stayton by 42.8 seconds and led the Warriors to the team championship. Philomath won by 27 points without junior Cassidy Smart, Class 4A’s returning state champion, who has been out with a foot injury but has been cleared to run at state.
Philomath’s boys are going to state, too. They finished second with 56 points, behind champion Stayton (37) and four points ahead of Central (60), and earned a wild-card berth.
In the girls race, Philomath scored 30 points. Stayton was second with 57, followed by Cascade (83), Taft (96), Newport (115) and Central (121).
“This is probably the best girls team we’ve ever had,” Philomath coach Joe Fulton said. “Problem is, there’s two other teams in the state that are just as good, so it’s going to be a challenge.”
The Class 4A State Championships are scheduled for Nov. 7 at Lane Community College in Eugene. The girls race begins at 11:45 a.m. and the boys follow at 12:20 p.m.
Philomath’s girls will compete as a full team at state for the 44th time in the past 46 years. The boys will do so for the 43rd time in 45 years. Fulton said both are state-qualifying records for 4A schools.
Hernandez leads the way
Hernandez finished in 18 minutes, 42 seconds, well ahead of runner-up Ava Zalewski, a Taft senior who ran 19:24.8.
Sophomore Sienna Bushnell was fourth in 19:51.4. Junior Reagan Nuño (20:06.1) and sophomore Piper Pedder (20:09.7) placed sixth and seventh. Freshman Sienna Smith rounded out Philomath’s scoring in 12th (20:48.8). Junior Libby Kramer finished 14th and senior Ava Panico was 28th.
Smart has been sidelined since she won the Paul Mariman Invitational on Oct. 10. However, she’s been cross-training in the weeks since.
“She’s in great shape,” Fulton said. “She hasn’t lost anything.”
Fulton expects Smart and Hernandez to run with the lead pack at state, along with top runners from La Grande, Banks and Scappoose.
“Then we’ve got good depth, so if the girls can bunch together and finish fairly high, I think we’ve got as good a chance as anybody to win it,” Fulton said.
Fulton considers La Grande the slight favorite.
“But we’ve beaten them before,” he added. “We beat them one year when they went 1-2-3 at the state meet.”
Boys edge Central for 2nd
The Philomath boys came into the season with only nine runners on the roster and two returners from last year’s varsity team, seniors Galen Murch and Oakley Pausch.
“The rest are all freshmen and sophomores, and they developed and took it seriously as far as trying to get to state,” Fulton said. “They really had to battle to beat Central.”
The Warriors kept their focus on the Panthers throughout the race.
“You could see the boys targeting the red shirts of Central the whole way, and they beat them just enough to pull it off,” Fulton said. “Every one of them had a good race.”
Murch placed third in 16:24.5, behind Newport’s Avery Chandler (16:15.0) and Stayton’s Brandon Wagar (16:18.7).
“Galen was right with the top two guys the whole way until maybe the last half-mile, when they started inching ahead of him,” Fulton said. “But he had a good race and should be pretty high at the state meet.”
Freshmen filled out most of the rest of Philomath’s top five — Riggins Bushnell was eighth (17:23.9), Warren Smart 11th (17:29.9) and Braven Beard 15th (17:41.0). Pausch finished 19th (18:12.0), and sophomore Cameron Barlow was 22nd (18:42.5).
Central also received a wild card, so three Oregon West boys teams are going to state. According to Fulton, the Panthers were the only third-place team in the state to get one.
“For the freshmen, it’s going to be a great experience to be able to run in the state meet,” Fulton said. “It’ll set them up for next year if we get some more kids out.”
Sophomore Milo Morrison, who placed third overall in Saturday’s junior varsity race, is on Philomath’s state roster. Junior Mika Laukkanen Raskauskas is the alternate.
In the girls JV race, junior Denae Imlach and freshman Maria Angeles finished second and third. Imlach and Ava Panico are the girls alternates for state.
Nuño and Smith also play on Philomath’s varsity girls soccer team, which hosts Estacada in a playoff game Wednesday. A win would send the Warriors on Saturday to The Dalles — unless Baker pulls off a monumental first-round upset. Fulton said both runners are committed to the state cross-country meet.
Oregon West Conference Championships
Saturday, Oct. 31 at Stayton Middle School Nature Trails, Stayton
BOYS
TEAM SCORING—1, Stayton 37; 2, Philomath 56; 3, Central 60; 4, Newport 93; 5, Cascade 126; 6, Taft 166.
PHS Results
VARSITY—3, Galen Murch, 16:24.5; 8, Riggins Bushnell, 17:23.9; 11, Warren Smart, 17:29.9; 15, Braven Beard, 17:41.0; 19, Oakley Pausch, 18:12.0; 22, Cameron Barlow, 18:42.5.
JUNIOR VARSITY—3, Milo Morrison, 19:26.6; 13, Mika Laukkanen Raskauskas, 21:14.9; 32, Rex Sederlin, 30:05.6.
GIRLS
TEAM SCORING—1, Philomath 30; 2, Stayton 57; 3, Cascade 83; 4, Taft 96; 5, Newport 115; 6, Central 121.
PHS Results
VARSITY—1, Olivia Hernandez, 18:42.0; 4, Sienna Bushnell, 19:51.4; 6, Reagan Nuño,, 20:06.1; 7, Piper Pedder, 20:09.7; 12, Sienna Smith, 20:48.8; 14, Libby Kramer, 21:17.2; 28, Ava Panico, 24:01.2.
JUNIOR VARSITY—2, Denae Imlach, 24:18.4; 3, Maria Angeles, 24:56.8; 4, Addie Kowalewski, 25:15.7; 5, Scarlet Panico, 25:19.5; 6, Cassidy Grubbs, 25:19.7; 10, Wren Pope, 27:54.4.
