The Philomath High School girls track team is sitting in first place through the first day of the Class 4A state championships at Hayward Field in Eugene by scoring points in all finals events, including a first-place medal for senior Ahnika Tryon in the javelin and a 2-3 finish in the high jump.
Gallery: PHS track and field at 4A State Championships – Day 1 (May 17, 2024)
A collection of photos from the first day of the Class 4A track and field championships at Hayward Field on Friday.
The Warriors have 28 points with North Bend in second with 21 and La Grande sitting in third with 16.
Tryon’s state title in the javelin came by 2 feet over the runner-up. Lining up for her fifth attempt, Tryon was sitting in third place but took over the lead with a throw of 123 feet, 8 inches. Cottage Grove’s Makya Alsup was second at 121-8.
In the high jump, Molalla’s Peyton Craven and Philomath teammates Anneka Steen and Hanna McDaniel were the only three competitors able to clear 5-1. McDaniel made the height in exciting fashion on her third attempt, which was a personal-best. Craven ended up winning by clearing 5-4.5 on her third attempt, a height that Steen went out on to finish second at 5-3.25. McDaniel’s 5-1 was good for third.
Steen also competed in the triple jump and placed eighth at a distance of 33-2.5.
The only final in the running events on Day 1 was in the 3,000. Adele Beckstead, who is pulling double duty this week by also competing in the district tennis tournament in Salem, placed sixth in 10:47.78. Beckstead was running with the leader, La Grande’s Brooke Perry, through the first 1,800 meters but slipped to fifth over the final 1,200.
In results out of preliminaries, all Philomath competitors advanced to Saturday’s finals — Janice Hellesto (second, 12.50) and Ellie Morton in the 100, Hellesto (second, 25.82) in the 200 and Natalie Dunn (second, 58.58) in the 400.
For the boys, Lukas Hernandez scored three points for the team with his sixth-place finish in the 3,000. Hernandez stayed in the sixth- to ninth-place range through the first 1,800 meters before settling into sixth. He had a strong finish with a split of 1:07.46 over the final 400 to hold off a Crook County runner to secure a sixth-place medal.
In prelims, Warwick Bushnell qualified for finals in all three of his sprints — seventh in the 100 (11.29), fourth in the 200 (22.63) and third in the 400 (50.52). Simon King moves on to the 800 finals with a 2:00.75, the seventh-best time overall.
CD Nuno finished 13th in the 200 with a time of 23.77.
Junction City leads the boys’ team standings with 22 points. Marshfield, Cottage Grove, Crook County and Pendleton are all bunched up behind the Tigers with 18 and 17 points.
The state meet continues Saturday with 4A field events at 9:30 a.m. and running events at 12:30 p.m.
