Philomath High junior Adele Beckstead, a dual-sport athlete for the Warriors this spring in tennis and track, was able to rest on Sunday.
The 17-year-old deserved some time off the court and the course after a whirlwind two-day stretch late last week. On Friday, she defeated her opponent in straight sets at Silverton and then headed west to Dallas to compete in the 3,000-meter run in Philomath’s season-opening track meet. Beckstead placed second in 11:05.76.
Gallery: PHS girls tennis vs. South Albany (March 18, 2024)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s girls tennis win over South Albany on Monday.
“You definitely have to balance a lot between sports,” Beckstead said Monday afternoon following a 6-2, 6-0 tennis victory over South Albany’s Daniella Quiroga. “But it’s nice because there are certain days you can do one and other days you can do the other.”
The Friday tennis-track twinbill might’ve been the exception. But the story of her competitive weekend doesn’t end there. Beckstead then participated in a 5-kilometer trail run Saturday morning at McDonald Forest north of Corvallis. She conquered the challenging course in 23:42, good for first place among females and just 9 seconds behind the male winner.
“The hills … the first more than a mile is all uphill,” she said.
In Philomath’s duel Monday against 5A South Albany, two-set sweeps by Beckstead, seniors Bailey Bell and Megan Reese in singles, and seniors Daniella Carlisle and Nadia Durski in doubles, were pivotal in a match that came down to a tiebreaker to determine the winner. Each team won four matches but the Warriors had a 10-8 advantage for sets won. Besides the aforementioned wins, two doubles teams that pushed their opponents to three sets factored into the final result.
Bell took care of her opponent, Lilyanah Poris, by a 6-0, 6-0 margin.
“I just want to keep improving on last year,” said Bell, who placed third last year at state. “Doing well in the state tournament is definitely my goal for the whole season. Everything else is just kind of leading up to that tournament.”
Beckstead knows the competition in 4A is a true challenge but doesn’t worry too much about the opposition.
“I hope that I can just keep playing aggressively and also be consistent,” she said. “Just try to go as far as I can.”
Consistency with serving is a major area of her game that requires attention.
“That one’s hard to do in the sun or the wind,” Beckstead said. “It’s all up to you. You’re completely in control of it.”
Twin sisters Megan and Elise Reese have been interchangeable at No. 3 and No. 4 singles so far this season. Against the RedHawks, Megan was in the higher slot and posted a 6-1, 6-2 win over Emmely Sanchez-Ruiz. Elise had a tough opponent in Emma Blagg but was competitive in a 7-5, 6-3 loss.
At No. 1 doubles, Carlisle and Durski rolled over their opponents, 6-1, 6-1. The No. 2 doubles matchup was close throughout with South Albany pulling out the win over Philomath sophomores Lucie Oster and Lucy King, 7-6, 7-5.
Philomath’s other two doubles teams played marathon matches and came up short against their opponents — freshman Clara Neville and sophomore Lacey Bacho in a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 result and sophomores Maggie King and Lucy Thomas by a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 count.
The Warriors are scheduled to hit the courts again Tuesday at Dallas.
