In front of the field of 141 runners at Saturday’s Northwest Classic at Lane Community College in Eugene, Philomath freshman Adele Beckstead twice ran off course — one of “the perils of leading a race” — as Warriors coach Joe Fulton put it.
Beckstead also chose to run the wet 5,000-meter course in training shoes instead of spikes, the lone competitor among the top 10 finishers to do so.
None of it mattered.
Beckstead recovered to take first place by just under 4 seconds over the runner-up from Valley Catholic. She came in with a season-best time of 19:46.19 with Valley Catholic junior Maslin Sigler second at 19:50.40. Siuslaw senior Rylee Colton was third in 19:55.00.
Fulton said the team gained new experiences and lessons that are needed for the Warriors to be in the running for team trophies at state this fall, currently scheduled to also take place at Lane Community College, although the OSAA reported last week that it was not clear if it might need to be moved based on that school’s recent decision to incorporate remote instruction for the first half of its fall term..
“For one thing, we had cool and wet conditions and it will certainly be that way towards the end of the season,” Fulton said. “We also raced against the defending state champions for both boys and girls.”
Siuslaw edged Philomath for the team title at 71 to 68 — well ahead of the rest of the field of 16 complete teams that participated.
Along with Beckstead, Warriors junior Ingrid Hellesto had a top-15 finish with 13th in 21:21.60. In fact, all seven of Philomath’s entrants finished in the race’s top 35, a valid accomplishment with the size of the field.
Freshman Kateri Pindell finished 23rd in 21:52.02 as the team’s No. 3 runner. Senior Kaeleigh Houchin had a season-best 21:56.88 to finish 28th. Freshman Hanna McDaniel was 30th in 22:16.78, a season-best performance for her as well.
Senior Audrey Gerding (33rd, 22:23.63) and sophomore Alexa Eckhold (35th, 22:25.68) rounded out the varsity squad. Gerding and Eckhold had season PRs with those times.
In the JV girls race, the Warriors had three runners in the top 10 — freshman Hallie Morrison (fourth, 22:38.17), freshman Brooke McDaniel (ninth, 23:23.87) and sophomore Phoebe Coen (10th, 23:24.61). The team finished second, just three points behind 6A’s Summit.
Boys
Philomath’s Brody Bushnell continues to build on his junior year of running with a season-best time of 16:23.70. That time placed him in second behind junior Alexander Garcia-Silver of Marshfield, who took first wit a 15:54.98. Garcia-Silver placed 12th at state in 2019 as a freshman at Class 5A North Bend and transferred to Marshfield this season.
Junior Mateo Candanoza had to settle for 11th after runners from Tillamook and La Pine passed him over the final 100 meters but he had a season-best time of 17:00.83. Junior Jesse Erickson (26th, 18:03.42) and senior Mark Grimmer (37th, 18:35.90) also had their best performances of the season. Freshman Warwick Bushnell rounded out the varsity five (82nd, 20:11.94).
The varsity race had 147 individual entries.
The PHS boys finished third behind Siuslaw and Valley Catholic among a field of 17 teams. With a lack of depth on the roster, Fulton had just five athletes entered in the varsity race with the Warriors’ No. 3 runner, Ben Hernandez, not available to run Saturday.
“It’s obvious that we would have beat Valley Catholic with Ben and we remain second in the hypothetical state meet rankings,” Fulton said. “Besides Brody, Mateo, Jesse and Mark all ran seaton-best times.”
Junior Micah Matthews (fifth, 19:28.33) and freshman JJ Lewis (10th, 19:55.13) had top 10 finishes in a junior varsity race that featured 226 runners.
Bushnell and Candanoza both got in some extra running on Friday night during a special mile run event staged during halftime of the Corvallis-Crescent Valley football game. Bushnell won in 4:32.
Philomath now turns its attention to the CG Bramble Scramble at Cottage Grove. The Warriors have an interesting connection to Cottage Grove with Ricky Knutson now head coach and Leland Fulton, Joe Fulton’s son, helping as an assistant coach with the Lions. Knutson and Fulton are PHS graduates and former cross-country standouts for the Warriors.
The Cottage Grove meet begins at 10 a.m. with the junior high races, followed by JV at 11:45 a.m. (boys) and 12:30 p.m. (girls) and varsity at 1:15 p.m. (boys) and 1:45 p.m. (girls).
Northwest Classic
Saturday at Lane Community College, Eugene
BOYS
Team Scoring 1, Siuslaw 59; 2, Valley Catholic 112; 3, Philomath 138; 4, Sisters 157; 5, Cottage Grove 182; 6, Marshfield 184; 7, Westside Christian 188; 8, Newport 190; 9, Klamath Union 202; 10, Phoenix 242; 11, Tillamook 249; 12, Henley 312; 13, Western Christian 318; 14, St. Mary’s 328; 15, Mazama 392; 16, Harrisburg 399; 17, Junction City 407. Top 10 Individuals 1. Alexander Garcia-Silver, Marshfield, 15:54.98 2. Brody Bushnell, Philomath, 16:23.70 3. Elwood Hosking, Phoenix, 16:36.78 4. Chad Hughes, Siuslaw, 16:40.18 5. Samuel Ulrich, Siuslaw, 16:40.39 6. David Dugan, Westside Christian, 16:42.54 7. Henry Tierney, Valley Catholic, 16:45.32 8. Kyle Hughes, Siuslaw, 16:53.97 9. Johnathan Ginyrich, Tillamook, 16:57.91 10. Wyatt Montgomery, La Pine, 17:00.14 PHS Results 2. Brody Bushnell, 16:23.70 11. Mateo Candanoza, 17:00.83 26. Jesse Erickson, 18:03.42 37. Mark Grimmer, 18:35.90 82. Warwick Bushnell, 20:11.94
Note: 147 runners competed in the 1A/2A/3A/4A varsity race
GIRLS
Team Scoring 1. Siuslaw 68; 2, Philomath 71; 3, Klamath Union 132; 4, Phoenix 143; 5, Valley Catholic 149; 6, Tillamook 164; 7, Cottage Grove 191; 8, Newport 214; 9, Sisters 240; 10, Junction City 245; 11, Harrisburg 294; 12, Taft 320; 13, St. Mary’s 326; 14, North Douglas 336; 15, Creswell 352; 16, Westside Christian 385. Top 10 Individuals 1. Adele Beckstead, Philomath, 19:46.19 2. Maslin Sigler, Valley Catholic, 19:50.40 3. Rylee Colton, Siuslaw, 19:55.00 4. Sophia Stubblefield, Phoenix, 20:01.51 5. Kyla Potratz, Phoenix, 20:14.98 6. Aubrey Syrnyk, Klamath Union, 20:24.26 7. Daisy LaLonde, East Linn Christian, 20:36.50 8. Isabela Coffman, Klamath Union, 20:39.97 9. Ella Bartlett, Sisters, 20:40.85 10. Aliya Larsen, Newport, 20:48.42 PHS Results 1. Adele Beckstead, 19:46.19 13. Ingrid Hellesto, 21:21.60 23. Kateri Pindell, 21:52.02 28. Kaeleigh Houchin, 21:56.88 30. Hanna McDaniel, 22:16.78 33. Audrey Gerding, 22:23.63 35. Alexa Eckhold, 22:25.68
Note: 141 runners competed in the 1A/2A/3A/4A varsity race
JUNIOR VARSITY
BOYS
| Team Scoring |
|---|
| 1, South Salem 49; 2, Summit 62; 3, Ida B. Wells 101; 4, Philomath 118; 5, Lincoln 121; 6, Valley Catholic 186; 7, Roseburg 214; 8, Klamath Union 259; 9, West Salem 266; 10, Cottage Grove 288; 11, Sisters 299; 12, Tillamook 338; 13, Grants Pass 349; 14, Sheldon 373; 15, Caldera 379; 16, Western Christian 390. |
| PHS Results |
|---|
| 5. Micah Matthews, 19:28.33 |
| 10. JJ Lewis, 19:55.13 |
| 26. Bryan Thomas, 20:36.94 |
| 31. Gradin Fairbanks, 20:51.33 |
| 62. Emmitt Gaskey, 21:56.86 |
| 93. Aidan Bruce, 22:58.44 |
| 141. Tyler Moade, 24:08.13 |
| 181. Maxwell Carter, 26:12.49 Note: 226 runners competed in the JV open race |
GIRLS
| Team Scoring |
|---|
| 1, Summit 45; 2, Philomath 48; 3, Lincoln 126; 4, Central Linn 132; 5, Ida B. Wells 141; 6, Grants Pass 149; 7, Klamath Union 164; 8, South Salem 189; 9, Valley Catholic 214; 10, Roseburg 242. |
| PHS Results |
|---|
| 4. Hallie Morrison, 22:38.17 |
| 9. Brooke McDaniel, 23:23.87 |
| 10. Phoebe Coen, 23:24.61 |
| 12. Danielle Harris, 23:31.06 |
| 13. Janice Hellesto, 23:37.18 |
| 16. Kyah Weeber, 23:57.30 |
| 19. Allison Neelands, 24:32.14 |
| 26. Arianna Boutilier, 25:17.38 |
| 30. Averie Wilson, 25:32.90 |
| 56. Emery Boutilier, 26:51.95 |
| 91. Ally Todd, 28:43.87 Note: 133 runners competed in the JV open race |
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