Philomath High School’s sports programs could claim another year of success in 2023 with a heavy presence in state tournaments, playoffs and meets. Fourteen Oregon School Activities Association-sanctioned teams competed in the postseason with the Warriors winning two state titles.
The school’s female runners had a stellar spring and fall in Eugene with championship squads in track and field and cross-country. The boys basketball team was No. 1 all season and came up short in the championship game but had a memorable run along the way. The girls basketball team reached the tournament as well and finished strong for fourth.
Boys cross-country, dance, boys track and field, girls tennis, girls soccer, wrestling, cheer, volleyball and boys and girls swimming also had representation in state competitions. Most notably among that group, the girls tennis team tied for fourth with three players contributing points, boys cross-country surprised some with a fifth-place finish, the dance team had a fifth-place performance in the jazz competition and the boys track and field team took fourth in the spring.
The girls soccer team reached the quarterfinals, cheer placed seventh, wrestling was ninth and volleyball earned a berth in the playoffs. The swim teams both had athletes in Beaverton, including senior Carrson Hirte, who won a couple of medals to close out a successful swim career with the Warriors.
Here are the top 10 sports stories of the year as chosen by the Philomath News:
1. Cross-country girls take title in close state meet
In those first 10 minutes after the top runners had finished the 4A State Championships in girls cross-country, Philomath’s athletes felt they hadn’t done quite enough to secure first place over a talented La Grande squad.
But when the points were tallied, Philomath had won the title by five points in a race that came down to the fifth-place finishers.
Adele Beckstead and Ana Candanoza both placed in the top 10, Melea Lattin and Lucy King were in the top 15 and Hanna McDaniel, in that all-important fifth spot, placed 27th, well ahead of La Grande’s fifth runner.
“They really came through for us — that’s what we needed,” PHS coach Joe Fulton said after the team accepted the state championship trophy. “Because we knew we had to be quite a ways ahead of La Grande’s fifth runner. And you saw what La Grande did — 1, 2, 3, 11.”
The performance capped an impressive season for the cross-country girls that featured multiple meet titles, including a dominating performance in the Oregon West Conference Championships. Running on the home course Candanoza and Beckstead finished 1-2 and the top five runners all placed in the top 10.
The boys cross-country team should be mentioned for its fifth-place finish at state, a memorable run for a program that returned only two varsity runners from the previous season. The boys qualified for state for the 39th time in the last 40 years.
And then there was the backstory of those two teams overcoming challenges after a tree-removal project over the summer had destroyed the course — a story that’s certainly going to be included among the top news stories of 2023.
2. Warriors win state title in girls track and field
Philomath High’s girls track and field team rolled to the state title at Hayward Field by scoring 90 points, which was 27 more than the closest competition. Individual event winners included Natalie Dunn in the 400 and Janice Hellesto in the long jump. Anneka Steen in the high jump, Ana Candanoza in the 3,000 and Hellesto in the 200 had runner-up performances. The 4-by-100 relay also had second-place finish.
“I’m just so proud to be a part of Philomath, especially coming off of that one last year,” said PHS sophomore Janice Hellesto, who was named the Most Outstanding Athlete for the 4A girls. “This year, we’re holding on to those standards and I think every year as we get in new freshmen, we’re just going to improve more and more. I think it’s so cool to be part of a team that knows what’s good and can be confident and proud.”
PHS coach Joe Fulton had tremendous confidence that the team would be able to hold up the state title trophy again this year.
“They knew they could do it and they just came through, every one of them,” he said. “It was just a fantastic performance. I’m so proud of them — they’ll go for a three-peat next year.”
3. PHS boys basketball settles for runner-up trophy
The Philomath High boys basketball team reached the Class 4A championship game to set up an all-Oregon West Conference final against rival Cascade, a team the Warriors had lost to twice during the regular season.
In the first meeting between the two teams, Cascade led 36-20 at halftime on the strength of its 3-point shooting but the Warriors went on a 17-5 run in the third quarter to set up a thrilling fourth. Cascade had just enough to win, 50-49.
Later in the month, the Cougars and Warriors met again in the PHS gym and the visitors pulled out a 64-61 win. Again, the team’s 3-point shooting factored into the victory.
In the championship game, the two teams battled back and forth with only one point separating the teams at halftime. But the Cougars had a big run in the third quarter to create separation and the Warriors were not able to recover in a 61-52 loss.
Philomath’s path to the finals included wins over Hidden Valley (65-40), Crook County (54-43) and Henley (45-37). Seniors Cole Beardsley and Ty May would later receive first-team recognition on the all-state team.
4. Longtime basketball coach Eddie Van Vlack retires
Eddie Van Vlack, who had been involved with high school basketball for more than a quarter century, retired as a Philomath boys basketball coach. As the Warriors’ junior varsity coach, Van Vlack won 80% of his games with a record of 310-78. That included perfect seasons in 2013-14 and 2014-15. He came to Philomath in 2002 after coaching in Eddyville.
After Van Vlack had coached his last JV game, varsity coach Blake Ecker took a moment to recognize his contribution to the program. Ecker’s voice cracked a few times and Van Vlack teared up. Besides spending time together coaching, they are also good friends.
“I think part of it was my wife had surprised me with some coaches and family and friends that I haven’t seen in a while and I didn’t know they were coming,” Van Vlack said. “That made it a little emotional.”
Van Vlack, who is the executive director for the Philomath Youth Activities Club, said he stepped away from coaching to enjoy family life as he begins to get into his later years. But the demands that coaches face was also a factor.
“Times are challenging in the coaching world,” he said. “You’re expected to do more and more and more with less, less, less.”
5. Bailey Bell pulls off impressive feat in tennis
On the tennis court, junior Bailey Bell couldn’t do any better than she did during the regular season in the spring of 2023 against district opponents. She won all of her matches, 6-0, 6-0, to accomplish a very rare feat.
Greg Thorson, who has been coaching high school tennis for several years and was in his second season at the helm of the PHS girls program, said he’s never seen a player come close to what Bell pulled off.
“Particularly in the age of no-ad scoring,” Thorson pointed out.
No-ad scoring is a time-saving measure that when a game goes to deuce (40-40), the player who wins the next point wins the game. Under standard rules, a player has to win by two points in order to win.
“Her focus is so good and her footwork is phenomenal,” Thorson said. “Her anticipation — she’s rarely out of position to win a point and hit a winner.”
Bell went on to place third at the state tennis tournament. The Warriors tied for fourth as a team with Phoebe Dodson, Daniella Carlisle and Adele Beckstead also contributing points.
6. Girls basketball team rallies for 4th-place trophy
Philomath’s girls basketball team had a successful finish to its 2022-23 season by winning the fourth-place trophy at the state tournament. The Warriors finished runner-up in the Oregon West, secured a playoff spot with a 59-27 victory over St. Helens in a play-in game and then advanced past the first round with a 46-39 win on the road over Marist Catholic.
At the tournament in Forest Grove, the Warriors ran into a pretty good Gladstone bunch that would end up as the state runner-up in the quarterfinals. The Warriors went into the consolation bracket and performed well with victories of 57-37 over Crook County and 54-50 over Henley. In the trophy game, Abigail Brown had 17 points and Hailie Couture buried four 3-pointers.
7. Grimmer scores 32 goals, team reaches quarterfinals
PHS senior girls soccer standout Kamilla Grimmer finished the fall with 32 goals to help the Warriors to a state playoff berth that included advancement into the 4A quarterfinals.
The Warriors opened the playoffs with a 3-1 in the first round over Molalla. Grimmer had two of the team’s three goals (and assisted on the other one). The team lost in the quarterfinals to Hidden Valley, 1-0, and finished the season with a 13-3 record.
“They’ve worked hard since August and before then. Just a really good group of girls,” PHS coach Mat Phelps said. “They’ve got each other’s backs and we feel like we can compete with anybody.”
Grimmer likely could have scored many more goals with several mercy-rule games occurring over the course of the season. She was named the Oregon West Co-Player of the Year and was one of four PHS players on the first team with Bailey Bell, Melea Lattin and Heidi Bacho.
8. Wrestlers compete in snowstorm-impacted state meet
Four wrestlers earned medals and Philomath finished in the top 10 at a state wrestling meet impacted by a February snowstorm.
With Portland getting hit with one of its worst-ever storms, the Rose Quarter Campus, which includes Veterans Memorial Coliseum, was closed. That led to officials making a decision that the state tournament’s schedule had to be changed to a single day. On Philomath’s trip up, Interstate 5 was a mess and it took the wrestling team 7-1/2 hours to make what would normally be a 90-minute drive.
“It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” PHS wrestling coach Troy Woosley said. “It was the longest traffic jam that I’ve personally ever been in.”
Freshman Porter Compton (third), freshman Riley Barrett (fourth), sophomore River Sandstrom (sixth) and senior David Griffith (sixth) won medals. PHS had qualified 10 wrestlers to state — senior Ben Hernandez could not compete because of an injury.
9. Coach leads push for baseball, softball field upgrades
Philomath High School baseball coach Levi Webber took School Board members through a presentation in February that provided detailed insights into the need, design and fundraising strategies to take an idea that’s been around for a few years to the next level — installing turf on the baseball and softball fields.
“I think we have enough momentum, enough community support, enough people around that would like to see this happen, enough people that would really benefit from this, so we can make it a viable thing and give our student athletes and community’s kids a great place to be,” Webber said.
The upgrades go beyond the installation of turf infields. Bullpens, outfield drainage, better fencing and gates were proposed for baseball and a new visitor team’s dugout, storage shed and scoreboard were included for softball.
Webber hoped to see the project happen in 2024.
10. PHS equestrian team rides to 1st place in Redmond
Philomath’s equestrian team took first place in the medium school division in May at the Oregon High School Equestrian Teams championship in Redmond. Coached by Karenza Martin, the team featured a contingent of students with strong all-around skills.
“Going in, I did not expect it … but I knew they had the potential in every event,” Martin said on the team’s state-winning performance. “It’s an incredibly strong group of girls this year — good riders, good horses and extremely dedicated.”
The team included four Philomath High students in Briahna Ledbetter, Alyssa Kvidt, Makayla Lillie and Cadence Stevens, along with three Crescent Valley students.
