In a final meet before the Oregon West Conference Championships, the Philomath High girls placed first and the boys second at Friday’s Wally Ciochetti Invitational in Cottage Grove.
The Warrior girls won both relays and placed among the top three in 10 individual events while Micah Matthews and Ben Hernandez won events for the boys.
The 4-by-100 girls relay with sophomore Ellie Morton, freshman Natalie Dunn, senior Haviland Eves and freshman Janice Hellesto sprinted the oval in 51.14 seconds for a win of well over a second. In the 4-by-400, freshman Anneka Steen, junior Ingrid Hellesto, Dunn and Janice Hellesto came in with a 4:07.28, a margin of victory of 1.75 seconds.
Individually, senior Sage Kramer placed among the top three in three field events with second in the javelin (108 feet, 5 inches) and thirds in the discus (99-4) and shot put (33-5.25). Kramer’s entry in the shot was a first in a meet other than team trials.
Janice Hellesto had a pair of second-place finishes in the 200 with a personal-best 26.51 seconds and in the long jump with a distance of 15-8. Steen took second in the triple jump at 31-2, which was just 1 inch behind the winner. She was also fourth in the 800 with a PR time of 2:29.44.
Ingrid Hellesto took second in a competitive 300 hurdles race with a time of 48.62, a personal-best for her. She also competed in the 100 hurdles for the first time in a meet and placed sixth with an 18.06. Dunn placed second in the 400 with a PR time of 1:00.21.
Morton placed in three individual events with third in the 100 (13.35), fourth in the 200 (28.07, PR) and tied for fifth in the high jump (4-6). Freshman Melea Lattin placed third in the 1,500 (5:08.94, PR) and sixth in the 800 (2:36.86).
Other top-six finishes for Philomath included senior Emery Boutilier in the pole vault (tied for fourth, 8-0), senior Jazz Choi in the 800 (fifth, 2:34.08), freshman Brooke McDaniel in the 3,000 (fifth, 11:55.08, PR) and freshman Hannah McDaniel in the 3,000 (sixth, 11:56.00).
Philomath’s girls finished with 134 points to win the 14-school meet by a considerable margin over runner-up North Valley.
Matthews had a productive meet with two victories and a third place. He won the 110 hurdles with a personal-best time of 15.66, tied for first in the high jump by clearing 5-10 and placed third in the pole vault at a height of 12-0, which was a PR.
Hernandez took first in the 800 with a time of 2:05.24 and third in the 1,500 with a personal-best 4:11.16.
The Warriors also had two runner-up finishes among the individual events with sophomore Simon King in the 800 (2:10.87) and junior Brody Bushnell in the 1,500 (4:10.02). Other top-six finishes were senior Isaac Lattin in the triple jump (fifth, 38-8.5) and senior Caleb Jensen in the long jump (sixth, 19-2.25).
The 4-by-400 relay of King, Hernandez, freshman Warwick Bushnell and Brody Bushnell placed a very close third in 3:34.55. The 4-by-100 relay with freshman Hudson Raab, Warwick Bushnell, Lattin and Jensen took fourth in 46.56.
In the team standings for the boys, Henley won with 137 points and Philomath took second with 78, beating out third-place Hidden Valley by 10.5 points.
The OWC Championships are scheduled for May 13-14 at Sweet Home. Several Philomath athletes will also participate in the OWC junior varsity district meet on Monday at Woodburn.
