Standing atop of the medal stand late Saturday afternoon as the Philomath winds started to pick up, the boys track and field team gathered for a photo with the first-place trophy.
Surrounded by a sizable group of state-qualifying underclassmen, it seemed appropriate that senior Warwick Bushnell was holding the hardware, the storied program’s latest addition to the school’s trophy case.
Heading into the season, it wasn’t clear exactly what the boys would be able to accomplish this season. But with the emergence of a few competitors in certain events and a high level of athleticism up and down the roster, the Warriors surprised a few while winning the Oregon West Conference Championships.
“I feel like it’s definitely a surprise — maybe not to us but to other people just because I know how hard we work,” PHS junior CD Nuño said after climbing down off the medal stand and posing for a photo. “We’re all peaking at the right time, we’re all PR’ing, so it’s awesome to just be surrounded by such great athletes.”
Longtime head coach Joe Fulton admits that at the beginning of the season, it was difficult to gauge how far along the boys were in terms of scoring big-time points in track meets.
Gallery: PHS boys track and field at Day 2 of OWC Championships (May 24, 2025)
A collection of photos from the Philomath High boys track and field team’s appearance on the second day of the Oregon West Conference Championships on Saturday.
Philomath girls win 8th straight district title in track and field
Setting itself up for a very realistic run at a fourth straight Class 4A state title, the Philomath High girls track and field team will send athletes to Eugene in 13 of 17 events — and several of them are capable of scoring a lot of points. “We’re in good shape for state next week…
Gallery: PHS girls track and field at Day 2 of OWC Championships (May 24, 2025)
A collection of photos from the Philomath High girls track and field team’s appearance on the second day of the Oregon West Conference Championships on Saturday.
“As the season progressed, we realized how much depth we had and that we were going to score in almost every event,” Fulton said. “Our boys, the throwers are really strong this year, the jumpers are doing great, the distance runners, the sprinters. I mean, we really don’t have a weak spot so it became pretty obvious as the season went along that it was going to be between us and Sweet Home for the title.”
Philomath qualified 10 athletes in 11 individual events along with both relays for the May 30-31 state meet in Eugene. Bushnell, Nuño, junior Leo Pausch and sophomore Kaden Howard each qualified in two individual events.
Despite the promise that the team was showing during the season, it was Bushnell who didn’t seem quite right in his running events. He didn’t have any known health issues coming into the spring but yet he was struggling with bouts of tiredness and weakness during meets.
“I kind of thought something was wrong all season and when I was running the same times that I had when I was a freshman, it was like something’s wrong,” Bushnell said. “So I went and got my blood done the next day.”
The blood test showed a diagnosis of anemia. Said Bushnell, “That wasn’t very easy for me.”
In short, people who are anemic don’t get enough oxygen in their bodies. Iron deficiency is the most common cause.
“I got some iron infusions — that was this week and they say it takes about a week to kick in so I’m just really excited that I saw at least a little bit of improvement these last couple of weeks,” Bushnell said. “I’m still not feeling like myself but I’m hoping by state, I can do some crazy things.”
Bushnell took first in the 400 in 50 seconds flat and beat Nuño in a close 200 with a time of 22.52. Nuño was second with a 22.78.
“I’m really hoping to go for the state title in the 400 meters,” he said. “I really do think it’s possible … I think I’m (ranked) third going in.”
Bushnell’s career-best in the 400 came at last year’s state meet when he ran a 49.78 and placed third.
Besides the 200, Nuño also qualified in the 100 behind a winning time of 11.44.
“Having Warwick and being surrounded by some fast guys have pushed me in practice,” Nuño said about his exceptional season.
Spending time in the weight room has also paid dividends.
“I’ll go and I’ll do some knee rehab and then maybe some heavier stuff before practices, so I’ll do that every day,” Nuño said.
Bushnell and Nuño both run legs on the state-qualifying relays. With Howard and freshman Dreyton Nuño also carrying the baton, the 4-by-100 won with a time of 43.92. The 4-by-400 relay finished second with junior Lukas Hernandez, the Nuño brothers and Bushnell finishing in 3:33.70.
Howard represented one of those unforeseen circumstances this season with an athlete that took off to contribute big team points. He qualified for state in two events by winning the long jump (21-10.25) and finishing second in the triple jump (41-9.75).
“He really took a big leap in the long jump and the triple jump, I think he’s only done that one other time and he placed second in that, so we’re really proud of him,” Bushnell said about his teammate.
Pausch is also having an exceptional season and is headed to Eugene in two events as well after second-place finishes in the 1,500 (4:13.27) and 3,000 (9:07.60).
Hernandez had a good enough time in his third-place finish in the 3,000 (9:10.63) to qualify as a wildcard entry. And after Newport senior Noah Larsen was injured in a fall at the finish line while winning the 800, Hernandez could possibly move up and head to state in the 1,500 if it’s determined that Larsen can’t compete. (Update: Hernandez will be going to state in the 1,500).
In the field events, there was fun and a little drama in the high jump with Philomath teammates and friends Dreyton Nuño and Sam Hernandez battling for state qualification. As it turned out, both made it with a 1-2 finish.
Hernandez has been fairly consistent all season but Nuño turned heads with his performance, which ended with him clearing 6-0.75. In the two meets prior to districts, he had gone 5-6 and 5-8 although earlier in the season, he flashed promise by going 5-10.
Nuño missed his first attempts at 5-6.5, 5-8.5, 5-10.5 and 5-11.5 but cleared the bar at each of those heights the second time around. His miss on his first attempt at 5-11.5 didn’t go over well with him.
“I was angry, yeah, I punched the fence,” he said. “I was like, ‘ah, I shouldn’t have done that — my knuckle.’”
But he cleared the height on his second attempt and when a Stayton jumper went out at 5-10.5, it meant Nuño could finish no lower than second and he qualified for state. On clearing 5-11.5, he said “it kind of just clicked.”
“I just have to push off the ground harder with my right foot and go higher — that’s what I was thinking … push off the ground and everything after that my body kind of does it by itself,” Nuño said.
He also received advice from his jumps coach to move back a half of a step to help with the run-up.
“If you don’t have arch, you really won’t go that far but in my opinion, I’ve found that I do better when I have a better run up,” Nuño said.
Hernandez cleared 5-11.5 to place second.
Elsewhere, junior Josiah Peters won the javelin with a throw of 181-2, which ranks No. 2 on the school’s all-time charts. It’s a significant performance with Peters out for a big chunk of the season from mid-April to mid-May. In fact, districts was only his fourth appearance in a meet this spring. The 181-2 ranks fourth in 4A.
Other PHS qualifiers include sophomore Jamin Peters in the discus (second, 141-5) and junior Blake Hauck in the pole vault (second, 10-4).
The meet’s top individual awards went to Bushnell in the running events and Cascade senior Liam Brewer in the field events.
Oregon West Conference Championships
Friday-Saturday at Clemens Field, Philomath HS
Boys
Team scoring: 1, Philomath 190.5; 2, Sweet Home 162; 3, Newport 130; 4, Cascade 82; 5, Stayton 68.5; 6, North Marion 22.
PHS results (Finals—Top 8): 100 — 1, CD Nuño, 11.44; 5, Kaden Howard, 11.75. 200 — 1, Warwick Bushnell, 22.52; 2, CD Nuño, 22.78. 400 — 1, Warwick Bushnell, 50.00. 1500 — 2, Leo Pausch, 4:13.27; 4, Lukas Hernandez, 4:16.51; 5, Galen Murch, 4:18.20. 3000 — 2, Leo Pausch, 9:07.60; 3, Lukas Hernandez, 9:10.63; 6, Galen Murch, 9:29.29. 110 hurdles — 3, Tiernan Bovbjerg, 17.46. 300 hurdles — 6, Tiernan Bovbjerg, 45.65. 4-by-100 relay — 1, Philomath (CD Nuño, Howard, D. Nuño, Bushnell), 43.92. 4-by-400 relay — 2, Philomath (Hernandez, D. Nuño, CD Nuño, Bushnell), 3:33.70. Shot put — 3, Jamin Peters, 43-0.5; 8, Tiernan Bovbjerg, 36-11.5. Discus — 2, Jamin Peters, 141-5; 4, Josiah Peters, 123-10; 5, Jonah Sailor, 117-4. Javelin — 1, Josiah Peters, 181-2. High jump — 1, Dreyton Nuño, 6-0.75; 2, Samuel Hernandez, 5-11.5; 5, Nathan Seits, 5-8.5. Pole vault — 2, Blake Hauck, 10-4. Long jump — 1, Kaden Howard, 21-10.25; 8, Nathan Seits, 18-0.25. Triple jump — 2, Kaden Howard, 41-9.75; 6, Esias Sapp, 37-5.75; 7, Nathan Seits, 37-3.25.
For complete meet results, click here