The Philomath High boys track and field team finished a close second at Thursday’s four-school meet at Sweet Home while racking up six individual wins and one relay win.
Junior Micah Matthews had three victories by taking first in the 110-meter high hurdles, 300-meter hurdles and pole vault. Matthews had the only recorded time in the 110 hurdles with a 16.83. In the 300 hurdles, he did have some competition and won by less than a second with a personal-best 44.41. In the pole vault, he outdueled a Newport athlete to win at a height of 9 feet, 6 inches.
Philomath dominates 4-school track meet at Sweet Home
The Philomath High girls track and field team dominated a four-school meet Thursday at Sweet Home by winning 12 of the 17 events and piling up points with a deep roster. The Warriors 4-by-400-meter relay — a foursome that features three freshmen and a junior — easily won with a time of 4:12.90, which heading…
Matthews also finished second in the high jump by clearing 6-0. Newport’s Quintin Travis went 6-0 as well but was declared the winner on a tiebreaker.
Junior Mateo Candanoza was a double-winner in the distance events. Candanoza ran a personal-best time of 4:19.74 to win the 1,500-meter run by more than 15 seconds over the runner-up. In the 3,000, he finished in 9:47.59 and won by nearly 35 seconds.
The team’s other individual victory came in the 800 where junior Brody Bushnell ran a 1:58.95, which ranks as the second-fastest in 4A heading into the weekend.
Philomath’s 4-by-400-meter relay team beat out Newport for first place with a time of 3:41.70. Sophomore Simon King, junior Ben Hernandez, freshman Warwick Bushnell and Brody Bushnell all ran on the relay.
Philomath had a 1-2-3-4 finish in the 1,500. Behind Candanoza were King (4:34.97), freshman JJ Lewis (4:59.58) and junior Kellen Houchin (4:59.96).
Six others had top-four finishes in individual events. Junior Nixon Mooney was second in the 400 at 56.36 and senior Bryan Thomas was fourth in that event at 57.83. Junior Jesse Erickson placed second in the 3,000 with a 10:22.56. Hernandez placed third in the 800 at 2:08.67. And junior Seth Arthurs was third in the triple jump at 37-9.75.
The 4-by-100-meter relay placed second behind Sweet Home with a time of 47.68. Freshman Hudson Raab, Warwick Bushnell, junior Isaac Workman and senior Caleb Jensen ran on the relay. The Huskies edged Philomath by 0.13 of a second for the win.
Newport won the meet with 206 points with Philomath second at 177, Sweet Home third at 115 and Pleasant Hill fourth with 79.
