With the district meet only three weeks away, the Philomath High boys cross-country team is trying to position itself for a strong finish with hopes of eventually earning a top-four trophy at the 4A championships down in Eugene.
Veteran coach Joe Fulton knows this year’s Warriors squad needs a fifth man to develop for any shot of bringing home hardware. At the top of the lineup, juniors Leo Pausch and Lukas Hernandez continue to lead the way.
Gallery: PHS boys cross-country at Paul Mariman Invitational (Oct. 12, 2024)
A collection of photos from the Philomath High School boys cross-country team’s appearance in the Paul Mariman Invitational on Saturday.
The PHS duo had a 2-3 finish at Saturday’s 38th annual Paul Mariman Invitational. Along with a 13th-place performance by sophomore Galen Murch and senior JJ Lewis’s sprint to the finish for 25th the Warriors were able to snag the runner-up trophy. Sophomore Jacob Hernandez was the team’s fifth scoring runner in 44th.
Pausch put in a strong performance but had to settle for second place behind Marshfield junior Jaxson Stovall.
“Our mulch is difficult to run on — it’s not really pounded down so going through there is not as easy as grass or other materials but it felt better than I thought it was going to,” Pausch said. “I’m sad I couldn’t catch Jaxson at the end but it is what it is. I’m happy with it.”
Stovall finished in 16:35.4 with Pausch crossing in 16:47.7 — those two finishing well ahead of the rest of the field.
“I know he takes off really fast every time so I knew I didn’t want to go straight with him and I hung back and tried to work myself up closer,” Pausch said. “I did get to within a couple seconds of him at one point but we were both running basically by ourselves … it was very hard to maintain a consistent pace.”
Cottage Grove senior Carter Bengtson, the top runner in 4A this season and favored to take the individual title at the Mariman for the second straight year, ended up not competing because of illness.
Pausch feels like he’s set up for a strong finish this season.
“I’m definitely among the top percent of the runners in 4A right now and I’m really just looking forward to the state race where I can try to get top five and first-team all-state,” Pausch said. “Just really stick with the guys that I know I can stay with like from Newport and Marist and just have a good race and succeed.”
Pausch is one of six runners that have turned in times under 16 minutes this season. Hernandez isn’t far back and has the eighth-fastest time this fall.
“I think I’m getting ready to peak at districts and state,” Hernandez said. “I’m looking for some big races, big times. I think I’m ready.”
At the Mariman, Hernandez placed third individually with his time of 17:21.6.
“Today I was trying something different — I tried to start a little slower and then pick it up,” Hernandez said. “It didn’t really work out how I wanted it to. But, I think I ran a pretty good race though.”
Hernandez was in the pack for a bit after the race started but passed other runners by the time he reached the course’s primary hill.
“I was leading my group and then I left them trying to find Leo but he was just too far in front,” Hernandez said.
Murch’s 13th place came with a time of 18:11.9 and Lewis outsprinted a Cottage Grove runner for 25th in 18:51.7.
“With the boys, we had some good, solid performances from Leo, Galen and JJ,” Fulton said. “Lukas took third but I think he probably isn’t very satisfied with how he ran. He’s usually a lot closer to Leo.”
Like Pausch, Hernandez mentioned the course’s primary challenge.
“It’s still pretty rough … you’re in the mulch and it’s definitely not my favorite and is squishy to run in with the spikes,” he said. “Not the most optimal but it’s fine.”
Jacob Hernandez finished in 19:42.2. Junior Mason Stevens filled a sixth slot in the varsity race for PHS and finished 68th in 20:32.2. The race featured 120 runners.
“We’re pretty good four deep but we really need to get a fifth man going if we’re going to get a trophy at state,” Fulton said when asked how he feels the boys’ team is sitting at this mid-October date.
He added that it can be difficult to analyze the team because he has soccer players that he doesn’t spend much time with outside of race day.
“So there’s not a lot I can do to help them improve,” he said. “I’ve just got to hope that they’re going to be real gutsy when they race. You can tell with Leo and Galen and JJ with them putting in the long runs together — all three had a solid race today.”
The Warriors will head to the CG Bramble Scramble Oct. 19 at Cottage Grove and will then participate in The Happy Hustle over at Crystal Lake Sports Park in Corvallis on Oct. 23. Then the Oregon West Championships arrive Nov. 2 — this year’s meet will be held in Philomath.
