EUGENE — The Philomath High School girls track and field program made history Saturday at Hayward Field.
The Warriors won their fourth straight state title — a feat that had never been seen until this year in Class 4A girls track and field. Although several athletes have come and gone through each of those championship seasons, the common denominator has been this year’s seniors.
Gallery: PHS track and field at 4A State Championships — Day 2 (May 31, 2025)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s appearance at the Class 4A state track and field championships on Saturday.
Boys track and field: Josiah Peters comes out throwing at 4A meet
EUGENE — The buzz that athletes feel while competing in the state championships at a world-class track and field venue like Hayward Field oftentimes is electric — an adrenaline-charged mix of nerves, excitement and awe that fuels every stride, throw and jump. The same buzz can also be overwhelming as the weight of expectations and…
“I think it reflects what a hard-working group of girls this team has and that we’re also so supportive,” PHS senior Natalie Dunn said after anchoring the 4-by-400 relay, the meet’s final event. “It’s so easy to try your best to perform as good as you can because you know you have such a good team supporting you. It’s just really cool to do it with this team.”
Another one of those seniors, Janice Hellesto, had a performance for the ages in her final competition wearing the Warrior colors. Hellesto won all three of her individual events — the long jump, 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash, and carried the baton to the finish line in a runner-up performance by the 4-by-100 relay.
In all, Hellesto had a hand in nearly half of the team’s 80 points.
“We expected her to win but breaking three school records in the process and anchoring a school-record 4-by-1(00), I mean, she was a monster out there,” PHS coach Joe Fulton said as the meet came to a close. “Watching Janice go from a goofy freshman to the real leader of this team is very impressive.”
Let’s repeat that — Hellesto broke her own school records in her three individual events in Eugene — 18 feet, 6 inches in the long jump, 12.14 seconds in the 100 and 24.70 seconds in the 200. Freshman Kya Bolton, Dunn, senior Petra Hernandez and Hellesto teamed up in the 4-by-100 for a school-record time of 49.08 seconds.
Following the long jump and prelims in her sprints Friday, Hellesto said it was slow getting up on Saturday.
“I woke up really sore — I was like, ‘oh my gosh, I hurt,’ but it was totally worth it,” she said.
Hellesto won the 100 by nearly five-tenths of a second — a significant margin in a short sprint. And in the 200, she beat Cascade rival Lillian Pickett by just over five-tenths of a second.
“In the 1(00), I didn’t get extremely nervous but in the 2(00) I was a little more shaky because I knew it was my last and it’s a lot more distance,” Hellesto said about her sprints. “I just had to remind myself that a lot of these girls I had run against before and I pushed myself, like, if I haven’t let them beat me before, I’m not going to let them beat me now.”
Hellesto also provided some insight into her winning long jump performance on the meet’s first day. She clinched first place on her final jump.
“That was terrifying — it was the exact same situation as sophomore year where I’m just standing there praying to God,” Hellesto said, referring to the first-place finish that she also had in the event at the 2023 meet. “It really just was a God thing and I felt that energy and had a good jump. But yeah, I was worried but I also was really confident, like, I knew I had it in me.”
La Grande pushes Philomath in standings
The race for the program’s fourth straight state title was closer than anticipated. La Grande picked up major points in the distance events and even scored more than the Warriors in the 100 to keep pace with Philomath.
“I’m sure they’re just as relieved as I am that we managed to pull it off,” Fulton said. “It was way tighter than I expected … I thought we’d have about a 20-point cushion and I think it was 10-1/2 points.”
Following Hellesto’s win in the 200 and with a La Grande girl placing sixth in the 300 hurdles, Fulton ran the numbers through his head with the 17th and final event remaining. The situation looked overwhelmingly good for the Warriors.
“We watched the first heat of the 4-by-4(00) and La Grande took second at around 4:15 so we knew that even if we didn’t race, they would’ve had to place at least fourth overall and we knew that wasn’t going to happen (with their time),” Fulton said. “We were able to add some points to it and they didn’t.”
Philomath ended up with 80 points to La Grande’s 69.5. Cascade finished third with 52.
Dunn said the team didn’t know for sure going into the 4-by-400 if they had clinched the state title.
“What I’ve always told people on the team is ‘hey, maybe it does come down to the points but just run your best and that will always be good enough for the girls on this team,’” she said.
Senior Adele Beckstead wasn’t about to let the pressure have an impact on the final event.
“I just thought whatever happens happens,” she said. “If we do our best — whatever the results are, it’s OK.”
The 4-by-400 relay, by the way, placed third with freshman Cassidy Smart, Beckstead, freshman Reagan Nuño and Dunn running the distance in 4:06.42.
Steen in the high jump: ‘I got this’
Looking back to the meet’s first day, in addition to Hellesto’s win in the long jump, another one of those talented seniors, Anneka Steen, took first place in the high jump. Steen said that going in, she felt that she just needed to perform up to her capabilities to secure the first-place medal.
Still, the journey to the top of the medal stand didn’t come without a few mental challenges that can creep into an athlete’s head.
“I had a feeling that I was going to win but in the back of my head, I thought I wasn’t going to do it — I don’t even know how to explain it,” Steen said. “It was nerve racking until I got up and then it was like, ‘I got this.’”
Steen’s winning height was 5 feet, 5 inches. The victory comes after runner-up finishes during her sophomore and junior seasons.
Senior Aspen Russell followed up her district title last week with second place at state by clearing 9 feet, 9 inches — three inches shy of her personal record. Russell passed at the opening 7-10 and then cleared the bar on her first attempt at the next four heights. At 9-9, she missed her first two attempts but cleared on the third.
With two vaulters remaining at 9-11.75, Mazama’s Mada Lee cleared the bar on her second attempt in what ended up getting her the win. Russell said she thought she had a chance on one of her three tries.
“There was one attempt when I felt like it was pretty good but I didn’t really work on my angle and turning,” Russell said. “I’m happy with what I made.”
Russell’s improvement over the past year can easily be seen in the results. She went from 6-10.25 and fourth place at districts in 2024 to 9-9 and second place at state in 2025. And the eight points at this year’s meet were important to the team’s outcome.
Dunn ran a school-record time in the 400 with a 57.04 and placed third behind Cascade’s Pickett and Crook County’s Natalia Crass. Dunn placed in the top three in three of her four years at state — winning as a sophomore and placing runner-up as a freshman. Last year, she was on her way to victory in the event but had an unfortunate stumble short of the finish line.
Elsewhere on the track, Smart and Beckstead both earned medals in the 1,500. Smart, who set a personal-record while winning districts the previous week, finished in 4:52.18 for fifth place. Beckstead had a season-best time of 4:52.33 and placed sixth.
Smart and Beckstead also both qualified in the 3,000 and on Friday finished eighth and ninth, respectively.
Nuño scored two points in the 800 by placing seventh in 2:25.23.
Sophomore Hailey Eckhold made finals in the triple jump but missed out on a medal by one placing with ninth on a jump of 33-9.5. Nuño was 13th at 32-7.
Philomath’s special group of seniors
Although the group certainly has a group of promising underclassmen that scored key points, the senior class will be missed. Along with Beckstead, Dunn, Hellesto, Hernandez, Russell and Steen, others moving on through graduation include Melea Lattin, Kateri Pindell, Madison Provance and the McDaniel twins, Brooke and Hanna.
In the future when these teams that won four straight titles get inducted into the PHS Hall of Fame, the seniors will be reminded that they were a part of something special.
“This group of girls is just so talented that — not that it’s an expectation but it’s like, ‘we can achieve this, it’s not something that’s out of reach,’” Dunn said.
Added Beckstead, “This group of people was just amazing and everybody’s been trying their best every time. It’s crazy that we’ve got it four years now.”
Steen described a group that has always maintained a strong work ethic.
“It’s an awesome opportunity to have just a strong set of girls that are willing to work hard and put in the effort,” Steen said. “It’s very enjoyable watching people who want to do good and work hard for it. In some sports, it can be hard because not everyone wants to be there and not everyone wants to win. But I feel like this group of girls is special and that they always wanted to get out and after it.”
For Fulton, he’s been coaching with Philomath’s cross-country and track programs since the early 1980s. The past four years are obviously going to be among his career highlights.
Said Fulton, “It’s been fun watching athletes mature and buy into the fact that we’re the best team in the state and we’re going to stay that way.”
Hellesto’s traditional championship cake
Afterward while the athletes waited to be called to the medal stand to accept the team championship trophy, a small, square cake made an appearance. Twenty minutes earlier after it became clear that the Warriors would win the title, Fulton knew what was happening behind the scenes with Hellesto.
“I can tell you, she’s somewhere right now icing the top of a cake that says ‘fourth straight’ or something like that,” Fulton said as the meet’s final events took place. “But she didn’t decorate it yet because she didn’t want to jump the gun, you know, just in case we didn’t win. But as soon as that relay was over, she went somewhere to decorate it.”
Fulton was right with Hellesto spelling out in blue and red icing on a cake with white frost, “STATE CH4MPS AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN!!!”
“Starting sophomore year, I started making a cake for districts and state,” Hellesto said. “I forgot districts this year … but I would never ice it before we won because I thought it was bad luck.”
Luck often plays a role in a team’s ability to win a championship but Philomath has been a consistent winner for a very long time. Sure, luck helps, but these PHS teams were just loaded with talent.
“We’re losing a lot of senior girls but we have a good nucleus returning with Cassidy and Reagan and Kya, Jordyn (Hood), Hailey — those are good, solid varsity-level athletes and they’re going to get better,” Fulton said, always keeping an eye on the future. “Hopefully, we’ll get more kids out next year and we can rebuild.”
Class 4A State Championships
Friday-Saturday, May 30-31, at Hayward Field, Eugene
DAY 2
Girls
Team scoring: 1, Philomath 80; 2, La Grande 69.5; 3, Cascade 52; 4, Crook County 39; 5, Mazama 38; 5, Molalla 38; 7, Klamath Union 37; 8, North Bend 34; 9, Junction City 31; 10, Stayton 28; 11, Madras 27; 12, Estacada 24; 13, Scappoose 21; 14, Astoria 19; 14, Marist Catholic 19; 16, Pendleton 16; 17, Baker 15; 18, Henley 12; 19, Marshfield 10; 20, The Dalles 9.5; 21, Newport 8; 21, St. Helens 8; 23, Tillamook 6; 23, Gladstone 6; 23, Cottage Grove 6; 26, Ontario 5; 27, Hidden Valley 4; 28, Seaside 1.
PHS results: 100 — 1, Janice Hellesto, 12.14. 200 — 1, Janice Hellesto, 24.70. 400 — 3, Natalie Dunn, 57.04. 800 — 7, Reagan Nuño, 2:25.23. 1500 — 5, Cassidy Smart, 4:52.18; 6, Adele Beckstead, 4:52.33. 4-by-100 relay — 2, Philomath (Bolton, Dunn, Hernandez, Hellesto), 49.08. 4-by-400 relay— 3, Philomath (Smart, Beckstead, Nuño, Dunn), 4:06.42. Pole vault — 2, Aspen Russell, 9-9. Triple jump — 9, Hailey Eckhold, 33-9.5; 13, Reagan Nuño, 32-7.
For Complete Results, CLICK HERE
For Day 1 Story, Gallery and Results, CLICK HERE
