Running in the shadow of the Three Sisters on the Big Meadow Golf Course at Black Butte Ranch on Thursday, the Philomath High School girls cross-country team placed four in the top 10 and dominated the team scoring to take top honors at the Clash in the Cascades.
“Our varsity girls had a magnificent performance — I think the best of the year so far which is great news as we head toward the championship season,” PHS coach Joe Fulton said.
Freshman Adele Beckstead, who missed the Paul Mariman Invitational last week, was back in uniform and didn’t miss a beat with her latest first-place finish. Fulton said Beckstead entered the second mile trailing by a considerable distance behind Mountain View senior Hannah Tranby.
“But coming out of the big loop, Adele was side by side with Tranby and simply fought her way to the lead to win the race by 7 seconds,” Fulton said. “It was a masterful performance by our great freshman.”
Beckstead’s time came in at 20:11.70 and she had plenty of teammates finishing high in the results as well. Junior Ingrid Hellesto was back on the course this week as well and she placed sixth in 21:14.57. Senior Kaeleigh Houchin finished right behind in eighth at 21:22.23. And freshman Hanna McDaniel had a strong finish to place 10th in 21:40.63.
Senior Audrey Gerding contributed to the team score as well as the fifth runner and finished 17th in 22:05.63. Rounding out the varsity squad were freshmen Kyah Weeber (21st, 22:22.49) and Hallie Morrison (25th, 22:32.83).
The Warriors beat out some big schools at the meet, including Class 6A Bend and Mountain View and 5A Crook County and Redmond.
“Those teams certainly did not intimidate our girls who won both the JV and varsity races by wide margins,” Fulton said.
The varsity took first place with 29 points to Bend’s 58 and Mountain View’s 75.
In the boys’ race, Philomath had an unusual situation with its top runner, junior Brody Bushnell, not leading the way. Bushnell instead will be running in a large 6A meet — the Lewis & Clark College XC Invitational in Portland — on Saturday “in hopes of dipping below 16 minutes for the 5K distance,” Fulton said.
Junior Mateo Candanoza moved into the team’s top spot and placed fifth individually with a time of 17:19.60 in a challenging field of runners. Junior Ben Hernandez placed 13th in 17:59.59 and junior Jesse Erickson finished 20th in 18:13.39.
Also scoring for the varsity were senior Mark Grimmer in 33rd (19:10.91) and freshman Warwick Bushnell in 43rd (19:48.45). Freshman JJ Lewis moved up to the varsity and ran as Philomath’s sixth man, finishing 47th (20:05.18).
Overall, the team finished fifth out of 10 teams with 105 points behind Mountain View’s 34, Bend’s 92, Cottage Grove’s 97 and Sisters’ 100. Fulton pointed out that the Warriors were actually only 13 points out of second place.
The JV girls race had just two complete teams but Philomath won easily with 16 points to Bend’s 45. Brooke McDaniel, Phoebe Coen, Danielle Harris and Janice Hellesto had a 1-2-3-4 finish for the Warriors. Alexa Eckhold and Allison Neelands were also in the top 10.
The JV boys’ top finisher was Bryan Thomas in 27th in a race that featured 79 runners.
On a side note, the ride home didn’t go as planned with the bus breaking down near Interstate 5. Fulton said most runners called home and arranged to be picked up, although a replacement bus eventually did arrive. Fulton issued apologies to parents for the Thursday evening disruption but at the same time was thankful that the bus didn’t break down on Santiam Pass.
The team isn’t running this weekend with the next meet set for Friday at the Olalla Valley Golf Course meet near Toledo. Then it’s on to the district meet on Oct. 28 and the state meet on Nov. 6.
Clash in the Cascades
Thursday, Oct. 14, at Big Meadow Golf Course, Black Butte Ranch, Sisters
BOYS
Team Scoring 1, Mountain View 34; 2, Bend 92; 3, Cottage Grove 97; 4, Sisters 100; 5, Philomath 105; 6, Stayton 159; 7, Crook County 182; 8, Ridgeview 196; 9, Redmond 241; 10, Regis 291. Top 10 Individuals 1. Finn Anspach, Ridgeview, 16:14.78 2. Chase Schermer, Mountain View, 16:46.11 3. Wyatt Montgomery, La Pine, 16:57.45 4. Jaden Owens, Cottage Grove, 17:07.76 5. Mateo Candanoza, Philomath, 17:19.60 6. Kyle Kirsch, Mountain View, 17:23.81 7. Carter Bengtson, Cottage Grove, 17:39.37 8. Micah Pietrowski, Bend, 17:44.11 9. Kyle Swenson, Mountain View, 17:48.97 10. Jack Creech, Mountain View, 17:51.11 PHS Results 5. Mateo Candanoza, 17:19.60 13. Ben Hernandez, 17:59.59 20. Jesse Erickson, 18:13.39 33. Mark Grimmer, 19:10.91 43. Warwick Bushnell, 19:48.45 47. JJ Lewis, 20:05.18 Note: The varsity boys race featured 71 runners
GIRLS
Team Scoring 1, Philomath 29; 2, Bend 58; 3, Mountain View 75; 4, Crook County 109; 5, Cottage Grove 113; 6, Redmond 131; 7, Regis 193. Top 10 Individuals 1. Adele Beckstead, Philomath, 20:11.70 2. Hannah Tranby, Mountain View, 20:18.65 3. Morgan Shaw, Ridgeview, 20:45.90 4. Ella Bartlett, Sisters, 20:56.02 5. Jesy Lopez, Bend, 20:56.71 6. Ingrid Hellesto, Philomath, 21:14.57 7. Kaeleigh Houchin, Philomath, 21:22.23 8. Hope Bridge, Stayton, 21:30.64 9. Maya Pagano, Bend, 21:37.82 10. Hanna McDaniel, Philomath, 21:40.63 PHS Results 1. Adele Beckstead, 20:11.70 6. Ingrid Hellesto, 21:14.57 7. Kaeleigh Houchin, 21:22.23 10. Hanna McDaniel, 21:40.63 17. Audrey Gerding, 22:05.63 21. Kyah Weeber, 22:22.49 25. Hallie Morrison, 22:32.83 Note: The varsity girls race featured 59 runners
JUNIOR VARSITY
BOYS
| Team Scoring |
|---|
| 1, Caldera 48; 2, Culver 68; 3, Mountain View 75; 4, Sisters 79; 5, Bend 90; 6, Cottage Grove 159; 7, Crook County 199; 8, Philomath 210. |
| PHS Results |
|---|
| 27. Bryan Thomas, 21:02.81 |
| 51. Aidan Bruce, 22:55.32 |
| 62. Tyler Moade, 24:19.80 |
| 63. Maxwell Carter, 24:21.19 |
| 66. Andrew Leonard, 25:40.18 |
| 72. Seth Wood, 27:27.81 |
| Note: The JV boys race featured 79 runners |
GIRLS
| Team Scoring |
|---|
| 1, Philomath 16; 2, Bend 45. |
| PHS Results |
|---|
| 1. Brooke McDaniel, 22:27.41 |
| 2. Phoebe Coen, 22:28.22 |
| 3. Danielle Harris, 23:52.17 |
| 4. Janice Hellesto, 24:01.37 |
| 6. Alexa Eckhold, 24:09.10 |
| 8. Allison Neelands, 24:49.13 |
| 11. Averie Wilson, 25:04.50 |
| 16. Ally Todd, 26:52.15 |
| Note: The JV girls race featured 28 runners |