The Philomath High girls track and field team entered this season with its sights set on a fourth straight state title.
Strength in several events can be found up and down the lineup. Senior Janice Hellesto in the sprints and long jump, senior Natalie Dunn in the 400, freshman Cassidy Smart in the 1,500, senior Adele Beckstead in the 3,000, senior Anneka Steen in the high jump and the team’s 4-by-100 relay all rank among the top three so far this season in Class 4A.
Several other Warriors rank in the top eight with a level of talent that’s more than capable of scoring points in the 4A championships, which is six short weeks away.
Four meets into the season, the girls still haven’t claimed a first-place trophy. Although that may raise a few eyebrows, it actually just comes down to circumstances. Philomath competed in a very early season opener and several top athletes did not compete. And in every meet since, the Warriors have gone up against larger schools with quality athletes.
In a Friday appearance at the John Oliver Invitational in Independence, the Warriors found themselves in a fight to the finish against 5A schools Crescent Valley and Corvallis. Only the 4-by-400 relay remained with Corvallis leading the team standings with 83 points, followed by Philomath and Crescent Valley with 82.
Typically a strong event for PHS, the 4-by-400 relay that competed in the finale was missing two key sprinters.
“We were without our two fastest 400-meter runners,” PHS coach Joe Fulton said. “Natalie felt a tightness in her leg following her open 400, which she ran in 59.9, and Janice had already competed in four events. So we entered four girls from our state championship cross-country team.”
Cassidy, senior Melea Lattin, Beckstead and freshman Reagan Nuño ran a respectable time of 4:12.26 — but in a high-caliber meet like the John Oliver, it was good for sixth place. Crescent Valley won the relay and Corvallis finished seventh behind the Warriors.
The final tally showed Crescent Valley winning with 92 points, followed by Corvallis at 85.5 and Philomath at 85.
The team’s top event of the day came in the high jump where Steen and senior Hanna McDaniel had lifetime bests and a 1-2 finish. Steen cleared 5 feet, 6 inches and McDaniel went 5-2. With the top height in 4A so far this season, Steen moved to No. 3 on the school’s all-time list. McDaniel moved up to No. 6.
Hellesto was a points machine with second in the 100 (12.57), second in the long jump (17-5) and third in the 200 (26.03). And she anchored the second-place 4-by-100 relay (50.37), which also included freshman Kya Bolton, Dunn and senior Petra Hernandez.
Beckstead placed third in the 3,000 with a 4A state-leading time of 10:37.50, which moved her up to No. 6 on the school’s all-time list. Dunn finished third in the 400 with a season-best 59.99.
Others with top-six finishes included Nuño in the 800 (fourth, 2:30.09), Bolton in the 100 (fifth, 12.94), sophomore Hailey Eckhold in the shot put (fifth, 33-8.5), Smart in the 1,500 (sixth, 4:59.15) and sophomore Jordyn Hood in the discus (sixth, 95-6).
Eckhold’s performance beat a previous-best mark in the event by 4 feet and her 33-8.5 ranks No. 11 on the team’s all-time charts.
Another performance to mention resulted in only ninth place for Hernandez in the 300 hurdles but her personal-best time of 50.25 ranks her No. 14 on the all-time list.
The boys finished 11th in the team standings with the host school, Central, winning the meet by six points over runner-up Corvallis.
The team’s 4-by-100 relay covered the oval in 43.94 seconds to place second with junior CD Nuño, freshman Dreyton Nuño, sophomore Kaden Howard and senior Warwick Bushnell. The time ranks No. 4 on the all-time charts.
The 4-by-400 relay placed fifth with a season-best time of 3:34.30. The Nuño brothers, sophomore Bryce Hruska and Bushnell participated on the relay. Bushnell anchored and had an impressive 49.7 split.
Individually, freshman Samuel Hernandez cleared 6 feet in the high jump for the first time to place fourth. Junior Leo Pausch was fifth in the 3,000 with a PR time of 8:59.87, which ranks him 10th all-time. CD Nuno finished sixth in the 200 at 22.96, a time that puts him at No. 6 on the all-time lists.
A few other notable moments included junior Lukas Hernandez’s PR time in the 3,000 (ninth, 9:04.57) and sophomore Jamin Peters’ PR of 43-11.5 in the shot put. In an exciting third heat of the 400, Dreyton Nuño made up a 30-meter deficit in the final 100 to finish 11th with a PR time of 53.68.
Philomath is scheduled to compete Tuesday at a three-school meet at Newport. Joining the Cubs and Warriors will be Tillamook.
