EUGENE — Running onto the track for the final 300 meters, Philomath High’s Cassidy Smart knew that she was going to win.
La Grande senior Brooke Perry, who stood atop the medal stand in 2024, was running even with Philomath’s standout sophomore at that point of the race. But over the final stretch, Perry simply couldn’t match what Smart had left in the tank.
Gallery: PHS cross-country at 4A State Championships (Nov. 8, 2025)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s cross-country appearance at the Class 4A State Championships in Eugene on Saturday.
The showdown unfolded in Saturday’s Class 4A State Championships at Lane Community College. Smart became Philomath High’s first individual champion in 22 years — Brianna Anderson-Gregg won state three straight years from 2001-03.
Smart ended up winning by more than 13 seconds with a time of 18:33.75.
“I was like, ‘I just want to win this so bad,’” Smart said when asked what was on her mind in the stretch run. “I mean, this was my goal the entire season — to get first and I knew I had a kick that could do that.”
Longtime Philomath High coach Joe Fulton was amazed at the finish.
“I was like, ‘whoa, where did that come from?’” he said. “She looked great.”
Fulton sees similarities between Smart and Anderson-Gregg.
“When the gun goes off, they’ve got one thing in mind and that’s to win,” he said. “Anything less is not acceptable. That’s the way they race. So I felt very confident that she was going to win this race. But I didn’t think that she’d win it by that much.”
Smart said she wasn’t paying attention to her time — it was her just her fourth-fastest 5-kilometer race of the season. Mostly, she had thoughts of her teammates and adding another piece of hardware to the school’s trophy case.
La Grande won the girls’ team title with Klamath Union second and Philomath edging Cottage Grove for third. The performance represented the 40th trophy in 43 years for Philomath High’s cross-country program.
“It wasn’t expected,” freshman Sienna Bushnell said, a reference to Philomath finishing the season with just eight runners and missing its projected No. 5 runner for state. “It’s surprising.”
Sophomore Reagan Nuño added, “I think it shows the work that we put in through the season.”
Bushnell finished 20th in 20:16.44 and Nuño came in 28th in 20:39.25. The rest of the scoring five included sophomore Libby Kramer (45th, 21:28.96) and junior Pyper Rutland in 69th (22:29.90).
“We always try to move a little bit harder on the second loop but they pretty much got a spot and stayed there the whole time,” Fulton said when asked about a particular game plan going into the girls’ race. “So every time I checked, it was ‘OK, they’re in third, OK, they’re in third.’”
Junior Ava Panico (76th, 23:04.42) and senior Syd Cothern (92nd, 25:41.73) also competed for the Warriors.
Fulton said he was “super proud of Cottage Grove,” a program coached by former PHS runner Ricky Knutson, who competed for the Warriors in the mid-1990s.
“They were not good until he took over — today, they won two trophies,” Fulton said. “I’m just glad we beat them in the girls.”
Smart’s strategy worked
Smart, who was named Athlete of the Meet, worked her race strategy to perfection, focusing on La Grande’s Perry. She started to push hard once the runners reached the ponds section of the LCC course for the second time.
“I was going to try to kick — I knew my kick was going to be faster than hers,” Smart said.
And Smart’s not kidding. The two runners reached the final stretch on the track at about the same time before Smart made a final pass and sprinted over the final 300 meters to the finish.
“I think she was extremely confident that she was going to win that race and Brooke Perry’s no pushover,” Fulton said. “She’s won this meet and so to stay with her and then lay into her on the last 300 — wow.”
Despite her accomplishments as a long-distance runner, Smart is no stranger to sprinting.
“She’s got deceptive speed,” Fulton said. “Last year in track, she ran a 2:22 in the 800 and was on our 4-by-4, so she’s a lot faster than people think.”
Smart said the toughest part of the race for her was when they reached those ponds for the second time.
“I knew I still had a little ways to go but that it was time to pick up the pace a little bit,” she said.
As for the No. 2 and No. 3 runners, Bushnell and Nuño ran together through the first half of the race. Bushnell started to move forward during the third kilometer.
“I just tried to stay with my cousin, Reagan, and was trying to find the blue jerseys,” Bushnell said, referring to La Grande.
Nuño said it was a challenge on the second loop through the ponds but added, “I felt pretty confident in my track ability so I was excited to finish the race.”
The individual victory for Smart caps a memorable season.
“It was incredible — I didn’t lose (sight of) my goal the entire season,” she said. “Like last summer, my mom and I were talking about how I wanted to go for it this year, and me and Joe were just saying that I could win it this year. So for it to actually happen is crazy.”
To put Smart’s accomplishment into perspective from a historical standpoint, she’s just the sixth PHS individual winner of the girls’ race. Anderson-Gregg had those three titles in the early 2000s and prior to her, Tassie Norton finished first in 1981 and 1983.
Pausch places 8th for boys
Philomath High’s boys finished seventh in the team standings and the Warriors’ top individual runner, senior Leo Pausch, was disappointed with how the race turned out for him. Pausch placed eighth in 16:41.26.
“I don’t think I put myself in the right kind of mindset,” Pausch said after accepting his medal. “I was more focusing on hyping myself up than positivity and encouragement. I was thinking very much like an ultimatum and I don’t think it’s beneficial at the end of the day. So, that’s something I can learn from.”
Pausch was running with leaders Jaxson Stovall of Marshfield and Corbin Sage of Marist Catholic through the first two kilometers of the race. On the third kilometer, he started to fade a bit and then dropped five spots over the final 2K.
“I just died out there,” Pausch said. “I went for the win and I was feeling really good through Mile 1 and then there were a couple of surges — especially up the hill the second time — and my legs just did not have it anymore and I started getting passed.”
Pausch finished 16th as a freshman, 19th as a sophomore and fifth as a junior before this year’s performance.
“He took a chance and went with the front runners and I think it caught up to him later in the race,” Fulton said. “But he held on and made the top 10, which is great.”
Pausch said running cross-country is always a learning experience.
“I can only hope this is not my last official cross-country meet and I just keep moving forward,” he said.
Pausch will be among Philomath’s athletes competing at the NXR Northwest Regional Championships next weekend in Spokane, Washington.
“That will be a fun wrap-up to the season and then winter training and on to the last season of high school track,” Pausch said.
Pausch said he hopes to run competitively past high school.
La Grande won the boys’ team title with Molalla second, Cottage Grove third and The Dalles fourth. Sage won the individual title in 15:56.56 with Stovall second in 16:00.53.
Lukas Hernandez is another PHS senior who competed for the final time for the Warriors. Hernandez, another four-year competitor at state, finished 28th in 17:23.90. Junior Galen Murch was 48th overall in 17:48.05. Rounding out the scoring five were freshman Braeden Colvin in 69th (18:29.53) and junior Cam Herbert in 71st (18:35.49). Also competing were junior Oakley Pausch (84th, 19:03.16) and junior Jacob Hernandez (95th, 20:01.04).
Philomath’s all-state runners were Smart (first team), Pausch (second team), Bushnell (third team), Nuño (honorable mention) and Lukas Hernandez (honorable mention).
PHS at Class 4A State Championships
Saturday at Lane Community College, Eugene
Boys
Team scoring: 1, La Grande 61; 2, Molalla 75; 3, Cottage Grove 123; 4, The Dalles 124; 5, Klamath Union 175; 6, Newport 183; 7, Philomath 189; 8, Phoenix 200; 9, Tillamook 206; 10, Pendleton 221; 11, Stayton 230; 12, Marshfield 267; 13, Scappoose 310.
PHS results: 8, Leo Pausch, 16:41.26; 28, Lukas Hernandez, 17:23.90; 48, Galen Murch, 17:48.05; 69, Braeden Colvin, 18:29.53; 71, Cam Herbert, 18:35.49; 84, Oakley Pausch, 19:03.16; 95, Jacob Hernandez, 20:01.04.
— — —
Girls
Team scoring: 1, La Grande 51; 2, Klamath Union 65; 3, Philomath 133; 4, Cottage Grove 139; 5, Molalla 144; 6, The Dalles 154; 7, Scappoose 187; 8, North Bend 193; 9, Baker 207; 10, Madras 234; 11, Stayton 251; 12, Phoenix 301; 13, Tillamook 313.
PHS varsity results: 1, Cassidy Smart, 18:33.75; 20, Sienna Bushnell, 20:16.44; 28, Reagan Nuño, 20:39.25; 45, Libby Kramer, 21:28.96; 69, Pyper Rutland, 22:29.90; 76, Ava Panico, 23:04.42; 92, Syd Cothern, 25:41.73.
For complete meet results, click here
