Philomath sophomore Cassidy Smart ran her fastest-ever high school 5K, senior Leo Pausch cracked the 16-minute barrier and Coach Joe Fulton may have found the missing piece to his varsity girls puzzle at Saturday’s Harrier Classic at Bryant Park in Albany.
Smart turned in a time of 18:51.18 — three-tenths of a second faster than what she ran the previous week — and placed sixth in a varsity race that featured 189 runners. Smart held off a hard-charging Crescent Valley runner at the finish to secure her placing.
Pausch came in with a time of 15:49.35 to place ninth for the boys. During the race he went from 13th after 1 mile to seventh at the 2.25-mile mark but slipped to ninth with strong finishes by South Eugene and Franklin runners. Pausch has the fastest time in Class 4A so far this season with the 15:10.5 he ran a few weeks ago in Tillamook.
Perhaps the most significant performance of the afternoon for Philomath occurred in the junior varsity junior-senior race. PHS junior Lucy Thomas, competing in cross-country for the first time since middle school, placed fifth with a time of 21:48.09.
Thomas’s time vaults her into the No. 5 position on the varsity, which holds great importance since the top five runners contribute to the team score. Philomath appears to be engaged in a showdown with La Grande and Klamath Union for top team honors in 4A this fall.
The Albany meet featured 1,566 runners from 55 schools competing in 10 races. The girls placed seventh and the boys were 12th in the varsity team standings.
Philomath freshman Sienna Bushnell ran a time under 20 minutes for the second time with a 19:48.86 that got her 25th overall. Sophomore Reagan Nuño was 46th (20:31.84) and sophomore Libby Kramer finished 71st (21:26.83). Also running varsity were junior Pyper Rutland (133rd, 23:18.68) and junior Ava Panico (143rd, 23:40.82).
For the boys, senior Lukas Hernandez finished 46th in 17:07.89 and junior Galen Murch was 74th in 17:40.20. The rest of the varsity included freshman Braeden Colvin (132nd, 18:44.67), sophomore Sammy Hernandez (140th, 18:49.06) and junior Jacob Hernandez (144th, 18:52.81). In all, 240 runners participated in the varsity boys race.
On another note involving Philomath, eighth grader Olivia Hernandez won the 3,200-meter middle school race with a time of 12:18.97. Hernandez won by a significant distance with the runner-up finishing 1:20.19 behind her.
Philomath will now prepare for this coming Saturday’s 40th annual Paul Mariman Invitational. The day gets started with middle school races at 11 a.m. The high school races begin at 1 p.m. with JV girls, followed by the JV boys at 1:30, varsity girls at 2 and varsity boys at 2:30.
Pausch and Lukas Hernandez will also compete Friday in the Rose City Championships in Portland.
PHS at Harrier Classic
Saturday, Oct. 4, at Bryant Park, Albany
Boys
Team scoring: 1, South Eugene 118; 2, Sheldon 137; 3, Milwaukie 139; 4, Cleveland 141; 5, Franklin 149; 6, Knappa 236; 7, Lincoln 255; 8, Stanwood (Wash.) 258; 9, Sprague 307; 10, Thurston 338; 11, Siuslaw 364; 12, Philomath 369; 13, Cottage Grove 377; 14, Springfield 397; 15, Bandon 405; 16, McNary 408; 17, La Salle Prep 437; 18, Central 457; 19, Crescent Valley 475; 20, Marshfield 533; 21, South Albany 535; 22, Churchill 543; 23, Phoenix 566; 24, Westside Christian 599; 25, Ashland 601; 26, Sherwood 644; 27, West Albany 770; 28, Barlow 771; 29, Cascade 823; 30, Western Christian 851; 31, Pleasant Hill 865; 32, Glide 895.
PHS varsity results: 9, Leo Pausch 15:49.35; 46, Lukas Hernandez 17:07.89; 74, Galen Murch 17:40.20; 132, Braeden Colvin 18:44.67; 140, Samuel Hernandez 18:49.06; 144, Jacob Hernandez 18:52.81.
Freshman-Sophomore: 55, Everett Ferguson 19:41.57; 60, Cameron Barlow 19:51.65; 69, Caelan Kreps 20:05.61; 74, Milo Morrison 20:15.88; 138, Rowan Jessen 21:37.82; 161, Mika Laukkanen Raskauskas 22:11.32; 194, Maddox Olsen 23:09.77; 213, Abisai Navarette 23:44.36; 261, Nico Mayo 26:10.45.
Junior-Senior: 78, Oakley Pausch, 19:48.70.
GIRLS
Team scoring: 1, South Eugene 82; 2, Franklin 134; 3, Stanwood (Wash.) 136; 4, Ashland 140; 5, Dallas 140; 6, Crescent Valley 146; 7, Philomath 233; 8, Cleveland 239; 9, Thurston 243; 10, Lincoln 286; 11, Springfield 316; 12, Cottage Grove 323; 13, Siuslaw 377; 14, Sprague 382; 15, McNary 385; 16, Glide 390; 17, Pleasant Hill 411; 18, Westside Christian 423; 19, Bandon 436; 20, Marshfield 516; 21, Barlow 521; 22, South Albany 541; 23, Cascade 544; 24, La Salle Prep 582; 25, Churchill 588.
PHS varsity results: 6, Cassidy Smart 18:51.18; 25, Sienna Bushnell 19:48.86; 46, Reagan Nuño 20:31.84; 71, Libby Kramer 21:26.83; 133, Pyper Rutland 23:18.68; 143, Ava Panico 23:40.82.
Freshman-Sophomore: 55, Addie Kowalewski, 24:34.30.
Junior-Senior: 5, Lucy Thomas, 21:48.09; 58, Avery Smith, 25:16.32.
For complete meet results, click here.