EUGENE — Junior Hailey Eckhold was still trying to borrow a pole Saturday morning when the other competitors were walking into Hayward Field. An hour later, she was a state champion.
Eckhold’s dramatic pole vault title, combined with sophomore Cassidy Smart’s sweep of the 1,500- and 3,000-meter runs, headlined a meet that saw the Philomath girls finish fifth.
Gallery: PHS girls track and field at 4A state meet (May 29-30, 2026)
A collection of photos from the Philomath High girls track and field team at the 4A state championships in Eugene on Friday and Saturday.
It was a different outcome than the Warriors had grown accustomed to — Philomath entered Eugene having won the state title in each of the past four seasons — but coach Joe Fulton put the result in perspective.
“After winning four straight and graduating all those kids, this is technically a rebuilding year so to score over 40 points at state when you’re rebuilding is pretty good,” Fulton said. “Pretty much everybody’s back who scored and we get some new kids next year, too. I’m very pleased with our girls.”
Klamath Union won the team title with 74 points with Junction City finishing second with 63.5, just edging third-place Baker’s 63. Henley was fourth with 54, Philomath fifth with 48 and La Grande sixth with 46.
Eckhold arrived at the meet only to learn during the pole vault weigh-in that she was over the weight limit for her pole, which under the rules meant she could not compete with it. She did not have a heavier pole available.
State track: Four runner-up finishes power Philomath boys to 4th-place trophy
EUGENE — Junior Bryce Hruska had never competed at the state track meet. A year ago, an appendectomy ended his sophomore season before he got the chance to try to qualify. On Saturday afternoon in the Class 4A state championships at Hayward Field, he made up for lost time — taking second place in the…
Gallery: PHS boys track and field at 4A state meet (May 29-30, 2026)
A collection of photos from the Philomath High boys track and field team at the 4A state championships in Eugene on Friday and Saturday.
“My coach told me to start running to try to get it off. My teammate Blake (Hauck) came and ran with me and I weighed in again and I was still overweight,” she said. “So, I was really, really stressed and kind of having a breakdown because I really wanted to pole vault and didn’t want to let people down.”
Pole vault coach Alanna Volk began reaching out to other coaches at the meet, and a solution was found in the final moments.
“My coach grabbed a pole from another school and literally I saw her walking out in the tunnel and she said, ‘we got you a 155,'” Eckhold said. “My coach was able to ask some other coaches and they had poles that they were willing to give me and because of them I was able to vault and win a state championship.”
Through the chaos, Volk remained a steadying presence.
“She was just there for me and I was kind of freaking out before, and she was just very calm,” Eckhold said. “Just saying, ‘it’ll be OK, we’re gonna get this figured out, have fun, try your best, and if it doesn’t go well, then it doesn’t go well.'”
Fulton credited Volk’s expertise as a key factor in Eckhold’s development.
“We’re very fortunate to have a pole vault coach that knows what she’s talking about — not every school does,” Fulton said.
Once the competition began, Eckhold was anything but unsettled. She entered the meet with a personal record of 9-8 — a height she had first cleared at the district meet — and proceeded to set new PRs on four consecutive jumps, clearing 9-8.5, 9-11.25, 10-2 and 10-4.
She clinched first place at 9-11.25 when the only other remaining competitor missed three attempts. Eckhold then cleared both 10-2 and 10-4 on her first attempts before going out at 10-6. Henley sophomore Savanna Stuedli finished second at 9-8.5.
Eckhold made technical adjustments as the bar climbed.
“I kept moving up my pole, which means that as you go higher on your hand grip, you also scoot back on the track, and so I continued to do that,” she said. “I was also trying to get my feet up in the air quicker and turning quicker, so I could be over the bar, turned over the bar.”
The season-long trajectory was equally striking. Eckhold opened the year clearing 7-6 in her first two meets — matching her best height from her sophomore season — before steadily raising her ceiling. She cleared 9 feet for the first time at the Spartan Challenge in Corvallis, followed with a 9-6 at Stayton and won districts at 9-8.
Fulton said Eckhold’s mental makeup set her apart throughout the season.
“I’ve been calling her ‘Iron Woman’ all year — she’s just tough, she’s not fazed by the competition,” he said.
Between attempts, Eckhold made a point of supporting her fellow competitors.
“I definitely try to hype up the other girls and congratulate them,” she said. “I think pole vault’s one that’s really hard on people because if you’re slightly off, then it’s not going to be a good day. And so I think a lot of people get disappointed, so just being there and supporting people while not putting too much pressure or saying ‘it’s OK, it’s OK’ and just give them a fist bump, saying ‘believe in yourself, you got this.'”
The event itself is one Eckhold said she has never feared, thanks in part to a gymnastics background that made being airborne feel natural.
“I love everything about it. I don’t find it scary at all,” she said. “I have a gymnastics background and so being in the air and vaulting is normal to me. I like going upside down and being in the air and the feeling of flying, it’s incredible.”
Eckhold also credited Sweet Home coach Spencer Hart, who had worked with the vaulters during the season and was on hand at Hayward Field cheering her on.
As for what the title means, Eckhold said it changed how she sees herself as an athlete.
“I think it showed me that I’m capable of things I never believed in and never thought that I could do, and I think that’s just going to push me forward to realize that I have so much more potential, and I just want to find out what that is,” she said. “I think it just shows me that I need to believe in the other people who believe in me.”
Eckhold also added a sixth-place medal in the shot put with a personal-best throw of 36-10.5.
Smart left Hayward Field with two state titles, winning the 3,000-meter run on Friday and returning Saturday to claim the 1,500.
Fulton said Smart’s growth as a strategic runner was central to both victories.
“I’m so pleased with Cassidy because she has not been a very good strategic runner,” he said. “She just can’t sometimes control herself.”
In the 1,500, La Grande sophomore Lindsey Brown set the pace for roughly 3-1/2 laps before Smart ran her down. Smart moved past Brown in the backstretch on the final lap and crossed first in a personal-best 4:40.85. Brown finished second at 4:45.82.
Smart said she had Brown’s strategy figured out before the gun went off.
“She did exactly what I thought she would do — take it out fast and try to get a lead,” Smart said. “I was just going through all the laps and thinking that I can’t let her get more than 50 meters or so ahead and was just trying to keep her in my sights. In the last 400, I knew that’s when I wanted to start my kick.”
Fulton said the gap Brown built early never concerned him.
“I was never really too worried about it even though it looked imposing that she had such a big lead,” he said. “But she ran her first lap in 70 seconds, that’s a 4:20 pace, and you’re going to feel that on your last lap. Sure enough with 400 meters to go, Cassidy ran a 69 and she ran a 78.”
Managing her own opening lap was something Smart had focused on.
“You want to take it out fast — it feels so much faster than the 3(000),” she said. “I have to hold myself back from running like a 71 on the first lap … I think it was 76 today. I was confident and was like, ‘the first lap was good’ and ‘I think I’m good for the rest of the race.'”
Friday’s 3,000 unfolded differently. Smart won in a personal-best 10:17.53, holding off Cottage Grove’s Ella Cardwell, who finished second in 10:22.19. Brown was third at 10:28.01.
Fulton told Smart to be patient early, and she listened.
“It was a very different race from what I usually do,” she said. “I had to pace myself the first lap — I think it was a 90 or something from my usual time that’s like in the 70s. I knew I couldn’t do that or else I would die later in the race. So Joe told me to be patient and I think it paid off because I didn’t die later and got to like a 69 on the last lap. That’s what I wanted to do.”
There was one moment of doubt near the end.
“In the last 400 right at the bell lap, Lindsey Brown made a surge and was like, ‘oh no, can I stay with her?’ I hadn’t really raced her before except for in cross-country but then in the last 200, I passed her and that’s when I felt most confident that I could win.”
Smart said the Hayward Field atmosphere provided an extra lift.
“It’s definitely a boost,” she said. “Hayward — it’s the best track facility anywhere. I love big crowds.”
The meet’s final event provided one more trip to the podium for Philomath, as Smart, junior Jordyn Hood, freshman Sienna Bushnell and sophomore Reagan Nuño closed things out with a second-place finish in the 4-by-400 relay in 4:06.83. Junction City won in 3:59.65.
Starting in Lane 7, Smart ran the opening leg and handed off in second place.
“I try to take it out fast and then my last 100, I try to pick it up,” Smart said. “Every time I run a 4-by-4(00), I always run faster than I do in a regular 400.”
Hood, who had waited through the entire meet for her only event, took the second leg.
“I warmed up a little bit with Reagan for the 400 so I was moving around,” she said.
Despite the long wait, Hood embraced the moment.
“It was exciting,” she said. “It’s just a fun atmosphere to be here.”
The Warriors were sitting fifth at the 800-meter mark before Bushnell began moving them up the order.
“I kind of space out when I run but I was happy with where my teammate, Jordyn, was and I was just trying to get up there so I could hand off in a good spot for Reagan,” Bushnell said.
Nuño took the baton and went to work, passing runners in the backstretch before finishing strong over the final 100 meters.
“We were in the place where we were ranked so I felt we were in a good position,” Nuño said. “I didn’t expect to catch the girls (in front of her) and get second.”
Bushnell also turned in a strong individual showing in the 800, placing fourth with a personal-best 2:20.89.
“She was the only person in the race to run a personal best,” Fulton said. “She was also the first freshman in there. She ran really smart.”
Nuño placed eighth in the 400 with a time of 1:00.67, and on Friday, sophomore Kya Bolton earned a medal in the triple jump with a personal-best 33-4.5 for eighth place.
Class 4A State Championships
Saturday, May 30, at Hayward Field, University of Oregon, Eugene
Team scoring: 1, Klamath Union 74; 2, Junction City 63.5; 3, Baker 63; 4, Henley 54; 5, Philomath 48; 6, La Grande 46; 7, Mazama 30; 8, Cottage Grove 28; 8, Stayton 28; 10, Tillamook 24; 11, Marshfield 23; 11, Pendleton 23; 13, Molalla 19; 14, Marist Catholic 17; 15, The Dalles 16; 16, Astoria 15.5; 17, Madras 14; 18, Newport 13; 19, Scappoose 12; 19, North Bend 12; 21, Cascade 11; 22, St. Helens 10; 23, Estacada 6; 24, Phoenix 5; 25, Seaside 3; 25, Sweet Home 3; 26, Hidden Valley 0.
DAY 1
PHS results: 100 (Prelims) — 13, Kya Bolton, 13.13. 400 (Prelims) — 6, Reagan Nuño, 59.88. 800 (Prelims) — 3, Sienna Bushnell, 2:21.94. 3000 — 1, Cassidy Smart, 10:17.53. High jump — (Reagan Nuño, NH.) Triple jump — 8, Kya Bolton, 33-4.5 (10.17m).
DAY 2
PHS results: 400 — 8, Reagan Nuño, 1:00.67. 800 — 4, Sienna Bushnell, 2:20.89. 1500 — 1, Cassidy Smart, 4:40.85. 4×400 relay — 2, Philomath (Cassidy Smart, Jordyn Hood, Sienna Bushnell, Reagan Nuño), 4:06.83. Shot put — 6, Hailey Eckhold, 36-10.5 (11.24m). Pole vault — 1, Hailey Eckhold, 10-4 (3.15m).
For complete meet results, click here.
