It seems like ages ago that we had sports here in Philomath. But things were moving along just fine until the pandemic shut down everything in March. Here’s a look back at sports news from 2020, starting off in this article with January.
• Jan. 3: Philomath High School’s girls basketball team, ranked No. 1, defeated No. 2 Hidden Valley on the road, 62-49. Sage Kramer scored 28 and Mia Rust had 17 in the win.
• Jan. 3: The PHS boys whipped Hidden Valley, 72-41. Ty May and Michael Lundy each scored 20.
• Jan. 4: Three PHS wrestlers took first place at the King of the Hill tournament in Pleasant Hill — Blaise Pindell, Issiah Blackburn and Joseph Choi.
• Jan. 4: PHS swimmers swept the team titles at a scaled-down Clemens Invitational over Toledo and Junction City.
• Jan. 9: Caleb Matthews and Melia Morton each won the 100 breaststroke, and Maggie Ross touched first in the 100 freestyle at the Taft Invitational.
• Jan. 10: The Warriors held on late in the fourth to defeat Stayton, 57-54, in boys basketball.
• Jan. 10: The girls beat Stayton in basketball, 46-20, with Kramer scoring 22.
• Jan. 11: Philomath’s wrestling squad finished third at the Santiam Christian Screamin’ Eagle. Individual winners included Blake Niemann, Issiah Blackburn and Connar Kohn.
• Jan. 14: Ben Reams scored 16 in Philomath’s 57-50 win at Sweet Home.
• Jan. 14: The girls basketball team rolled 64-20 over the Huskies.
• Jan. 15: In a home wrestling dual against No. 4 Junction City, the Warriors nearly pulled off the upset in a 38-36 loss. The dual came down to the final bout.
• Jan. 17: The Philomath boys improved to 3-0 in the Oregon West with a 50-39 win at Cascade.
• Jan. 17: In the girls’ game against Cascade, Rust scored 19 in Philomath’s 54-29 win.
• Jan. 17: Philomath’s swimmers took both the boys and girls titles in a home tri-meet.
• Jan. 18: Reynece Ryan won her weight class at the Nick Lutz Invitational in Florence.
• Jan. 18: The girls and boys swim teams both placed fourth at the South Albany Sprints.
• Jan. 21: The boys went to 4-0 in league play with a 53-37 win over Sisters. Dylan Edwards scored 23.
• Jan. 21: The PHS girls remained unbeaten on the season at 15-0 with a 57-17 victory over Sisters. Kramer finished with 20.
• Jan. 24: Eli McLennan won the 100 backstroke and Melia Morton took the 100 breaststroke at the Sweet Home Invitational.
• Jan. 24: Philomath hosted the Mid-Valley Classic in wrestling and finished fifth. Ryan won her weight in the girls’ division.
• Jan. 28: Newport gave Philomath a scare in boys hoops but the Warriors hung on, 40-37. Toby Stueve had 13.
• Jan. 28: In girls basketball, Philomath downed Newport, 58-23. Kramer scored 21.
• Jan. 28: In a home swim meet, McLennan (100 backstroke), Morton (200 individual medley, 100 breaststroke) and Audrey Davis (500 freestyle) were individual winners. The boys 200 medley relay also took first with McLennan, Matthews, Carrson Hirte and Brennan Provance.
• Jan. 31: Woodburn handed the PHS boys its first loss in league play, 54-44. May had 17.
• Jan. 31: Philomath’s girls defeated Woodburn, 65-34. Kramer scored a career-high 40 points.