Philomath High basketball players Anneka Steen, Reagan Heiken, Emily Taunisila, Zoee Howard, Preston Kramer and Jacob Peters earned statewide recognition recently with the release of the Oregon Basketball Coaches Association all-state teams.
Steen and Heiken were honored as second-team selections for the girls, which are based on an OBCA survey of 4A basketball coaches from across the state. Taunisila and Howard made the honorable mention list.
The foursome helped Philomath’s girls to a 21-7 record and advancement into the state semifinals.
Steen, junior, averaged 9.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 3.1 steals per game in Oregon West Conference games. Heiken, freshman, had averages in league play of 13.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
Howard, junior, averaged 7.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game in the Oregon West. Taunisila, sophomore, had averages of 7.4 points, 3.2 assists and 2.2 steals.
OBCA’s Player of the Year award for girls basketball went to Henley senior Annie Campos. Coach of the Year was given to Randy Denson of Henley. Others on the first team with Campos include Astoria junior Shelby Bruney, Cascade senior Maddie Dustin, Klamath Union senior Dianara Pena and Madras senior Rylan Davis.
For the boys, Kramer earned a spot on the OBCA’s all-state second team. A senior, Kramer averaged 20.4 points per game in conference games. He shot 53% from the field — 65% on two-point attempts — and averaged 6.0 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.1 steals.
Peters, senior, was an honorable mention selection. He averaged 12.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game in the conference, plus finished with a 52% success rate on shooting.
Philomath’s boys went 19-8 this past season and qualified for the state tournament.
Baker junior Isaiah Jones earned the boys basketball Player of the Year honor. Baker’s Jebron Jones was named Coach of the Year. Joining Jones on the first team were Cascade junior Landon Knox, Madras senior Seneca Ball, North Marion junior Cole Hammack and Junction City senior Cooper Rothenberger.
PHS wrestler headed to Japan
Local wrestler Riley Barrett will represent Philomath High School and Oregon this summer as a member of the Oregon Wrestling Association’s cultural exchange team, Warriors coach Troy Woosley reported.
The team of high school wrestlers will travel to Japan this summer from June 30 to July 11 to tour the country and compete in various events. Stops include Mie Prefecture, Toyama Prefecture and Gifu. At each stop, the American wrestlers will have matches and also participate in joint training activities.
Barrett, a PHS sophomore, won the 4A state title at 150 pounds back in February. He dominated three opponents in a recent trials tournament to qualify for the cultural exchange team. Barrett, who competes for the Salem Elite Mat Club, won two of the three matches on 10-0 technical falls in the first round, including in the finals. His other win was by pin in just 29 seconds.
Barrett along with PHS and Salem Elite teammates Porter Compton and River Sandstrom competed last weekend in the Reno Worlds tournament.
Barrett wrestled at 145 pounds and placed fifth in the 18-and-under open division with a pin in 2:59 over Gunner Benedict of the Wright Wrestling Academy out of Visalia, California. Barrett went 6-2 overall at the prestigious tournament.
Compton, a PHS sophomore, went 4-3 at the tournament and reached the seventh-place medal match at 138 pounds where he lost to an opponent from La Pine. Sandstrom, a PHS junior, went 2-3 at 120 pounds and lost in his seventh-place match to an opponent from Hesperia, California.
Philomath also had a younger wrestler at Reno Worlds with Olivia Hernandez winning the 12-and-under girls division and earning the Outstanding Wrestler honor.
This coming weekend, Hernandez will try to repeat as the 14-and-under national champion at the U.S. Marine Corps Women’s National Championship in Spokane, Washington. She will also wrestle at the same tournament in the U15 Team USA qualifier, which will determine U.S. team representatives this summer in the Pan American Games in El Salvador.
Prior to Reno, Hernandez received All-American honors with Team Oregon’s Girls National Dual Team at the Heartland Duals in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
PHS track to host meet Saturday
The Philomath High School track and field program will host a relays invitational Saturday at Clemens Field. The meet begins at 11 a.m. with the field events with the running events beginning at noon.
“It’s just fun,” PHS coach Joe Fulton said. “A relay meet is an opportunity for the kids to bond a little bit to help one another out in races — it’s a change of pace.”
Running events will include the 4-by-100, distance medley, sprint medley, 4-by-800, 4-by-100 girls shuttle hurdles, 4-by-110 boys shuttle hurdles and the mixed 4-by-400.
Field events include shot put, discus, javelin, high jump, pole vault, long jump and triple jump.
“The way we do the relay field events is you put three kids in and take each one’s best mark and add them together and whichever school has the highest total gets first,” Fulton said.
Fulton said the meet will award trophies to the top 4A team and the top 2A/3A team. Schools participating from 4A include Cottage Grove, Newport and Philomath. Class 2A and 3A schools competing will be Central Linn, Sisters and Toledo.
“If people want to see how talented our runners are, they should come and enjoy the weather,” Fulton said.
Admission to the meet is free.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).
