Freshman Olivia Hernandez broke the meet record by nearly 49 seconds and the Philomath High School girls cross-country team placed five runners in the top 13 to win the team title Saturday at the CG Bramble Scramble at Cottage Grove High School.
Hernandez finished in 19:28.8, eclipsing the previous meet record of 20:17.4 set in 2024 by Philomath’s Adele Beckstead, then a senior.
The Warriors scored 28 points to finish ahead of host Cottage Grove (47) and Glide (53).
“The girls ran to win and did,” Philomath coach Joe Fulton said.
The Philomath boys took a different approach. Fulton said the boys “did a workout — slow first loop and then fast second loop.” They placed third with 69 points behind Cottage Grove (45) and Marist Catholic (62) and ahead of Trinity Lutheran (74) and Glide (81).
The 5,000-meter course took runners through a trail system near the Cottage Grove campus, with open stretches on grass, before finishing on the track.
Hernandez finished 59 seconds ahead of runner-up Grace DeLay, a Trinity Lutheran sophomore whose 20:28.1 ranks fourth on the meet’s all-time list.
Sophomores Sienna Bushnell and Piper Pedder ran nearly side by side, finishing eighth and ninth, separated by a tenth of a second in 21:26.7 and 21:26.8. Junior Reagan Nuño was 11th in 21:48.1, junior Libby Kramer placed 13th in 22:06.6 and freshman Sienna Smith was 14th in 22:27.0.
In the boys race, freshman Riggins Bushnell led Philomath with an eighth-place finish in 18:10.7. Senior Galen Murch was 12th in 18:29.7.
Freshmen Warren Smart and Braven Beard finished back to back in 15th and 16th, less than a second apart in 18:53.6 and 18:54.4. Senior Oakley Pausch placed 21st in 19:38.3 and sophomore Cameron Barlow was 30th in 20:37.0.
Trinity Lutheran senior Mason Schermer won the boys race in 17:12.7.
Philomath will compete Wednesday in the Happy Hustle, a tune-up race before the Oregon West Conference meet, scheduled for Oct. 31 at Stayton. The meet begins with an open elementary school 2-kilometer race at 3:40 p.m., followed by junior varsity at 4 p.m. (girls) and 4:35 p.m. (boys), and varsity at 5:10 p.m. (girls) and 5:40 p.m. (boys).
CG Bramble Scramble
Saturday, Oct. 17, at Cottage Grove HS
BOYS
TEAM SCORING—1, Cottage Grove 45; 2, Marist 62; 3, Philomath 69; 4, Trinity Lutheran 74; 5, Glide 81.
PHS Results
VARSITY—8, Riggins Bushnell, 18:10.7; 12, Galen Murch, 18:29.7; 15, Warren Smart, 18:53.6; 16, Braven Beard, 18:54.4; 21, Oakley Pausch, 19:38.3; 30, Cameron Barlow, 20:37.0.
JUNIOR VARSITY—35, Mika Laukkanen Raskauskas, 23:39.2; 61, Rex Sederlin, 32:36.7.
GIRLS
TEAM SCORING—1, Philomath 28; 2, Cottage Grove 47; 3, Glide 53.
PHS Results
VARSITY—1, Olivia Hernandez, 19:28.8; 8, Sienna Bushnell, 21:26.7; 9, Piper Pedder, 21:26.8; 11, Reagan Nuño, 21:48.1; 13, Libby Kramer, 22:06.6; 14, Sienna Smith, 22:27.0.
JUNIOR VARSITY—4, Pyper Rutland, 25:21.9; 7, Ava Panico, 26:10.4; 8, Denae Imlach, 27:03.5; 11, Addie Kowalewski, 27:11.1; 12, Scarlet Panico, 27:27.6; 22, Wren Pope, 28:59.4.