Two meets in two days and two first-place finishes.
The Philomath High School girls track and field team beat out nine other schools to take top team honors Saturday at the Junction City Invitational. In what came down to a three-team race, Philomath finished first with 707.5 points with Marshfield close behind at 690.5 and Junction City in the running at 681.
Meanwhile, the Philomath boys placed third with 541.5 points behind Marshfield’s 827.5 and Cottage Grove’s 746.5.
Senior Alivia Pittman won both hurdle events with times of 16.7 seconds in the 100 and 50 flat in the 300. In both races, Pittman edged Junction City senior Jillian Liebersbach.
Senior Mia Rust also had a victory by finishing first in the shot put with a heave of 34 feet, 1.25 inches. Sophomore Ingrid Hellesto notched a win with her performance in the 800, covering the distance in 2:34.8 to win by more than 12 seconds over the runner-up.
Philomath’s 4-by-100 relay took first place with a time of 54.3 seconds. Junior Haviland Eves, Hellesto, Pittman and senior Melia Morton ran legs and finished 0.9 of a second over the Junction City foursome.
The Warriors’ girls had several other notable performances. Junior Kaeleigh Houchin took second in the 1,500 in 5:39.5 and freshman Ellie Morton was runner-up in the long jump at a distance of 13-11.75, just 2-1/2 inches behind the winner. Third-place finishes were turned in by freshman Alexa Eckhold in the 3,000 (12:29.7) and freshman Madison Juhl and senior Amey McDaniel tied for third in the pole vault (7-6).
For the boys, senior Sean Cummings won the 400 for the second straight meet. Cummings easily finished first with a time of 52.9, which was 2.2 seconds ahead of the second-place runner.
Sophomore Brody Bushnell and senior Levi Knutson gave Philomath a 1-2 finish in the 800. Bushnell won in 2 minutes flat and Knutson was second in 2:07.1. Sophomore Mateo Candanoza and sophomore Ben Hernandez accomplished the same feat in the 3,000 with a 1-2 Warrior finish. Candanoza was first in 9:43.6 and Hernandez second in 9:52.7 — the only two runners able to finish under 10 minutes.
Sophomore Micah Matthews took first in the 110 high hurdles in 17.4. And in his first attempt at the event, senior Grant Hellesto won the 300 hurdles in 46.5.
Philomath’s 4-by-400 relay took first place in 3:38.7. Senior Justin Enghauser, Knutson, Cummings and Bushnell smoked the field with a time of 3:38.7, the runner-up coming in at 3:52.2.
Among other top-three finishes, Enghauser was second in the 1,500 in 4:32.1, getting beat by just 0.4 of a second. The 4-by-100 relay was second in 46.9 with senior Lucas Ainsworth, sophomore Isaac Workman, Cummings and junior Caleb Jensen.
The two teams have a few days to recover from back-to-back meets and will next see action on Saturday, May 1, with their own Philomath Invitational.
Junction City Invitational Saturday, April 24, at Junction City HS BOYS
Team Scoring
1, Marshfield 827.5; 2, Cottage Grove 746.5; 3, Philomath 541.5; 4, Junction City 495; 5, Elmira 426.5; 6, East Linn Christian 423.5; 7, Willamina 255; 8, Toledo 159.5; 9, Alsea 11.
Winners & PHS Results
100-Meter Dash
T-1. Aidan Morgan, East Linn Christian, 12.0
T-1. Sam Grayson, Marshfield, 12.0
T-4. Lucas Ainsworth, Philomath, 12.2
23. Caleb Jensen, 17.9
200-Meter Dash
1. Aaron Hutchins, Marshfield, 24.6
9. Bryan Thomas, Philomath, 27.3
12. Aidan Bruce, Philomath, 27.9
400-Meter Dash
1. Sean Cummings, Philomath, 52.9
6. Bryan Thomas, Philomath, 1:01.3
800-Meter Run
1. Brody Bushnell, Philomath, 2:00.0
2. Levi Knutson, Philomath, 2:07.1
11. Lukas Dunn, Philomath, 2:27.5
1500-Meter Run
1. Brandon Williams, East Linn Christian, 4:31.7
2. Justin Enghauser, Philomath, 4:32.1
4. Grant Hellesto, Philomath, 4:44.6
3000-Meter Run
1. Mateo Candanoza, Philomath, 9:43.6
2. Ben Hernandez, Philomath, 9:52.7
110-Meter Hurdles
1. Micah Matthews, Philomath, 17.4
300-Meter Hurdles
1. Grant Hellesto, Philomath, 46.5
4×100-Meter Relay
1. Marshfield (Trent Summers, Jonathan Parks, Aaron Hutchins, Sam Grayson), 46.7
2. Philomath (Lucas Ainsworth, Isaac Workman, Sean Cummings, Caleb Jensen), 46.9
4×400-Meter Relay
1. Philomath (Justin Enghauser, Levi Knutson, Sean Cummings, Brody Bushnell), 3:38.7
Shot Put
1. Jacob Janeczko, Elmira, 38-11.75
11. George House, Philomath, 29-5.75
13. Jared Gerding, Philomath, 28-10.5
20. Aidan Bruce, Philomath, 17-7.75
Discus
1. Cobyn Herbert, Elmira, 136-0
8. Micah Matthews, Philomath, 89-11.75
Javelin
1. Evan Snauer, Cottage Grove, 133-9
11. Lucas Ainsworth, Philomath, 98-0
18. Casey McDaniel, Philomath, 70-2
High Jump
1. Sam Grayson, Marshfield, 5-10
Pole Vault
1. Trent Summers, Marshfield, 14-0
6. Aaron Schaffer, Philomath, 8-6
Long Jump
1. Jonathan Parks, Marshfield, 19-1.5
4. Micah Matthews, Philomath, 18-9.5
Triple Jump
1. Carson Fox, Elmira, 40-0.25
5. George House, Philomath, 37-9.25
GIRLS
Team Scoring
1, Philomath 707.5; 2, Marshfield 690.5; 3, Junction City 681; 4, Cottage Grove 468; 5, Elmira 329; 6, East Linn Christian 232; 7, Alsea 205; 8, Willamina 193; 9, Toledo 171; 10, Elkton 143.
