Warriors qualify athletes in 13 of the 17 events for state; Hellesto makes further strides into the PHS record books

PHS senior Janice Hellesto closes in on the finish line while winning the 200 with a school-record time of 25.05 seconds. (Photo by Brad Fuqua/Philomath News)

Setting itself up for a very realistic run at a fourth straight Class 4A state title, the Philomath High girls track and field team will send athletes to Eugene in 13 of 17 events — and several of them are capable of scoring a lot of points.

“We’re in good shape for state next week — we’ve got a lot of kids competing,” Warriors coach Joe Fulton said about the May 30-31 meet at Hayward Field, an appearance that’s shaping up to be historic for the school and program.

The PHS girls claimed their eighth consecutive Oregon West Conference title, finishing 50 points ahead of runner-up Cascade.

In individual events, senior Janice Hellesto led the way with three victories and freshman Cassidy Smart won a couple of races.

Seniors Anneka Steen and Aspen Russell each earned titles in field events, and the 4-by-400 relay team also took first place.

Hellesto continues to compete at a high level as the season winds down.

“I am definitely feeling the end of the season because it’s two weeks later than it was last year,” Hellesto said.

“So I’m definitely feeling a little bit of tiredness but I’m ready to finish. I’m just so excited for state to race against all of these other super athletes.”

Philomath boys bring it for districts and take top track trophy

Standing atop of the medal stand late Saturday afternoon as the Philomath winds started to pick up, the boys track and field team gathered for a photo with the first-place trophy.

Surrounded by a sizable group of state-qualifying underclassmen, it seemed appropriate that senior Warwick Bushnell was holding the hardware, the storied program’s latest addition…

Hellesto’s winning times were 12.42 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 25.05 in the 200 to go along with the 17 feet, 10.25 inches she had in the long jump.

Oh, and the time in the 200 was Hellesto’s latest school record — bettering the 25.27 that Maggie Ross sprinted at the 2019 state meet.

PHS senior Janice Hellesto holds school records in the 100, 200 and long jump, and is part of a 4-by-100 relay that also holds the school record. (Photo by Brad Fuqua/Philomath News)

“The 200 (record) was my goal all season so I finally got it,” Hellesto said while enjoying some shaved ice after running her last event. “So I have school records in all four of my events.”

Hellesto broke the 100-meter dash school record a few weeks ago at the Dean Nice Invitational with a time of 12.27, which was also formerly held by Ross (12.34) from the 2019 season.

And Hellesto owns the school’s long jump record, going 18-2 this season in a meet at Corvallis.

The previous record stood for 29 years with Cathy McNeely’s 18-1 in 1996.

The fourth school record also occurred Saturday afternoon with Philomath’s performance in the 4-by-100 relay with freshman Kya Bolton, senior Natalie Dunn, senior Petra Hernandez and Hellesto.

The Warriors didn’t win the race, settling for second, but the 49.28 broke a 25-year-old record.

Kathy Gellatly, Bri Kelly, Chelsey Gellatly and Toni Adair sprinted the oval in 49.36 in 2000.

In the long jump, Hellesto failed to reach state last season when she scratched on all of her attempts at districts. But she didn’t allow last year’s disappointment to impact her mental approach.

PHS senior Petra Hernandez clears the final hurdle on her way to a state-qualifying second-place finish in the 300 hurdles. (Photo by Brad Fuqua/Philomath News)

“Some of my coaches were pretty worried and were kind of like, ‘just jog and jump and you’ll make it into the finals,’” Hellesto said. “But that’s not how I roll.

If I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it 100% — and it worked.”

Another senior headed to state is Russell, who has been working hard this spring to reach greater heights in the pole vault. Russell cleared 9 feet, 5.75 inches for first place.

Joining track and field for the first time as a sophomore, the pole vault was an event that Russell started to see success in right away.

PHS senior Aspen Russell goes up and over in the pole vault. Russell ranks No. 1 in the event for Class 4A. (Photo by Brad Fuqua/Philomath News)

“I had always thought about doing track and field and always wanted to do it (pole vault),” Russell said.

“I never did it my freshman year because my brother was on the baseball team and I went to all of the games.

But actually, my mom and I looked into it a little bit and I was like, ‘this is really cool.’”

Russell won the district title that first season as a sophomore and ended up ninth at state.

The following year, she cleared 9 feet for the first time but slipped to fourth at districts.

“Everything in track, I would say, is mental but there’s a lot of technique that goes into it,” she said.

This season, Russell cleared 10 feet for the first time in a meet at Gresham.

If she can approach that sort of performance at state next week, she should be in contention for a high medal. In fact, she ranks No. 1 in the event this season.

The 4-by-400 relay of Smart, Beckstead, Nuño and Dunn was another team win for PHS at the district meet. Their time of 4:08.95 was a little more than 6 seconds faster than the runner-up from Stayton.

PHS freshman Cassidy Smart runs out in front on her way to a win in the 1,500. (Photo by Brad Fuqua/Philomath News)

Elsewhere, Smart won the two-longest races with wins in the 3,000 (10:44.38) and the 1,500 (4:49.56) — the latter being a personal record.

Steen and senior Hanna McDaniel had a 1-2 finish in the high jump. Steen cleared 5-3 and McDaniel went 5-0.5.

Other state qualifiers included Dunn in the 400 (second, 57.87), freshman Reagan Nuño in the 800 (second, 2:23.34) and triple jump (third, 34-0.75), sophomore Hailey Eckhold in the triple jump (second, 34-0.75), senior Adele Beckstead in the 1,500 (third, 5:01.32) and 3,000 (third, 10:52.73) and senior Petra Hernandez in the 300 hurdles (second, 49.24).

Beckstead qualified in both of her individual events as a wild card, a single spot in each event that goes to the fastest third-place finisher.

Nuño also made it in the triple jump on the wildcard. The two two placewinners automatically qualify.

PHS senior Natalie Dunn approaches the first curve for the final leg of the 4-by-400 relay. (Photo by Brad Fuqua/Philomath News)

Fulton said alternates for state on the relays will be Nuño for the 4-by-100 and seniors Melea Lattin and Brooke McDaniel for the 4-by-400.

Top athlete honors at the meet went to Hellesto and Cascade senior Lillian Pickett for their performances on the track and Cascade senior Kalina Saechao in the field events.

Oregon West Conference Championships
Friday-Saturday at Clemens Field, Philomath HS
Girls

Team scoring: 1, Philomath 210; 2, Cascade 160; 3, Stayton 110; 4, Sweet Home 83; 5, Newport 69; 6, North Marion 18.
PHS results (Finals—Top 8): 100 — 1, Janice Hellesto, 12.42; 3, Kya Bolton, 13.07. 200 — 1, Janice Hellesto, 25.05; 4, Kya Bolton, 27.11. 400 — 2, Natalie Dunn, 57.87; 5, Brooke McDaniel, 1:06.55. 800 — 2, Reagan Nuño, 2:23.34; 3, Melea Lattin, 2:29.40. 1500 — 1, Cassidy Smart, 4:49.56; 3, Adele Beckstead, 5:01.32; 8, Abby Phelps, 5:36.63. 3000 — 1, Cassidy Smart, 10:44.38; 3, Adele Beckstead, 10:52.73. 100 hurdles — 5, Annaleise Brown, 18.37. 300 hurdles — 2, Petra Hernandez, 49.24; 7, Hanna McDaniel, 53.02. 4-by-100 relay — 2, Philomath (Bolton, Dunn, Hernandez, Hellesto), 49.28. 4-by-400 relay — 1, Philomath (Smart, Beckstead, Nuño, Dunn), 4:08.95. Shot put — 6, Hailey Eckhold, 32-0. Discus — 4, Jordyn Hood, 103-0; 6, Madison Provance, 95-2. Javelin — 4, Kateri Pindell, 105-8; 7, Jordyn Hood, 93-1. High jump — 1, Anneka Steen, 5-3; 2, Hanna McDaniel, 5-0.5. Pole vault — 1, Aspen Russell, 9-5.75; 3, Hanna McDaniel, 8-4; 7, Brooke McDaniel, 6-10.25. Long jump — 1, Janice Hellesto, 17-10.25; 6, Hailey Eckhold, 14-11.5; 7, Annaleise Brown, 14-2.25. Triple jump — 2, Hailey Eckhold, 34-0.75; 3, Reagan Nuño, 34-0.75; 4, Anneka Steen, 33-9.5.