After a month of racing in 80 and even 90 degree weather the PHS cross-country teams finally got the chance to race in ideal distance running weather.  On Saturday, Oct 11^th the conditions were wet and cool at Elijah Bristow State Park as the Warriors put on a racing clinic at the annual Rock ‘N River Invite.

Our varsity girls won the meet with an impressive low score of 24.  Our varsity boys scored 45 but were a close 2^nd to 3^rd ranked Marshfield of Coos Bay (Prefontaine’s high school).  And our JV boys swept the top five spots for a perfect score of 15.

Meaghan Alba ran an aggressive race, leading virtually the entire way, to win individual honors in 20:22.  Coming through for 2^nd place was her friend and fellow sophomore Tegan Weaver in 21:01.  Kendra Sheeder almost made it a 1-2-3 sweep for Philomath, but was outkicked by an Oakridge runner in the final stretch and placed 4^th in 21:22.  The biggest surprise was the performance of Molly Klipfel.  In only her 2^nd high school race, Molly, a sophomore, exhibited the racing savvy of an experienced senior.  She took off with a mile to go, encouraging Kindra and Quinn to go with her, and powered it home for an 11^th place finish in 22:04, a full one minute and 43 seconds faster than her debut race at Mariman!

Quinn Damitio and Kindra Coleman finished 15^th and 16^th respectively in 22:16 and 22:27.  Senior Jenna Grunwald was not available as she was taking her SAT test.  But she will join the rest of the girls this Wednesday in our final regular season meet which also happens to be Jenna’s 18^th birthday!  That’s correct; we’ll have an adult woman leading our young girls’ team on Wednesday.

Kirsten Bovbjerg and Wren Isaacs represented in the JV race and took the top two spots in season best times of 25:46 and 26:18.

Mitchell Thomas continued his rise as one of the top cross-country runners in the state finishing 2^nd to Marshfield’s all-state runner Colby Gillett with a time of 16:56.  Tim McIlroy placed 6^th in 17:37 and Andrew Damitio was 10^th in 18:13.  Clay Youker and Clark Hellesto ran inspired races, chasing a still-ailing Damitio to place 14^th and 15^th in 18:35 and 18:38 respectively.  Both Clay and Clark beat Marshfield’s #5 runner and Andrew out-kicked their #4, but Marshfield’s top three proved the difference, placing 1-3-5.  We’ll get another chance at Marshfield this Wednesday.

Kurt Foster secured his spot on the varsity team as our #6 runner by winning the JV race in a very convincing fashion.  His time was 18:52 and he won by 57 seconds!  The pace biker told me after the race that Kurt ran his final mile at a pace comparable to the top varsity boys!

Kurt led a flurry of Warriors as Karl Hellesto, Xayd Magana, James Golston, Jenson Davis and a surprising Jeremy Sieperda, finished 2-3-4-5-7.   It could have been even more impressive as the team was without the services of seniors Marcus Weaver, Keith Larson and Hunter Foster, all of whom were taking the SAT.

Against all complete teams that our JV boys have raced this year they are now 27-9.  The nine loses were to 5A and 6A teams.

Our varsity girls, who did not even field a full team in the first meet, are now 36-7 against complete teams and only two 4A teams, topped ranked Molalla and 3^rd ranked Siuslaw, have beat them.  The varsity boys are an impressive 62-11 against complete teams, with eight of those loses coming to 5A or 6A teams.  Only Marshfield and 4^th ranked Siuslaw have beat them among 4A teams.

We will add a lot to our wins column this Wednesday at the very fast Country fair Classic in Veneta.  35 schools have entered the meet in search of season bests.  But be forewarned: we will not dominate this meet.  We will add a few loses as well.  Top-flight 6A teams South Eugene, Sheldon and Roseburg are entered.  These are teams with multiple sub-16 and 17 minute runners (boys) and multiple sub-20 runners (girls). 

Marist, a 5A powerhouse in both boys and girls, is also entered.  Their girls’ team features Olivia Powell, an 18:32 5000 meter runner!  And she is only the #3 seed in the race!  Sheldon’s Gracie Todd has an 18:22 season best and South Eugene’s Sara Tsai has run 18:28.  Yes, all three could make our varsity boys team.  This will be a barn-burner.  Don’t miss it.

Our focus will be the 13 4A teams entered in the meet, including virtually the entire Oregon West Conference (only Y-C is not entered) and state ranked teams Marshfield and North Bend.  If we finish top five among all 35 teams entered then we will probably be the top 4A team in the meet.

Team pictures will be Monday, Oct. 13^th at 4 PM out on the cross-country course (near “the Snake”).  All runners, including our five dual sport athletes, should be there in uniform.

On Wednesday students will be dismissed at 12:55 and we will be loading the bus at 1:15.  The first race, JV girls, goes at 3:30.  JV boys race at 4:10.  That should be exciting as we hope to find our #7 varsity runner in the race.  Varsity girls get started at 4:45 and varsity boys wrap things up with a 5:20 start.  We hope to be back in Philomath by 7:30.

Please join us.  This is a very impressive group of young runners and a credit to Philomath.