Warriors Athletics

Philomath High School

CoEd Varsity Cross Country

Team News.

Practices begin on August 15th

PHS Cross Country practice begins Monday, August 15th, 6 PM at the PHS track. We hope to se you there, but remember, you will need a clearance card in order to participate. Practices will continue to be held at 6 PM until the first day of school when they will move to 3:45.

Elijah Bristow Invite

The Philomath boys placed 3^rd and the PHS girls were 5^th in the Rock n River Invite at Elijah Bristow State Park near Pleasant Hill on Saturday. The PHS boys, ranked 5^th in the latest 4A coaches poll, are now 59-12 against all complete teams they have raced this season with just one regular season meet to go. The girls, who ran the first two meets as incomplete, are now 25-15 and ranked #9 in the 4A poll.

Crescent Valley and South Albany were also in the meet and complete results can be found at: http://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Results/Meet.aspx?Meet=56486#172

Brian Blythe and Caelin Alba led the Warriors finishing 9^th and 10^th overall with identical times of 17:35. Other Warrior varsity finishers were :

22	Andrew Damitio	18:25	PHIL	10
28	Mitchell Thomas	18:32	PHIL	10
32	Chase Celorie	18:42	PHIL	12
34	Eric Isaacs	18:46	PHIL	12

The top four Philomath girls were separated by just 12 seconds:


21	Kendra Sheeder	22:03	PHIL	9
26	Jenna Grunwald	22:11	PHIL	10
27	Rachel McIlroy	22:12	PHIL	12
29	Sara Ham	22:15	PHIL	12
50	Olivia Jurva	23:53	PHIL	11

Philomath’s Anna Sackmann placed 2^nd overall in the JV race with a time of 22:37.

Boys Scores: Marshfield 74, South Albany 93, Philomath 97, Crescent Valley 121, Ashland 141, North bend 167, Pleasant Hill 189, Crow 227, Yoncalla 233, Amity 238, Central Linn 278, Ridgeview 284, Sweet Home 294, Mazama 307

Girls Scores: Ashland 30, Crescent Valley 86, Central Catholic 124, Marshfield 128, Philomath 147, North bend 169, South Albany 186, Pleasant Hill 216, Ridgeview 242, Creswell 258, Sweet Home 279, Amity 326, Junction City 341, Yoncalla 362, Crow 387

Philomath will end its regular season this Wednesday at the Country Fair Classic in Elmira.

Lake Woahink Summary

At Lake Woahink, Sara, Brianna and I could not have been more proud of our Philomath runners. For the past six weeks we have tried to get these student-athletes in shape while teaching them the difference between running and racing. After the first meet at Cascade High on Sept. 6^th we realized how much work was left to be done. After yesterday’s meet we realized that we have two very good cross-country teams.

23 schools participated in the Lake Woahink Invite and many of them, including some big schools like Springfield, were not able to field complete teams. But Philomath was able to field complete teams in every race and most of our runners did just that….they RACED!

First up were our JV boys. They placed third overall, losing only to the two 6A schools in the field, Oregon City and Reynolds!! Oregon City has 2,300 students and Reynolds has 2,700 students . Philomath has 515 students. The score was OC 59, Reynolds 68 and Philomath 99. We beat the other eleven complete teams, including Siuslaw. That says a lot about our future potential.

Karl Hellesto led the way with a 6^th place finish in 19:23. Two other Warriors broke 20 minutes: Tim McIllroy, 12^th in 19:37 and Jared French, 19^th in 19:50. Clay Youker was very close to that stellar mark, placing 26^th in 20:05. Other PHS finishers were Marcus Weaver, 39^th in 20:50; Scott Weldman, 47^th in 21:05; Lane Thompson, 59^th in 21:31; Chad Beeton, 74^th in 21:52; Mike Lorain, 101^st in 22:48; Phil Harmon, 109^th in 23:02; Dylan Lewis, 115^th in 23:18 and Parker Towney, 142^nd in 27:07. The team was without Bryson and Keith but they should be back for the Mariman Invite.

The JV girls tried so hard it almost brought tears to my eyes. They are very inexperienced and have a long way to go but they are finally racing. We were without Mikayla Stark, who is nursing a sore hip. We hope to have her back next week.

Freshman Kirsten Bovbjerg was our top finisher, placing 65^th in 26:59. Kirsten was backed up by Zoey Snyder who placed 74th in 27:58; Lauren Hindman was 79^th in 28:42; Wren Isaacs placed 82^nd in 28:56; Alexis Lillis took 89^th in 29:27; Yang Xu, in her first race ever, took 93^rd in 29:54 and Christina Torgerson placed 107^th in 32:34.

Many of you saw some new faces on our varsity girls’ team. Some of our wonderful track runners finally decided to join the team. They are doing double duty with the girls’ soccer team, as our Mikayla and Alexis, and deserve our thanks and support. It is not easy doing two sports in one season but when you have a relatively small school it becomes necessary to remain competitive on the state level.

We also have three boys doing both sports: Brian Blythe, Calein Alba and Lane Thompson. We sincerely appreciate both Coach Anton Grube and Coach John Williams for supporting our cross-country teams and allowing some of their athletes to dual sport. In fact Coach Williams gave me a great idea the other day. He suggested that we stop at Lane CC and check out the state meet course after we race at Pleasant Hill on Oct. 13th. That's how confident he is that our teams will qualify for state this year. I agree.

Joining our team this past week were Jenna Grunwald and Olivia Jurva, the 3^rd and 4^th place finishers in the 800 meter finals at the 2012 Oregon West Track & Field Championships. Also joining the team is Sara Ham, the conference 400 meter champion and a three-time all-state track runner. Sara is a member of three state championship relay teams so you better believe she knows how to win races. When she figures out how to cover 5000 meters WATCH OUT!

1500 meter runner Anna Sackmann has also joined the team and will make her debut next Saturday in the Mariman Invite.

At the Woahink Invite our girls placed a surprising 7^th and were the third place team anong 4A schools, losing to Sisters by just seven points. Sisters is ranked #6 in the state in the last 4A poll! We are now ranked #2 behind Cascade in the Oregon West Conference. That means we have an excellent chance of returning to state after a rare one year hiatus. How rare? If we qualify for state this year it will be the 32^nd time in the last 33 years.

Jenna Grunwald was “racing on memory” as my college coach Berny Wagner used to say (Jenna won a lot of races as a middle school cross-country runner) and led the way for PHS finishing 17^th in a very respectable 21:56. Freshman sensation Kendra Sheeder gave Jenna a good race and was our #2 runner placing 25^th in 22:21. Rachel McIlroy took 34^th in 22:34; Sara Ham was 38^th in 22:39 and Olivia Jurva rounded out the PHS scoring by placing 65^th in 24:20.

The future looks very bright for our girls’ cross-country team. This year’s contingent of 8^th grade girls could well be the best ever. Five 8^th grade girls show tremendous promise. They are led by Quinn Damitio, the daughter of my former assistant Cheri Damitio, and by Taylor Knutson, the daughter of former PHS all-state cross-country runner Kristen Peterson.

In the boys’ team competition, Siuslaw, considered by many observers as the best team in the state for any division, demonstrated their incredible depth by putting five runners in the top seven to crush Reynolds of Portland, the #7 6A team in the state, 19-93. The Warriors finished 5^th, just nine points behind 4^th place Hidden Valley, the #4 ranked team in the 4A division.

Philomath was led by junior Brian Blythe, who finished 15^th in 17:38. Brian has been our #1 runner in the last three meets. Caelin Alba was 19^th in 17:52; Chase Celorie, 28^th in 18:13 (despite a sprained ankle); Eric Isaacs, 35^th in 18:32; and Andrew Damitio, 39^th in 18:38. Mitch Thomas was recovering from a bad cold and placed 53^rd in 19:03. Likewise, Avery Fishburn was recovering from illness and ended up 94^th in 20:42.

Speaking of the boys’ team, Jay and Cindy Celorie have graciously invited the boys to a team dinner on the night prior to the Mariman Invite. Here is the message from Jay:

"We would like to host a team dinner this Friday Oct 5^th after practice for all of the boys on the team. Please RSVP to Cindy (cindytpc@comcast.net)"

We will go to Bald Hill for a run after school on Monday. Those of you who are cleared to drive and can help transport please meet on the east side of the high school at 3:45. And if you have not offered to help at the Mariman invite please let us know that you can be there. Many thanks to those who have already volunteered and to those who made it to Lake Woahink. I hope you enjoyed the show and were as proud of your kids as I was.

Chief Joe

Philomath Boys Sweep at The Monster!

Philomath Boys Sweep Cross-Country Invitational

Silverton – The PHS boys’ cross-country squad swept the varsity & junior varsity team titles in the 20-team Oktoberfest Invitational at Silver Creek Falls State Park. The meet was held on a 5,200 meter-course considered one of the most challenging in the state. It includes a one-mile steep ascent in the middle of the race called “The Monster.”

Philomath won the large school division (4A-5A teams) with 41 points. They also defeated all of teams in the small schools division, which was won by East Linn Christian.

Brian Blythe led the charge for Philomath by finishing 2^nd overall. He was backed up by Caelin Alba in 7^th, Andrew Damitio in 8^th, Chase Celorie in 9^th, Mitchell Thomas in 15^th and Eric Isaacs in 19^th.

The PHS JV boys placed six runners in the top ten to win the combined JV team competition.

Philomath is still developing a girls’ team and only senior Rachel McIlroy competed in the varsity race, placing 8^th in the large school division. But freshman Kendra Sheeder, in her first high school race, won the JV division.

Next up for the Philomath cross-country teams will be the Sisters invitational on Sept. 19^th.

Boys Team Scores (Large School Division): PHILOMATH 41, Silverton 56, Cascade 88, West Albany 91, Dallas 103, North Marion 136, Madras 184, Junction City incomplete

For complete results go to: http://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Results/Meet.aspx?Meet=58431#172

A Combined History of Cross-Country & Track.

As Philomath prepares to enter a brand new high school our Principal/Athletic Director has asked for the team records for each sport. I just finished combing through all the records and even I was surprised at the numbers.

We have complete results of state meet finishes dating back to 1958. However, the conference titles are incomplete as we can only trace conference meets to 1979 in cross-country and 1987 in track & field. Therefore PHS has earned far more conference titles than listed below.

It is all broken down by sport for the school records but here, where we celebrate both sports, is the amazing combined conference and state team history for Philomath High School boys and girls cross-country and track.

Conference titles (since 1979 for XC and 1987 for T&F): 76

Top ten state championship team finishes: 96

Top four team trophies at state: 52

The breakdown of state trophies:

State team titles: 17

Runner-up at state: 16

3^rd at state: 10

4^th at state: 9

Top four trophies by team: Boys XC: 17; Girls XC: 16; Girls T&F: 13; Boys T&F: 6

State titles by team: Girls XC: 8; Girls T&F: 4; Boys XC: 3; Boys T&F: 2

Most team with 2^nd place finishes at state: Boys Cross-Country with nine runner-up trophies.

Country Fair Classic and More!

Greetings Cross-Country Family,

In case you missed it the Philomath Cross-Country teams made a major statement at the Country Fair Classic in Elmira on Wednesday. Thirty-eight schools and more than 900 runners participated. That included some powerhouse 6A and 5A programs, like Sheldon (#3 in the 6A), Roseburg and Marist. And yet, both of our young teams FINISHED 4th overall!!!! Here are the varsity team scores:

Girls Team Places- (1.) Marist- 111,(2.) Sisters-112, (3.)Marshfield-177, (4) Sheldon-205, (tie 4th) Philomath-205, (6.) Cascade-221, (7.) Roseburg-239, (8.) Creswell, (9.) Stayton- 246, (10.) Churchill- 275, (11.) North Eugene- 297, (12.) Catlin Gabel - 307, (13.) Sutherlin- 315, (14.) Estacada- 327, (15.) Sweet Home- 337, (16.) North Bend- 369, (17.) Thurston - 370, (18.) Cottage Grove -374, (19.) Springfield - 391, (20.) Elmira- 395, (21.) Central - 402, (22.) Pleasant Hill- 455, (23.) Newport- 455, (24.) Willamette- 516, (25.) Gladstone- 586, (26.) Junction City- 623, (27.) Yoncalla - 627, all other teams incomplete

Boys Team Places - (1.) Sheldon- 55, (2.) Hidden Valley- 100, (3.) Roseburg- 104, (4.) Philomath- 142, (5.) Sisters- 151, (6.) Thurston - 183, (7.) Marshfield -212, (8.) North Bend- 232, (9.) Marist- 232, (10.) Springfield- 260, (11.) Catlin Gabel- 320, (12.) Stayton - 329, (13.) Newport- 337, (14.) Cascade- 344, (15.) North Eugene- 362, (16.) Sweet Home- 369, (17.) North Marion- 372, (18.) Pleasant Hill- 372, (19.) Crow - 443, (20.) Churchill - 456, (21.) Elmira- 494, (22.) Cottage Grove- 514, (23.) Willamette - 528, (24.) Estacada- 544, (25.) Central - 563, (26.) Yoncalla- 567, (27.) Gladstone - 595, all other teams incomplete.

Our boys team is now 82-15 against all complete teams this season and our girls are 47-18 after being incomplete in the first two meets!

And in the process almost all of our runners ran season best times on the very fast (but not short) 5000 meter Country Fair course. The competition was as fast as the course and our brave young runners responded. None more so than the incredible Brian Blythe who had a BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE, going from a PR of 17:30 all the way down to 16:07 to rank #6 among all 4A runners in the state! Only Siuslaw’s unprecedented top three and the super swift North Valley twins have clocked quicker times.

Caelin Alba also ran his first sub-17 time and every other varsity runner ran 17:30 or better. Add three more JV boys under 19 minutes and we are really getting in shape. Her are all the times for our boys in Wednesday’s huge meet:

5,000 Meters Junior Varsity x
	Karl Hellesto	18:41	Philomath	10
	Tim McIllroy	18:45	Philomath	9
	Jared French	18:52	Philomath	11
	Clay Youker	19:15	Philomath	9
	Marcus Weaver	19:56	Philomath	10
	Lane Thompson	20:42	Philomath	10
	Mike Lorain	21:00	Philomath	10
	Chad Beeton	21:30	Philomath	9
	Phil Harman	21:46	Philomath	11
	Keith Larson	22:50	Philomath	10
	Dylan Lewis	23:06	Philomath	11

5,000 Meters Varsity x
4	Brian Blythe	16:07.84	Philomath	11
19	Caelin Alba	16:49.92	Philomath	11
40	Chase Celorie	17:24.54	Philomath	12
43	Eric Isaacs	17:26.35	Philomath	12
46	Andrew Damitio	17:28.43	Philomath	Upcoming Events Full Schedule WARRIORS ATHLETICS Home Administrator Login Sign up for Alerts Contact Us Advertise SCHOOL INFO Philomath High School 2054 Applegate St Philomath, OR 97370 (541) 929-3211 Privacy Policy End User Agreement The official website of Philomath High School Warriors Athletics https://philomathathletics.org GAME CHANGE GET KEY ANNOUNCEMENTS and game updates from the official Philomath High School athletic calendar. GET ALERTS LOGIN

Warriors Athletics

Warriors Athletics

Warriors Athletics

Warriors Athletics

CoEd Varsity Cross Country

Team News.

PHS Cross Country practice begins Monday, August 15th, 6 PM at the PHS track. We hope to se you there, but remember, you will need a clearance card in order to participate. Practices will continue to be held at 6 PM until the first day of school when they will move to 3:45.

Upcoming Events