A Brief History of Philomath High Cross-Country

It occurred to me the other day while chatting with our current cross-country runners about the reputation of our illustrious program, that many of them are unfamiliar with the history of our success.  As the years fly by and our teams continue almost seamlessly to be competitive on the state level, I just assume that the runners know it has been that way for over three decades.  But that is not the case and I believe it is time for a little history lesson.

To put it bluntly, Philomath High School certainly has the most successful boys and girls cross-country teams in 4A state history and arguably in the history of all Oregon high school cross-country programs.

PHS boys’ cross-country had a bit of success in the late 1950s and early 1960s.  They didn’t win any state titles but they were up there in the top three.  Then we had a twenty year drought before my mentor, the late Paul Mariman, took over the program.  Paul’s 1980 girls’ team made it to state for the first time in school history.  I was coaching the Timberhill Harriers at the time, the local youth club that fed the Philomath teams throughout the 1980s and 90s, and is still active under the direction of the Bushnell family, which had five all-state distance runners at PHS!  For the record I became Paul’s assistant coach in 1984.  I became the head coach a decade later when Paul retired after leading PHS boys and girls to seven state cross-country team titles. Our course and our home meet are named in honor of my dear friend Paul.

The PHS girls, led by the first Timberhill Harriers star, the great Tassie Norton, qualified again in 1981 and Tassie, a freshman, finished first at state.  She would win five state titles in cross-country and track. The team continued to qualify for state every year for 31 consecutive years, an all-time state record for all divisions AND ALL SPORTS, before the streak came to an end in 2011.  During that time the Philomath girls won eight state team titles and 15 top four state meet trophies, more than any other 4A school.   There were many all-state runners during this time but the biggest star of all was Brianna Anderson-Gregg, who won three consecutive individual state titles, set a state meet course record and led the PHS girls to their last two state team titles in 2001 and 2003.

After a two-year drought (2011-2012) when it was exceedingly difficult to convince girls to even try cross-country (pretty strange when you have the most successful program in PHS sports), the girls’ cross-country team roared back to life, led by our current team, to place 4^th at the 2013 state meet.  If we qualify for state this Saturday, Oct. 25^th it will be for the 33^rd time in 35 years!   And we are heavily favored to do so.

Our boys roared to life when Michael Miner, who trained with Tassie and the Timberhill Harriers, won the state cross country meet with a course record in 1982.  He went on to set the state record in the 3000 meter steeplechase, which still stands 30 years later!

The entire boys’ team qualified for state in 1984.  They have qualified every year since.  If they do it again this Saturday they will tie the all-time consecutive state appearance streak of 31 held by our girls’ team.  The next longest streak among 4A boys’ teams is the current 16 by Scappoose, which will likely come to an end this weekend.  The powerhouse Siuslaw has made it 14 consecutive years.  They can make it 15 straight this Friday.  The all-time 6A streak is 16 straight shared by South Eugene, Grant and Jesuit (none of those streaks are current).  The longest 5A streak is 12 by Springfield (from 1949 to 1960).  And the only other team ever to hit at least 20 straight was a 2A team, Canyonville Christian Academy, which qualified for state 21 straight years between 1962 and 1982.  Suffice to say that our boys will hold this record for many years to come.

Who’s Who in Oregon Track ranks the Philomath boys as #1 all-time among the 79 schools that have competed in our division over the years.  Our last state title for boys was in 2010. We have 1618 points based upon total state team appearances (42) and state top four team trophies (17). Siuslaw is the only other school with more than a thousand points at 1066.

Who’s Who in Oregon Track ranks the Philomath girls as #1 all-time in 4A girls’ cross-country. Our girls have 1484 points based on state meet appearances (32) and state meet top four trophies (16).  Rogue River is the only other school with over 1000 points at 1114.

No other girls’ cross-country team has made it to state over 30 years straight.   But two other schools have made it 20 straight.  They are South Eugene (23 including this year) and Crescent Valley, coached by former PHS runner Tyler Bushnell, which just qualified for the 22^nd consecutive year.  It is worth keeping in mind that a few Oregon high schools have never qualified a team for state cross-country and many others have qualified just four times or less (139 boys’ teams and 96 girls’ teams).

In summary, here are all of the Oregon high school cross-country teams that have qualified for state at least 20 consecutive years. That is 235 high schools times two (boys and girls teams) for 470 total teams.

1. Philomath girls: 31 straight
2. Philomath boys:  30 straight (will hit 31 on Saturday)
3. South Eugene girls:  23 straight (includes 2014)
4. Crescent Valley girls: 22 straight (includes 2014)
5. Canyonville Christian Academy boys:  21 straight

I could go one.  I have not listed the dozens of PHS runners who have earned all-state honors, nor the incredible list of runners who make up the two 30 plus years streaks.  I hope you all get the picture.  When it comes to high school cross-country in Oregon no school compares to Philomath.  That might not be known in Philomath, but it is well-known in other parts of the state that take this sport seriously.  This much I can promise, we will not only continue that dominance this weekend at the Oregon West Conference championships in Philomath, but we will continue it as long as Sara and I decide to coach this program. 

But we could never do it without your wonderful children and your continued support.  You are part of this history and we count on your support to keep it going!

I am looking forward to seeing all of you this Saturday and again on November 1^st at the 2014 OSAA State Cross-Country Championships!

Chief Joe