In their first-ever appearance in the Saxon Invite, Philomath's boys took home the first-place trophy. (Courtesy photo)

Philomath's boys claimed bragging rights in its friendly rivalry with Cresscent Valley by edging the Raiders for first place in the 12-team Saxon Invite cross country meet Saturday at Bush Park in Salem.

The 4A Warriors outscored 5A Crescent Valley 72-92, led by seniors Mateo Candanoza (third), Ben Hernandez (sixth) and Brody Bushnell (12th).

Philomath coach Joe Fulton is well acquainted with Raiders coach Tyler Bushnell, a former Warriors standout runner. Tyler, the uncle of Brody, was among five Bushnell brothers who were high state-placers in track and cross country at Philomath.

“We have a tremendous amount of love and respect for one another,” Fulton said. “He approaches coaching at Crescent Valley the same way I do at Philomath. We have high standards. We expect to win.”

It was Philomath's first appearance in the Saxon Invite. Fulton said he was looking for a meet outside of the team's usual schedule, and the chance to race against mostly bigger schools on a fast course was appealing.

“I saw Crescent Valley was going to be there, so I thought, 'Let's give this a try,'” Fulton said. “We didn't know anything about the course until we got there. It was fun. We like to win any meet, but it's especially nice when we manage to beat one of the local 5A schools. We're slowly but surely getting it put together.”

Crescent Valley senior Kanoa Blake, coming off an impressive win the Ultimook Race, finished first on the 5,000-meter course in 15 minutes, 38.67 seconds. Bend senior Blake Reid (16:04.95) was second, four seconds ahead of Candanoza (16:08.64).

Philomath has high hopes with its senior nucleus of Candanoza, Bushnell and Hernandez, who finished first, second and third, respectively, in the Oregon West Conference district meet last year. In the 1,500 at the 4A track meet last season, Bushnell was third, Candanoza fifth and Hernandez sixth.

“We knew they would be contenders in cross country,” said Fulton, who coached the team to the 4A title in 2019 and a runner-up finish the following season.

The Warriors expected to contend in the 4A cross country meet last year but Bushnell was unable to compete for health reasons. Bushnell, the 4A champion in the 800 and 1,500 as a sophomore, has been slowly rounding into form this season as he continues to deal with the same malady.

“They haven't been able to pinpoint exactly what the issue is,” Fulton said of Bushnell, whose father, Jason, was a 1,500 state champion at Philomath. “He just can't seem to shake fatigue and weakness. We've been taking it slow. He's racing under control and not trying to do too much. Hopefully, he'll be OK by state. His last season in which he felt really strong was his sophomore track season.”

In the girls meet, Crescent Valley outscored Philomath 41-46 for first place.

Raiders sophomore Emily Wisniewski (17:59.42) won by nearly two minutes over Warriors sophomore Adele Beckstead (19:58.64). Crescent Valley had the next three finishers in sophomore Sasha Kelly (third) and freshmen Lillian Weiss (fourth) and Ella Rosling (fifth).

Wisniewski, the reigning 5A champion, has the state's fastest 5,000 time this season, recording 17:53.8 in winning the Ultimook Race.

Notes: Milwaukie senior Logan Law and Wilsonville senior Carter Cutting finished in a dead heat for first place in the 5A Northwest Oregon Conference Preview on Sept. 7 at Blue Lake Park, as both recorded 15:07.7, the No. 1 time in the state this season. Senior Mason Weisgerber (15:27.8) was third for Wilsonville, which beat Hood River Valley 39-62 for first place. … Jesuit's boys and girls both finished first in the Ash Creek XC Festival on Saturday at Western Oregon University. In the 28-team boys meet, Jesuit beat second-place West Salem 54-65. Marshfield senior Alexander Garcia-Silver won in 15:09.70, ahead of Jesuit senior Gus Clevenger (15:17.0) and West Salem junior Jack Meier (15:19.6). In the 17-team girls meet, Jesuit pulled away from runner-up Franklin 45-77. Crusaders junior Maura O'Scannlain (18:21.8), Sprague senior Sara Abbott (18:50.0) and Wells junior Josie Fale (18:56.9) were the top finishers. O'Scannlain's time is No. 2 in the state this year.