Scott Swanson
and Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Going into last weekend?s district swimming championships, Sweet Home Coach Doug Peargin wasn?t brimming with confidence about his team?s chances against bigger clubs such as Philomath, which beat the Husky girls last year by six points.
?We just are not as deep as some of the others,? he said.
Turns out, this year it was speed ? not numbers ? that was the magic ingredient for the Huskies, who made up for their lack of potential placers by taking enough top finishes to sweep both the girls and boys events.
The Husky boys scored 188.5 points, ahead of Junction City?s 155 and Cascade?s 153.
?It was exciting because we only had six or seven people who went on the second day,? senior Larry Coulter said. ?We were big underdogs. We took nine guys to (districts), and only seven came back the second day. We were spread out just perfect.?
The boys had one or two in every single finals event, so they were able to score the points to win the district championship, Coulter said.
The girls posted 250 points, ahead of Philomath with 239 and North Marion?s 159.
?Last year we lost by like six points,? sophomore Justine Calhoon said.
Junior Nichole Martin said the winning margin this year ?was really good to show that we worked hard this year and had more bodies.?
Sweet Home girls won four events ? the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays, Jessica Trautwein in the 50 freestyle and Sarah Rosa. The boys won three ? the 200 and 400 freestyle relays and Coulter?s victory in the 200 freestyle.
The team as a whole sends only one less player to state than it did last year.
Calhoon and Martin were on two relay teams that won district championships.
?It?s stressful,? Calhoon said. ?Like making finals, you don?t want to go too fast. You want to save your energey for the next day.?
?You want to go in seeded high, but you don?t want to go in with your best time ever because you may not be able to do that in the finals,? Martin said.
As Peargin and his athletes were splashing in the pool to celebrate their victory, five girls and two boys, along with all three girls relay teams and two boys teams, were on their way to the state swim meet this Friday and Saturday in Corvallis.
The state qualifiers for the boys are Coulter in the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke and Brinden Sanders in the 100 butterfly, and the 200 and 400 free relay teams. The girls who qualified are Trautwein in the 50 and 100 freestyle, Rosa in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, Calhoon in the 100 breaststroke and 500 freestyle, Martin in the 500 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke, and the three relay teams.
?We swam every race as if it were the last time we would ever get to swim it,? Peargin said. ?We talked every evening after practice about what we would have to do to have a chance.?
Of the 29 swimmers the Huskies took to the meet, 22 placed.
?We were way outnumbered by some of the other teams but when you have the entire team step up and compete like they did ? it?s a tear-jerker. I don?t think we had a dry eye on the entire team,? Peargin said.
Twenty-eight of the Huskies? 29 swimmers posted lifetime bests in at least one event and most of them in three or four events.
Peargin said the advantage was hard work.
?Our kids swam close to 400 miles in the last 3 1/2 months,? he said. ?There wasn?t a team out there that had the conditioning that we had. We beat them the old-fashioned way ? hard work and dedication.?
District Championships Results
Team Scores – Girls
(1) Sweet Home 250; (2) Philomath 239 (3) North Marion 159; (4) Junction City 147; (5) Cascade 121; (6) Marist 91; (7) Blanchett 71; (8) Stayton 60; (9) Sisters 53; (10) Jefferson 33; (11) Mollala 14.
Sweet Home Girls Results
200 Medley Relay – First Place (Sarah Rosa, Justine Calhoon, Nichole Martin, Ashlee Flanagan) 2:01.99; 11th place (Katie Jones, Alice Davis, Korina Thompson, Staci Grove) 2:26.16. 200 Freestyle – (3) Dani Birky 2:10.18; (5) Ashlee Flanagan 2:13.54. 200 IM – (11) Katie Jones 2:48.61. 50 Freestyle – (1) Jessica Trautwein 27.37. 100 Butterfly – (1) Sarah Rosa 1:05.32; (2) Nichole Martin 1:06.19; (9) Jessica Mengore 1:27.08; (10) Staci Grove 1:28.51. 100 Freestyle – (2) Jessica Trautwein 58.32; (4) Dani Birky 59.28. 500 Freestyle – (30 Justine Calhoon 5:46.10; (4) Nichole Martin 5:48.21; (6) Ashlee Flanagan 6:07.86. 200 Freestyle Relay – First Place (Jessica Trautwein, Sarah Rosa, Nichole Martin, Dani Birky) 1:48.21; 11th place – (Cherie Presley, Faith Helfrich, Staci Grove, Korina Thompson) 2:05.99. 100 Backstroke – (3) Sarah Rosa 1:07.78; (9) Katie Jones 1:15.67. 100 Breaststroke – (3) Justine Calhoon 1:14.54. 400 Freestyle Relay – Second Place (Jessica Trautwein, Katie Jones, Justine Calhoon, Dani Birky) 4:05.27; Ninth Place (Norajeon Lemar, Korina Thompson, Shaley Coker, Ashlee Flanagan) 4:39.13.
Team Scores – Boys
(1) Sweet Home 188.5; (2) Junction City 155; (3) Cascade 153; (4) Stayton 150; (5) Molalla 131; (6) Blanchett 122; (7) Marist 117; (8) North Marion 105.5; (9) Philomath 80; (10) Tie between Jefferson and Sisters 22.
Sweet Home Boys Results
200 Medley Relay – Fourth Place (James Davis, Peter VanDerlip, Jonathan Lemar, Higor Martinez) 2:04.59. 200 Freestyle – (1) Larry Coulter 1:56.65; (5) Anthony Ertsgaard 2:12.61; (6) James Davis 2:16.06. 200 IM – (4) Brinden Sanders 2:21.64; (10) Jonathan Lemar 2:33.97. 100 Butterfly – (5) Brinden Sanders 1:02.09; 100 Freestyle – (4) Cole Stumbaugh 54.38; (6) Anthony Ertsgaard 55.79. 500 Freestyle – (8) Jonathan Lemar 5:59.36; (10) James Davis 6:06.55. 200 Freestyle Relay – Third Place (Brinden Sanders, Anthony Ertsgaard, Larry Coulter, Cole Stumbaugh) 1:37.81. 100 Backstroke – (4) Larry Coulter 1:03.16. 400 Freestyle Relay – First Place (Brinden Sanders, Anthony Ertsgaard, Larry Coulter, Cole Stumbaugh) 3:36.26; 11th Place (Peter VanDerlip, James Davis, Higor Martinez, Jonathan Lemar) 4:05.83.