Scott Swanson and Kimber Swanson
Sweet Home’s swimmers came up a little short of the success they’re used to, or that they were expecting on the girls side, but the Husky girls still qualified for six events at state while the boys punched their ticket for four at the District 3 championship meet Saturday at South Albany Aquatic Center.
The girls placed fifth after they were disqualified in the preliminaries of both the 200 Medley Relay and the 200 Freestyle Relay. Sisters won the girls team title with 205 points, followed by Blanchet Catholic, Salem Academy, Stayton and the Huskies, who had 144 points.
The boys were fourth with 137 points, behind Philomath (264), Blanchet and Central.
SWEET HOME’S 400 Freestyle Relay team is congratulated by second-place Blanchet Catholic team members after the Huskies won the district title in that event Saturday.
“We had a great meet,” Coach Doug Peargin said. “With only eight boys on the team, we were still able to come in fourth. All eight boys placed for us. And on the girls team, out of 13 girls, 10 placed.”
The two disqualifications cost the girls at least second place, he said.
Both the boys and girls posted 11 personal records in 13 events, Peargin said.
“You can’t do much better than that.”
Sweet Home tends to do well in championships, but the Huskies went for it after their setbacks.
“I think the most exciting races of the meet were the freestyle relays,” Peargin said.
In the girls 400 Freestyle Relay, the final event of their day, Sweet Home finished with a four-second PR to win a district title in the event.
In the 200 Freestyle Relay, the boys improved on their previous best by three seconds and then made a statement with a seven-second PR in the 400 Freestyle Relay, taking second behind Sisters by three-hundredths of a second.
The girls qualified for state in the 400 Freestyle Relay, after their difficulties in the previous two relays, winning the district title.
Senior Zane Jackson said after the 200 relay that the Husky boys were just clicking.
“The exchanges went well and I PR’d – a 25.44, I think,” he said. “We were seeded fifth on Friday but today (Saturday) we were second and that’s what we took today. I just want to see what the atmosphere is like for state. It’s only here at districts that I get pumped like I’m at a football game. It’s the size of this event, I think.”
Two freshmen girls qualified for state, Makayla Nelson in the 200 and 500 Freestyles, and Esther Gunselman in the 100 Backstroke.
Nelson, whose 200 Free time of 2:03.44 put her fourth on the list of fastest Sweet Home swimmers – one ahead of Peargin’s daughter Kristi – said the race was a tough one.
“The first 100 felt good and my body shut down after that,” she said. “I just tried not to think about my body but finishing and making the wall. About the third 50 I knew I had the lead.”
Gunselman was happy to be a placer in the very-competitive 50 Freestyle, though she found out Sunday she’d sneaked in as the final state qualifier in the backstroke.
“I came out ahead at the start and they just had a faster tempo than me,” she said of the competition in the 50. “I went in (seeded) sixth and came out fifth. I’m so happy.”
Her sister, senior Naomi Gunselman, won her sixth district title of her high school career with a victory in the 100 Butterfly, which qualified her for state in that event. She also qualified for state in the 100 IM, with a second-place finish to Rachel Haney of Ridgeview, a new high school opened this year in Redmond and added to District 3. Haney swam 2:15.16 to finish six seconds ahead of Gunselman.
In addition to the two relays, Victor Stupin took second in the 200 and 500 freestyle events to qualify for state.
He said he was just trying to stay with the competition in the 200 and then just went for it.
“The last 100 was all out,” Stupin said. “I had nothing left. The guy who was first finished four-tenths of a second before me. But I did what I wanted to do – it was a good race.”
The state championships will be held Friday and Saturday mornings, Feb. 15-16, at Mt. Hood Community College Aquatic Center in Gresham. Gates open at 8:15 a.m. Friday, with competition beginning at 9 a.m., and at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, with competition beginning at 8:15. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students 5 through high school.
District 3 Championships Results
Sweet Home Finishers and State Qualifiers
Girls Results (Personal Record*)
Team Scores: (1) Sisters 205; (2) Blanchet 165; (3) Salem Academy 158; (4) Stayton 150; (5) Sweet Home 144.
200 Medley Relay – (1) Salem Academy 1:58.17; (2) Sisters 1:58.53; (3) Stayton 1:59.98; (4) Philomath 2:04.20.
200 Freestyle: (1) Makayla Nelson (SH) 2:03.44*; (2) Karly Vial (Sisters) 2:06.64; (3) Julie Wallace (Stayton) 2:08.22; (6) Emily Thompson (SH) 2:20.2*.
200 Individual Medley – (1) Rachel Haney (Ridgeview) 2:15.16; 2. Naomi Gunselman (SH) 2:21.51; (3) Grace Warde (Salem Academy) 2:24.12; (8) Sara Helfrich (SH) 2:44.9*; (11) Natasha Benson (SH) 2:58.4.
50 Freestyle – (1) Mary Stewart (Sisters) 25.86; (2) Kendra Sheeder (Philomath) 26.65; (3) Aleya Hill (Stayton) 26.14; (5) Esther Gunselman 27.7.
100 Butterfly – (1) Naomi Gunselman (SH) 1:01.86*; (2) Haley Houghton (Ridgeview) 1:04.38; (3) Laurel Luke (Philomath) 1:01.49; (11) Sierrah Owen (SH) 1:31.1*.
100 Freestyle – (1) Mary Stewart (Sisters) 56.55; (2) Julie Wallace (Stayton) 57.26; (3) Emma Boles (Salem Academy) 59.03.
500 Freestyle – (1) Makayla Nelson (SH) 5:25.39*; (2) Kiera Supple (Salem Academy) 5:29.83; (3) Haley Houghton (Ridgeview) 5:33.54; (4) Karly Vial (Sisters) 5:37.80; (5) Megan Waguespack (Blanchet Catholic) 6:05.82; (6) Emily Thompson (SH) 6:16.8*.
200 Freestyle Relay – (1) Sisters 1:46.63; (2) Stayton 1:47.23; (3) Salem Academy 1:47.81; (4) Philomath 1:49.17; (5) Ridgeview 1:50.16; (6) Blanchet Catholic 1:50.26.
100 Backstroke – (1) Rachel Haney (Ridgeview) 58.77; (2) Kiera Supple (Salem Academy) 1:01.61; (3) Emma Boles (Salem Academy) 1:04.57; (4) Esther Gunselman (SH) 1:06.63*; (9) Natasha Benson (SHO) 1:18.5*.
100 Breaststroke – (1) Grace Warde (Salem Academy) 1:13.12; (2) Lauren Hindman (Philomath) 1:15.66.
400 Freestyle Relay -– (1) Sweet Home (Esther Gunselman, Sara Helfrich, Naomi Gunselman, Makayla Nelson; Reserves: Paige Sanders) 4:01.42*; (2) Blanchet Catholic 4:03.99; (7) Sweet Home “B” (Livvie Hindmarsh, Natasha Benson, Paige Sanders, Megan Oberg) 4:45.7*.
Boys Results
Team Scores – (1) Philomath 264; (2) Blanchet 174; (3) Central 144; (4) Sweet Home 137.
200 Medley Relay – (1) Philomath 1:50.39; (2) Sisters 1:51.45; (3) Central 1:53.42; (8) Sweet Home (Ryan Yon, Hunter Burge, Elric Benson, Grant Jones) 2:16.1.
200 Freestyle – (1) Patrick Williamson (Philomath) 1:58.33; (2) Victor Stupin (SH) 1:58.75*; (3) Owen Hucke (Ridgeview) 1:59.65; (4) Justin Hilburn (SH) 2:02.0*.
200 Individual Medley – (1) Matt Stanger (Central) 2:14.34; (2) Vincent Kelly (Blanchet Catholic) 2:21.00; (6) Elric Benson (SH) 2:44.2*.
50 Freestyle – (1) Conor McCreary (Ridgeview) 24.45; (11) Zane Jackson (SH) 26.0*; (12) Jaegar Howatt (SH) 26.2*.
100 Butterfly – (1) Joe Walker (Junction City) 57.17; (9) Justin Hilburn (SH) 1:03.9*.
100 Freestyle – (1) Chase Celorie (Philomath) 52.83; (2) Conor McCreary (Ridgeview) 53.96; (3) Michael Walker (Junction City) 54.85; (9) Jaegar Howatt (SH) 58.7*; (10) Zane Jackson (SH) 59.1*.
500 Freestyle – (1) Jeremy Darst (Blanchet Catholic) 5:22.22; (2) Chris Trahan (Stayton) 5:27.30; (3) Victor Stupin (SH) 5:27.70*; (9) Ryan Yon (SH) 6:27.1*.
200 Freestyle Relay – (1) Philomath 1:36.87; (2) Sweet Home (Justin Hilburn, Jaegar Howatt, Zane Jackson, Victor Stupin; Reserve: Tim Sitton) 1:39.64*; (3) Central 1:41.68.
100 Backstroke – (1) Jeremy Darst (Blanchet Catholic) 58.17; (2) Brennan Miller (Sisters) 59.90; (3) Chase Celorie (Philomath) 1:01.28; (8) Elric Benson (SH) 1:12.1*.
100 Breaststroke – (1) Patrick Williamson (Philomath) 1:05.00; (2) Nathan Glade (Central) 1:07.59 (9) Brett Kelly (Ridgeview) 1:09.21.
400 Freestyle Relay – (1) Sisters 3:41.87; (2) Sweet Home (Justin Hilburn, Jaegar Howatt, Zane Jackson, Victor Stupin; Reserve: Tim Sitton) 3:41.90*; (3) Philomath 3:46.23; (11) Sweet Home “B” (Elric Benson, Grant Jones, Ryan Yon, Hunter Burge) 4:34.6.