If there’s a surprise this year in Sweet Home swimming, it’s not that the girls are excellent.
That was pretty much expected, with the talent and depth that the Huskies bring to the pool this year.
But the boys are rounding into a force to be reckoned with too.
That was a takeaway from Sweet Home’s home meet against Philomath, Cascade and Kennedy Friday.
The girls won going away, with 169 points to second-place Philomath’s 62.
The margin might not have been as great for the boys, but that W is a win, and their 89 points put them comfortably ahead of Philomath (66) and Cascade (65).
It was helpful to have all eight swimmers, but the other side of that coin is that eight is enough.
“We definitely have a shot for the top three with the guys,” Coach A Jay Bronson said. “They’re really pulling through this last half of the season.”
With freshman RJ Abbott and sophomore Blake Arthur bringing their club training to bear, the fact that six others have joined in has worked rather well, Bronson said.
“We have eight. It’s a perfect number to have, because everybody can be in a relay and everybody can contribute.”
Arthur has been an asset, as he brings club experience to push Abbott in workouts.
Then there are raw newcomers, like freshman Shayne Schuster, who improve with every swim.
“Every meet he drops five to 10 seconds,” Bronson said.
Veteran Coach Doug Peargin is still on the deck, and Bronson attributed the remarkable improvements by the rookies to him.
“Coach has really been leading the charge with the newbies. Experience shows.”
Bronson said the entire meet on Friday was”great – the scores kind of speak for themselves,” but he said the girls 500 Freestyle was a bright spot for the Huskies, as senior Isabel Sayer and freshman Peyton Markell both went under 58:00, times that put them third and fourth in the league – behind teammates Chloe Tyler and Malia Hewitt. The top five times in that event, at this point in the season, are held by Sweet Home girls.
Tyler won the 50 Freestyle and 100 Butterfly Friday, Hewitt won the 200 Freestyle, and fellow senior Jamie Seward won the 100 Freestyle and the 100 Backstroke for the girls. In addition to Sayers’ win in the 500 Free, freshman Kirsten Sautel was first in the 100 breaststroke. The girls swept the relays, going 1-2 in the 200 Freestyle team event.
Individual winners for the boys were Abbott in the 200 Freestyle, Micah Wright in the 100 Freestyle, and Boden Sayer in the 500 Free. The boys also won both freestyle relays.
Sweet Home is scheduled to compete Saturday, Jan. 29, at the Stayton Invitational. The Huskies will host North Marion and Junction City the following Friday, Feb. 4, in a final tune-up for the district meet, which will be Feb. 11-12, followed by state the following weekend.
Sweet Home vs. Cascade, Kennedy and Philomath
*Personal Best
Girls Results
Team Scores: (1) Sweet Home 169; (2) Philomath 62; (3) Cascade 40; (4) Kennedy 16.
Top 3 Individuals and Sweet Home Finishers
200 Medley Relay – (1) Sweet Home (Chloe Tyler, Rulee Markell, Peyton Markell, Payton Brookefield) 2:07.59; (2) Cascade 2:14.72; (3) Philomath 2:25.85; (4) Philomath “B” 2:33.22; (5) Kennedy 2:43.93.
200 Freestyle – (1) Malia Hewitt (SH) 2:04.35; (2) Kirsten Sautel (SH) 2:06.88*; (3) Isabel Sayer (SH) 2:19.47.
200 Individual Medley – (1) Brylee Sylverson (C) 2:27.44; (2) Kyah Weeber (P) 2:43.48; (3) Rylee Markell (SH) 2:49.68*; (4) Payton Brookefield (SH) 3:05.47*.
50 Freestyle – (1) Chloe Tyler (SH) 25.27; (2) Meagan Baham (SH) 29.53; (3) Allison Neelands (P) 29.56; (11) Tierney Clarno (SH) 34.24*; (17) Emerson Martineau (SH) 41.99; (18) Timber Nobles (SH) 42.79; (19) Autumn Ice (SH) 46.52.
100 Butterfly – (1) Chloe Tyler (SH) 59.97; (2) Malia Hewitt (SH) 1:01.90; (3) Payton Brookefield (SH) 1:25.12*.
100 Freestyle – (1) Jamie Seward (SH) 58.90; (2) Marie Tarrab Dabbah (C) 1:09.67; (3) Taryn Abblott (SH) 1:10.25; (12) Timber Nobles (SH) 1:34.47*.
500 Freestyle – (1) Isabel Sayers (SH) 5:57.14; (2) Peyton Markell (SH) 5:57.95*; (3) Nora Brenden (K) 6:41.19; (5) Tierney Clarno (SH) 8:37.27.
200 Freestyle Relay – (1) Sweet Home (Jamie Seward, Kirsten Sautel, Taryn Abbott, Malia Hewitt) 1:51.69; (2) Sweet Home “B” (Isabel Sayer, Meagan Baham, Rylee Markell, Payton Brookefield) 2:00.32; (3) Cascade 2:00.37; (4) Philomath 2:07.63; (5) Kennedy 2:14.71; (6) Sweet Home “C” (Autumn Ice, Shayla Welch, Timber Nobles, Emerson Martineau) 2:51.68; (7) Philomath “B” 2:57.24.
100 Backstroke – (1) Jamie Seward (SH) 1:03.15; (2) Peyton Markell (SH) 1:12.23*; (3) Taryn Abbott (SH) 1:17.35.
100 Breaststroke – (1) Kirsten Sautel (SH) 1:13.90; (2) Brylee Sylverson (C) 1:14.82; (3) Rylee Markell (SH) 1:24.72*; (5) Meagan Baham (SH) 1:25.59.
400 Freestyle Relay – (1) Sweet Home (Chloe Tyler, Malia Hewitt, Jamie Seward, Kirsten Sautel) 3:51.94; (2) Sweet Home “B” (Peyton Markell, Isabel Sayer, Taryn Abbott, Meagan Baham) 4:21.50; (3) Philomath 5:07.00.
Boys Results
Team Scores: (1) Sweet Home 89; (2) Philomath 66; (3) Cascade 65; (4) Kennedy 20.
Top 3 Individuals and Sweet Home Finishers
200 Medley Relay – (1) Cascade 1:58.83; (2) Philomath 2:01.10; (3) Sweet Home (Jacob Kennedy, Boden Sayer, Ben Tolman, Shayne Schuster) 2:39.29.
200 Freestyle – (1) RJ Abbott (SH) 2:16.68; (2) Bill Hawken (SH) 2:20.91*.
200 Individual Medley – (1) Ryan Pederson (C) 2:27.87; (2) Arthur Blake (SH) 2:35.81; (3) Micah Matthews (P) 2:39.86.
50 Freestyle – (1) Carrson Hirte (P) 25.43; (2) Micah Wright (SH) 26.53; (3) Arlen Kuenzi (C) 28.44; (11) Shayne Schuster (SH) 39.70*.
100 Butterfly – (1) Cameron Miller (K) 56.91; (2) RJ Abbott (SH) 59.96; (3) Kellen Houchin (P) 1:11.23.
100 Freestyle – (1) Micah Wright (SH) 1:01.41; (2) Jacob Gehley (C) 1:02.72; (3) Tyler Bitikofer (C) 1:05.65; (6) Jacob Kennedy (SH) 1:09.47; (7) Ben Tolman (SH) 1:10.80.
500 Freestyle – (1) Boden Sayer (SH) 8:26.23.
200 Freestyle Relay – (1) Sweet Home (Micah Wright, Blake Arthur, Bill Hawken, RJ Abbott) 1:43.82; (2) Philomath 1:48.62; (3) Cascade 2:03.85; (4) Kennedy 2:19.18; (5) Sweet Home “B” (Jacob Kennedy, Boden Sayer, Ben Tolman, Shayne Schuster) 2:20.82.
100 Backstroke – (1) Cameron Miller (K) 1:02.73; (2) Ryan Pederson (C) 1:07.26; (3) Jacob Gehley (C) 1:09.96; (4) Blake Arthur (SH) 1:14.76; (9) Ben Tolman (SH) 1:37.27*.
100 Breaststroke – (1) Arlen Kuenzi (C) 1:14.62; (2) Carrson Hirte (P) 1:14.80; (3) Kellen Houchin (P) 1:!5.58; (8) Boden Sayer (SH) 1:45.90; (9) Shayne Schuster (SH) 2:10.28.
400 Freestyle Relay – (1) Sweet Home (Micah Wright, Blake Arthur, Bill Hawken, RJ Abbott) 3:59.96; (2) Philomath 4:44.62.