“We didn’t come here to just swim…we came to win.”
Coach Doug Peargin made that comment Saturday afternoon as it became clear that his Husky boys squad was going to win the district title and his girls team was in the hunt for one of the top three trophies.
He was right.
The boys tallied 265 points to easily win the district trophy and the girls squad came within six points of first, beating second place Sisters by more than 100 points (265-157). Cascade was third with 146, Stayton fourth at 142 and Philomath fifth with 121 points.
On the girls side of the pool, Philomath won with 222, Sweet Home was second with 216, Junction City was third with 203, Cascade was fourth with 161 and North Marion was fifth with 152 points.
It was, Coach Peargin said, a great day for his teams.
“We had a tremendous meet,” Coach Peargin said. “It was truly a team effort. We took 26 swimmers and 23 of them placed. We’re going to take 11 to the state meet this week. What more could anyone ask for?”
From an individual standpoint, the Huskies were led by a freshman girl and a senior boy. Freshman Sara Rosa won the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke and swam on the first place 200 medley relay.
Senior Jeff Stratman was a big leader for the boys team, winning the 200 and 500 freestyles and anchoring the winning 400 free relay.
“Jeff has earned his way to this point,” Coach Peargin said of Stratman. “He’s put in more mileage in the pool than any of our swimmers. He’s logged more than 300 miles and has been one of those kids who has worked hard every practice for four years. He’s only missed one practice this entire year and we go two-a-day all season long.”
Of Rosa, Peargin said, “She’s one tough kid. She has so much God-given talent and she just works and works. She’s not opposed to battling it out for a placing. This whole crew is tough and dedicated. We missed sending one guy by one-tenth of a second and one of our girls missed out on an entry by one-hundredth of a second. Now, that’s close.”
Coach Peargin said he was also extremely proud that his swimmers posted “so many personal best times I can’t count them.”
“It takes an entire team to place in the top three at district,” Coach Peargin said. “I’ve very proud of these teams.”
Heading to the state meet this weekend at Mt. Hood Community College will be 11 Huskies. They are Larry Coulter, Matt Maloney, Ian Parks, Jeff Stratman, Anthony Ertsgaard, Brinden Sanders, Sara Rosa, Justine Calhoon, Nichole Martin, Dani Birky and Jessica Trautwein.
Friday’s action starts at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, the finals will start at 9 a.m.
Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for students.
District Swim Finals
Women’s Results
Philomath, 222; Sweet Home, 216; Junction City, 203; Cascade, 161; North Marion, 152.
200 medley relay: SHHS A, first, 2:02.5 (Rosa, Calhoon, Martin, Trautwin); SHHS B, 11th, 2:31.3 (Mengore, Dujao, Buhn, Grove).
200 freestyle: Birky, fourth, 2:10.0; Flanigan, 12th, 2:27.7.
200 I.M.: Calhoon, second, 2:30.9.
50 freestyle: Trautwein, third, 27.4; Ikola, ninth, 29.0.
100 butterfly: Rosa, first, 1:08.7; Martin, third, 1:11.7.
100 freestyle: Birky, second, 59.3; Ikola, 10th, 1:04.9.
500 freestyle: Martin, third, 5:53.7; Flanagan, 11th, 6:48.1; Streight, 12th, 6:49.0.
200 freestyle relay: SHHS A, second, 1:49.2 (Trautwein, Rosa, Calhoon, Birky).
100 backstroke: Rosa, first, 1:07.1; Jones, 10th, 1:18.6.
100 breast stroke: Calhoon, second, 1:15.3.
400 free relay: SHHS A, second, 4:08.3 (Trautwein, Jones, Martin, Birky); SHHS B, eighth, 4:36.3 (Ikola, Andersen, Flanigan, Streight).
Men’s Results
SHHS, 265; Sisters, 157; Cascade, 146; Stayton, 142; Philomath, 121.
200 medley relay: SHHS A, second, 1:52.0 (Coulter, Maloney, Parks, Stratman); SHHS B, ninth, 2:06.6 (Lemar, Vanderlip, Stumbaugh, Davis).
200 freestyle: Stratman, first, 1:57.0; Ertsgaard, fourth, 2:08.7; Davis, fifth, 2:11.2.
200 I.M.: Coulter, fourth, 2:18.4; Sanders, fifth, 2:19.9; Vanderlip, 10th, 2:58.8; Adams, 12th, 3:17.3.
50 freestyle: Parks, fourth, 24.7; Maloney, 12th, 26.0.
100 butterfly: Parks, third, 55.1; Ertsgaard, sixth, 55.8; Stumbaugh, 12th, 57.9.
100 freestyle: Parks, third, 55.1; Ertsgaard, sixth, 55.8; Stumbaugh, 12th, 57.9.
500 freestyle: Stratman, first, 5:23.0
200 freestyle relay: SHHS A, second, 1:38.9 (Parks, Ertsgaard, Coulter, Maloney); SHHS B, ninth, 1:54.3 (Adams, Sanders, Lemar, Davis).
100 backstroke: Coulter, third, 1:01.6; Lemar, ninth, 1:12.0.
400 freestyle relay: SHHS A, first, 3:40.2 (Ertsgaard, Stumbaugh, Sanders, Stratman).