Sarah Brown
The Sweet Home Huskies swim team kicked off the season Dec. 1 in a home meet against Blanchet Catholic, John F Kennedy and Stayton.
It was a promising start for both the boys and girls as they captured high team scores against the other three schools. The boys took first in each of the events while the girls earned first in all but three events.
“Between having both the boys and girls win this first meet was great,” Coach A. Jay Bronson said. “We look forward to carrying that process moving forward.”
For combined team scores, Sweet Home rallied in 301 points, followed by Stayton with 142. The women scored 131 points, followed by Stayton with 101, and the boys earned 170 points, followed by Blanchet with 71.
Last season, the Husky girls boasted a 10th straight district title in the 1A/2A/3A/4A Special District 4 Championship, and were just .3 seconds shy of capturing their fifth state championship since 2016, dipping short with 51 points against Catlin Gabel’s 54. The boys won second at district for their second year in a row.
Swim Coach A. Jay Bronson said every one of last year’s athletes had at least one personal best time during the season.
“I’m incredibly happy with how they did,” Bronson said. “We did lose two state swimmers from last year, so that will be a bit of a struggle to overcome on the girls’ side, but I’m confident with how we are reloading.”
The girls lost Breeza Rodriguez – who at 13 years old won the 100 backstroke in 1:03.94 at state – and Alyssa “Aly” Voight, who was in the 400 relay at state. Bronson believes Voight may have graduated early, while Rodriguez, who was named one of the team’s most valuable players last season, moved to Silverton.
“It’s going to take a lot to replace her,” he said of Rodriguez.
But both teams still have a strong backbone with Ronald “RJ” Abbott and Shayne Schuster on the boys team, and Kirsten Sautel and Peyton Markell on the girls team, all who were big contributors last year.
Joining the girls team this year are freshmen Ella Haggas and Lexi Rundell, and junior Crimson Reign. For the boys, freshmen Seth Cox, Austyn Hogan, Ryan James and Henry Jones, junior Tristan Johnson, and seniors Piyachon “Rey” Bumrungsri and Reese Volkers nearly doubled the roster from last year.
Haggas, Hogan, Jones and Rundell have club experience, and Reign joins the team as a transfer from North Bend. Coach Dustin Hood at North Bend said Reign was primarily a 50/100 freestyle swimmer. At districts last year she swam a 36.34 in the 50 Freestyle and a 121.37 in the 100 Freesty le.
Cox has a little background as a swimmer when he was younger, Bronson said. Bumrungsri, an exchange student from Thailand, joins James, Johnson and Volkers as newbies, but “they are making huge strides.” Indeed, in the 50 Freestyle at their first meet, Volkers shaved 13 seconds off his seed time and James shaved 10 seconds from his.
In recent years, the boys team had lower numbers than the girls, so adding seven new names to the roster is a “huge get,” Bronson said, noting that some teams only have seven swimmers total.
“We have a great group of freshmen that have come out this year and I’m really hoping they make a huge impact on the district level,” Bronson said. “If we are lucky, maybe one or two will help us make the difference at the state level.”
Bronson said he likes to aim high, so this year’s goals are to get an 11th district title from the girls along with a second or first place at state, and “to take it all for the boys” in districts with a top four finish at state.
“Traditionally we have a really strong swim program here,” Athletic Director Dan Tow said. “We have a strong tradition and we have good teams, and this year should be no different than that.”
Tow said the Huskies are fortunate to have a pool and a strong program on both teams, sending many swimmers to college on swim scholarships.