How fast can you put a swim meet together?
Pretty quickly, it turns out, when you need a meet and the one on your schedule just got canceled.
That was why Sweet Home hosted four other teams – Blanchet, Molalla, Philomath and Stayton – Thursday, Dec. 29, after the Stayton Invitational was canceled.
“That’s the shortest notice I’ve ever had, by far,” Coach A Jay Bronson acknowledged. “Stayton was getting new blocks (for its pool) and it didn’t get them in. It was either cancel or get something together.”
Since two of the Huskies’ meets, at Lebanon and Woodburn, had been canceled the previous two weeks, the former was not an option, he said.
“We needed to get something on the books. Everyone was really happy that we got a meet in. (Five teams) are a little bit more teams than I would like, but it ran well. The kids got in the water.”
Sweet Home swept the relays on both the boys and girls sides, but the boys couldn’t overcome Molalla’s depth, finishing second to the Indians 119-104.5.
The Huskies finished well ahead of the competition on the girls side, scoring 124.5 to second-place Stayton’s 63 and Mollala’s 55.5.
RJ Abbott was a double winner for the Husky boys, taking first in the 100 Freestyle and the 100 Breaststroke. Sweet Home also got wins for the boys from Shayne Schuster in the 200 Individual Medley, in a personal best of 2:38.25, Blake Arthur in the 100 Butterfly in a PR of 1:09.78, and Arman Marble in the 500 Freestyle in a PR of 5:42.84.
Another big finish for the Huskies was Boden Sayer’s 11-second personal best in the 200 Freestyle, Bronson said.
“That was awesome to see.”
On the girls side, the only double winner of the day was Molalla’s Marie Mason, who won the 50 and 200 freestyles, the later in a head-turning 2:01.38.
“She’s going to be someone to look out for at state,” Bronson said.
For Sweet Home, Breeza Rodriguez finished first in the 200 IM, Payton Brookfield in the 100 Butterfly, Kirsten Sautel in the 100 Backstroke in a season-best time of 1:07.21, and Rylee Markell in the 100 Breaststroke, in a personal-best 1:23.16.
Sweet Home will be back in the water Friday, Jan. 6, at Lebanon. Meet time is 4 p.m.
See more photos in our online gallery.