By Satina Tolman
For The New Era
Ten Sweet Home High School swimmers closed their season with a series of personal bests, podium finishes and program-building momentum at the 2026 OSAA 4A/3A/2A/1A Swimming Championships, held Feb. 20-21 at the Tualatin Aquatic Center in Beaverton.
The Huskies were represented by seniors Kylie Melkvik and Andrew Tolman; juniors Ella Haggas, Lexie Rundell, Austyn Hogan, Henry Jones, and Ethan Hernandez (alternate); and sophomores Khloe Sautel, Emma Whitton, and Grason Savri.
Across two days of competition, Sweet Home athletes produced breakthrough swims, tight finishes and encouraging relay growth that head coach A.J. Bronson said reflects the team’s mindset.
“I think we do a good job all season preparing them for state and districts,” Bronson said. “I try and focus a lot on the mental aspect of swimming to make sure they have the confidence to hit the times we know they are capable of.”
Double threat delivers
Sophomore Khloe Sautel was the Huskies’ top individual finisher, demonstrating what Bronson described as an uncommon versatility by placing in both sprint and distance freestyle events.
Sautel moved from fourth in prelims to third in the 50 Freestyle, lowering her time from 25.47 to a personal-best 25.22. She then placed second in the 500 Freestyle, dropping = from 5:15.81 in prelims to 5:13.10 in finals.
Bronson said that the combination is unusual at the state level.
“That is not a combo you see very often. It speaks volumes to her ability as a swimmer and a competitor,” he said. “We can put her anywhere and she would be competitive.”
Sautel said the 50 Free was especially meaningful.
“The 50 (is) an event I don’t normally swim, and I got to swim against some pretty fast girls,” she said. “I was fourth going into finals and I was so happy to end the weekend getting third.”
Her race-day routine helps her stay focused.
“I always have my headphones on to pump me up and mentally go through how I’m going to swim it and then be in the moment before my race,” Sautel said.
Despite the exhaustion of the 500, the emotions afterward were positive.
“I always have a mixture of emotions. This meet I was very proud about how I swam, so I was very happy, but also so out of breath,” Sautel said.
A race decided by hundredths
Few moments matched the intensity of senior Andrew Tolman’s 100 Backstroke final.
Tolman dropped more than two seconds in prelims, breaking the one-minute barrier with a 59.27 to secure the No. 2 seed.
In the championship final, he held off a late charge to claim second place in 59.60 – edging the third-place finisher by just one-hundredth of a second.
Bronson said the race showcased Tolman’s poise under pressure.
“To not let the moment overcome you is a huge obstacle and takes several years to learn and he nailed it,” Bronson said. “I knew he would break a minute that day but I didn’t know if he would hang on to second place.”
From the deck, the finish was almost too close to call.
“I saw him getting caught with about 10 yards to go and it was too close to call,” Bronson said. “ (Assistant coaches) Mark and Jess are screaming in my ear and I just waited for the Big Board to tell us what had happened.”
For Tolman, the moment capped a meaningful senior season, especially in breaking that one-minute mark.
“I was so excited.” he said. “I was worried I wouldn’t be able to do it and this was the last meet I had the chance.”
Tolman also reflected on what the sport has meant to him.
“It’s sad because I’m going to miss swimming. I love swim. It’s been one of the biggest parts of my life for the past six years,” he said. “It is a very hard but rewarding sport. I’ve had a lot of good memories with my teammates.”
He added that the runner-up finish stands above the rest.
“Getting second in the 100 Back as a senior meant so much to me. It was the highlight of my whole swimming career,” Tolman said.
Hard work meets big results
Junior Austyn Hogan delivered one of the team’s biggest improvements, highlighted by a dramatic nearly 20-second time drop in the 500 Freestyle.
Bronson called the improvement extraordinary.
“I’ve never seen a drop like that over this short of time at that high of level,” he said. “To drop from 5:32 to do a 5:13 is unheard of… this was all his mindset and decision to go out and go for it.”
Hogan credited the competitive field for helping unlock the performance.
“At districts and state I was up against people that I could pace, allowing me to swim faster because I had someone I could race,” he said.
Late in races, his focus was simple.
“I was telling myself that you only have 100 yards, push through this, then you are done. Don’t hold back,” Hogan said.
Relay growth shows program depth
Sweet Home’s relays also showed measurable progress.
The girls medley relay team of Haggas, Rundell, Sautel and Whitton placed 10th in 2:08.97. The girls 400 freestyle relay finished ninth in 4:13.96.
On the boys side, the medley relay moved up from sixth in prelims (1:52.00) to fifth in finals (1:51.40).
Both relays had milestone splits. Bronson pointed to those moments that signal future potential.
One of the highlights came when Grayson Savri broke the 30-second barrier on his breaststroke leg – a milestone Bronson called significant for the program’s development.
“It’s a huge stepping stone,” Bronson said. “The breastroke breaking a 30 sets up a medley relay like no other, to be competitive at that level, you need a fast breaststroker.
“Grayson is a huge contributor and is someone we can build around. Emma’s freestyle is a milestone for so many opportunities. Both of these are one of the biggest hurdles for individuals, and so happy that two sophomores got them.”
Savri said the achievement “felt fantastic,” adding that the relay’s success came down to collective focus.
“We all locked in when it counted,” Savri said.
Additional individual results included Rundell placing 11th in the 100 backstroke (1:10.71) and Savri taking 10th in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.57) after dropping more than two seconds.
Pride and forward momentum
Overall, the Huskies finished 13th in the girls standings and 10th in the boys, despite their relatively small roster and having suffered some disqualifications of relay teams in the district meet that would have been good bets to score at state.
“Their determination,” Bronson said about what stood out most. “It’s difficult to do as well as we did with only the small amount of kids we had all season.”
He believes the program is positioned to keep climbing.
“I think we can build on it and keep surging forward,” Bronson said. “I’m hopeful we can recruit a bit more and score a bit more points. Would love to see a trophy.”
