By Satina Tolman
For The New Era
The Sweet Home High School swim team made a strong statement Saturday, Jan. 31, winning the combined team title at a home meet against Mountain View, Philomath and Junction City.
The Huskies finished first overall, with the girls team taking first place and the boys placing third.
Mountain View, a 5A school from Bend, provided tough competition and a preview of what Sweet Home could see at the state championships Feb. 20-21.
The Huskies opened the meet on a high note as the girls 200-yard medley relay team of sophomores Khloe Sautel and Emma Whitton, senior Kylie Melkvik and junior Lexi Rundell won in 2 minutes, 17.04 seconds.
Rundell continued her success by winning the girls 200 freestyle in 2:27.46. Junior Henry Jones captured the boys 200 freestyle with a time of 2:11.87.
Melkvik claimed first in the girls 200 individual medley in 2:54.60, edging teammate Ella Haggas, who finished second in 2:57.86.
In the boys 200 IM, junior Grayson Savri placed second in 2:22.50, just 0.39 seconds behind the first-place finisher from Mountain View. Senior Andrew Tolman earned third in 2:26.32.
Sautel won the girls 50 freestyle in 26.41 seconds, while junior Austyn Hoggan placed third in the boys race with a time of 25.01.
Freshman Persephone Brookfield took second in the girls 100 butterfly in 1:42.85, and Tolman added a third-place finish in the boys 100 butterfly in 1:09.44.
Sautel added another victory in the girls 100 freestyle, winning in 56.73 seconds. Haggas earned second in the girls 500 freestyle with a time of 6:41.27.
The boys 200 freestyle relay team of Hoggan, junior Ethan Hernandes, sophomore Malakai Walls and Jones placed third in 1:52.35.
Rundell won the girls 100 backstroke in 1:13.01, and Melkvik captured first in the girls 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:29.02. Savri earned second in the boys 100 breaststroke in 1:10.58.
The girls closed the meet with a win in the 400 freestyle relay as Whitton, Rundell, Haggas and Sautel touched the wall in 4:25.10. The boys 400 freestyle relay team of Tolman, Hoggan, Jones and Savri placed second in 3:47.65.
Several swimmers achieved personal milestones. Freshman Mack Martineau, Walls and Savri all dropped times to reach personal bests.
Head Coach A. Jay Bronson praised his team’s effort and looked ahead to the postseason.
“We have nine more practices, four of which are taper time heading into districts,” Bronson told his swimmers after the meet. “We’ve done a great job so far, let’s see what you can do with the last nine days. Make them count.”
Team captain Austyn Hoggan said he felt positive about the day’s performance.
“It went well,” Hoggan said. “It was a good swim meet, there are definitely some fast people and it is good to see times relevant to districts.”
Hoggan admitted the upcoming district meet is approaching quickly.
“I think we will have a strong lineup, the coaches will put us in some good stuff, but it’s come up really fast, it kinda snuck up,” he said.
Hoggan is also managing injury to both shoulders but, like any true athlete, remains determined to compete. He said he plans to simply “swim through it.”
Coach Doug Peargin expects even better results when the Huskies return to the pool for the postseason.
“It was a tough meet,” Peargin said. “We are going to do better at districts than we did today, I’ll tell you that right now. I’m looking forward to districts.”