Husky girls win state swimming title, boys third

Scott Swanson

When Lucie Davis, Jessica Coats and Lauren Yon were junior high-aged members of the Sweet Home Swim Club, they noticed that there were no photos of girls among the state championship teams featured in large displays on the walls at the Sweet Home pool.

That’s because there haven’t been any girls teams among the championships Sweet Home has won.

“We said we wanted our picture up on the wall,” Coats said.

Those three were the main players in the Sweet Home girls’ first championship ever, posted Saturday morning, Feb. 20, at Mt. Hood Community College Aquatic Center.

After being edged by half a point by North Bend last year for the 4A/3A/2A/1A state title, Sweet Home’s girls outswam the Bulldogs 82-75 to win the school’s first girls team championship.

Davis, a junior, and Yon, a sophomore, both won two individual titles each to pace the Huskies, who got contributions from all sides.

The boys finished third for the second time in a row, with 42 points behind LaGrande (68) and Catlin Gabel (66), but that wasn’t an embarrassment, considering the current quality of swimming in the division.

“We’re happy about that,” said junior Nathan Hager, who anchored the boys to a second-place finish in the 200 Freestyle Relay behind Catlin Gabel, the Huskies’ top finish. “La Grande and Catlin Gabel are really good teams. They earned it.”

“But we’re hoping for higher next year,” added junior Sean Wolthuis.

Coach Doug Peargin, in his 42nd season at the helm for Sweet Home, said the Huskies couldn’t have done anything thing else.

“That was a big day for us,” he said Monday after having a chance to analyze the meet results.

“I didn’t see one kid who didn’t do everything they could do. To take five guys up there and have them trophy, that’s almost as big a feat as winning the thing.

“They conducted themselves outstanding – at the meet, at the hotel, when we went out to eat. It was a wonderful weekend.”

In addition to Davis, who three-peated in both the 200 and 500 Freestyles, and Yon’s wins in the 200 Individual Medley and 100 Freestyle – the latter her first title in that event, other placewinners for the girls were: freshman Sarah Hewitt, fifth in the 200 Freestyle behind Davis; Coats, second in the 100 Butterfly and third in the 100 Backstroke; senior Makayla Nelson, fifth in both the 100 Backstroke and the 500 Freestyle; sophomore Mia Davis, sixth in the 500 Freestyle; and senior Esther Gunselman, third in the 100 Breaststroke behind Coats.

Yon, Coats, Nelson and Lucie Davis combined to win the 200 Freestyle Relay in a state- and school record time of 1:41.28, and tied with North Bend for first in the 400 Freestyle Relay, and junior Elea Hewitt, Sarah Hewitt, Gunselman and Mia Davis placed third in the 200 Medley Relay.

That performance by Gunselman in the backstroke was one of the two biggest for the girls, said Peargin, cautioning that he didn’t want to diminish anybody else’s by saying that.

Gunselman actually delivered her biggest swim in the previous day’s prelims in which she clocked a 1:01.85 to place third after going into the event seeded sixth with a district championships time of 1:06.20. Her best time ever in the event was 1:05, prior to Friday.

“I don’t really know what happened,” she said. “I didn’t think about it going into the race. Normally, when I’m about a third of the way through the race, I just die. It didn’t happen.”

“1:05 to 1:01 in 100 yards,” Peargin said. “That’s significant. Then she held that third spot in the final.”

Yon’s win in the 100 Freestyle, in which she swam 52.91 to break a longstanding school record held by Leah Land, was also big, he said.

“Fifty-two seconds for a girl in the 100 Free steps her up to a whole other league,” Peargin said. “Those two did outstanding. Everybody else did wonderful. They just did a smidgen more than the rest of the crew.”

Yon was named the meet’s Outstanding Swimmer for the girls.

Girls team members said the team championship was their biggest thrill.

We’re just really happy. We’ve waiting for this,” Nelson said. “We knew we could do it. After an undefeated season, it’s nice to finish it with this.”

“We came into the season thinking this was the year,” Davis said. “We didn’t want to let it go to our heads. We had to work for it.”

“I think after the 100 Breaststroke and the 200 Freestyle Relay, we knew we had it,” Yon said. “It’s kind of unbelievable that we actually did it. It was so stressful.”

Although Sweet Home had the title locked up – on paper – going into the final event, the 400 Freestyle Relay, in which the girls were seeded second behind North Bend, they still had to deliver – and they did, with a punctuation mark.

The Huskies were neck and neck with North Bend when Davis dove in for the anchor leg behind North Bend sophomore Vianka Hoyer, who had already won two state individual titles in the 50 Freestyle and the 100 Butterfly.

Davis closed the gap in the last 50 yards and the two touched the wall together in 3:37.31 – a dead tie for first.

“I’ve never swam anything like that,” said Nelson, who swam the third leg for the Huskies. “We didn’t know we’d tied at the finish. We just saw the number 1 next to our time, and then we saw a 1 next to theirs. I thought I’d seen everything in my high school career. That was a great way to end it.”

Peargin was awed as well.

“How can you tie by a 100th of a second in a quarter-mile?” he marveled. “That’s the width of a fingernail.”

Davis, who had been feeling under the weather in the weeks leading up to the championships, said she had to make a decision whether to go all-out in the 500 Freestyle or save some energy for the relay.

“I wasn’t real happy with my time in the 500,” she said, “but that made it worth it.”

Scoring points for the boys were: sophomore Rawlins Lupoli, fourth in the 200 Individual Medley and the 100 Breaststroke; his twin brother Rowland, who was fifth in the 100 Breaststroke; junior Brandon Vasfaret, fifth in the 500 Freestyle; and Hager, also a junior, fourth in the 100 Freestyle. Those four also combined for a second-place finish in the 200 Freestyle Relay, behind Catlin Gabel.

“We did pretty good, but we would like to have had a higher placing,” Rawlins Lupoli said.

“We would love to have gotten some better times,” his brother Rowland added. “Next year we will be pretty strong.”

Wolthuis, a junior who has developed into one of the Huskies’ top up-and-coming swimmers this season, contributed to a fourth-place finish in the 200 Medley Relay and third in the 400 Freestyle Relay, with various combinations of the other four.

For Peargin, it was a relief to finally see one of his girls teams ascend to the top of the awards stand.

“I’ve had some great teams,” he said. “With Leah Land and all those girls (in the 1980s), we’ve had some great teams. But I’d have to say that this is probably, from top to bottom, the strongest team we’ve ever had.

“I’ve looked back at that meet ten times by now,” he said Monday morning. “If you made a mistake at that meet, you got beat. We didn’t make one.”

OSAA 4A/3A/2A/1A

Swimming Championships

Finals Results and Sweet Home Finishers

(Places greater than sixth are prelims results)

Girls Results

Team Scores – (1) Sweet Home 82; (2) North Bend 75; (3) Salem Academy 37; (4) La Grande 30; (5) Marshfield 28; (6) Henley 8; (7-tie) Catlin Gabel (Newport) Tillamook 7; (10-tie) Phoenix, Philomath 6; (12) Corbett 5; (13-tie) Molalla, Sisters 4; (15) Blanchet Catholic 2.

Girls 200 Yard Medley Relay – (1) North Bend 1:52.53; (2) Salem Academy 1:55.27; (3 Sweet Home (Esther Gunselman, Elea Hewitt, Mia Davis, Sarah Hewitt) 1:59.40; (4) La Grande 2:00.84; (5) Catlin Gabel 2:03.42; (6) Corbett 2:03.57.

Girls 200 Yard Freestyle – (1) Lucie Davis (SH) 1:55.61; (2) Abbey Felley (La Grande) 1:57.26; (3) Hailey Hyde (North Bend) 1:58.72; (4) Makayla Proett (North Bend) 2:01.99; (5) Sarah Hewitt (SH) 2:03.39; (6) Allison Bachart (Newport) 2:06.71.

Girls 200 Yard Individual Medley – (1) Lauren Yon (SH) 2:07.29; (2) Cassie Dallas (North Bend) 2:09.88; (3) Kiera Supple (Salem Academy) 2:17.07; (4) Angela Liu (Catlin Gabel) 2:18.07; (5) Alisha Issa (Molalla) 2:18.40; (6) Dana Ericksen (Corbett) 2:22.08; Elea Hewitt (SH) 2:24.03; (9) Mia Davis (SH) 2:26.01.

Girls 50 Yard Freestyle – (1) Vianka Hoyer (North Bend) 24.57; (2) Anna Hutchins, (Marshfield) 24.94; (3) Hannah Roberts (La Grande) 25.16; (4) Haley Steiner (Henley) 25.37; (5) Kendra Sheeder (Philomath) 25.54; (6) Hawley Harrer (Sisters) 25.65.

Girls 100 Yard Butterfly – (1) Vianka Hoyer (North Bend) 57.29; (2) Jessica Coats (SH) 1:00.69; (3) Esther Gunselman (SH) 1:02.25; (4) Emma Boles (Salem Academy) 1:02.55; (5) Alisha Issa, Molalla, 1:02.76; (6) Emily Samudio (Phoenix) 1:03.37.

Girls 100 Yard Freestyle – (1) Lauren Yon (SH) 52.91; (2) Anna Hutchins (Marshfield) 53.94; (3) Kendra Sheeder (Philomath) 56.26; (4) Kara Putman (Tillamook) 56.72; (5) Hawley Harrer (Sisters) 57.44; (6) Kisa Fukuda (Blanchet Catholic) 57.98.

Girls 500 Yard Freestyle – (1) Lucie Davis (SH) 5:11.15; (2) Hailey Hyde (North Bend) 5:17.59; (3) Abbey Felley (La Grande) 5:18.87; (4) Makayla Proett (North Bend) 5:21.23; (5) Makayla Nelson (SH) 5:27.33; (6) Mia Davis (SH) 5:33.08; (7) Sarah Hewitt (SH) 5:37.80.

Girls 200 Yard Freestyle Relay – (1) Sweet Home (Lauren Yon, Jessica Coats. Makayla Nelson, Lucie Davis) 1:41.28; (2) Marshfield 1:42.98; (3) North Bend 1:43.31; (4) Salem Academy 1:46.00; (5) Newport 1:46.49; (6) Henley 1:49.78.

Girls 100 Yard Backstroke – (1) Hannah Roberts (La Grande) 59.64; (2) Kiera Supple (Salem Academy) 1:00.01; (3) Jessica Coats (SH) 1:00.10; (4) Emma Boles (Salem Academy) 1:01.14; (5) Makayla Nelson (SH) 1:02.54; (6) Kisa Fukuda (Blanchet Catholic) 1:04.72; (9) Esther Gunselman (SH) 1:05.11.

Girls 100 Yard Breaststroke – (1) Cassie Dallas (North Bend) 1:06.90; (2) Lauren Speaks (Phoenix) 1:10.28; (3) Kara Putman (Tillamook) 1:10.83; (4) Haley Steiner (Henley) 1:10.84; (5) Dana Ericksen (Corbett) 1:12.09; (6) Brooke Robillard (Sisters) 1:14.09; (9) Elea Hewitt (SH) 1:15.37.

Girls 400 Yard Freestyle Relay – (1-tie) Sweet Home (Lauren Yon, Jessica Coats, Makayla Nelson, Lucie Davis) 3:37.31. North Bend 3:37.31; (3) Marshfield 3:47.68; (4) Salem Academy 3:51.80; (5) La Grande 3:57.25; (6) Newport 3:58.21.

Boys Results

Team Scores – (1) La Grande 68; (2) Catlin Gabel 66; (3) Sweet Home 42; (4) North Bend 34; (5) North Marion 32; (6) Salem Academy 22; (7) Valley Catholic 15; (8)

Baker-Powder Valley 11; (9) Newport 9; (10) Henley 4; (11) Phoenix 3; (12) Madras 2.

Boys 200 Yard Medley Relay – (1) Catlin Gabel 1:38.04; (2) La Grande 1:43.09; (3) Salem Academy 1:44.22; (4) Sweet Home (Sean Wolthuis, Rawlins Lupoli, Nathan Hager, Rowland Lupoli 1:44.48; (5) North Marion 1:46.59; (6) Newport 1:50.10.

Boys 200 Yard Freestyle – (1) Nate McFaul (Catlin Gabel) 1:43.82; (2) Karl Stuntzner-Gibson (North Bend) 1:44.73; (3) Jared Miller (Baker) 1:45.26; (4) Ethan Hanson (Catlin Gabel) 1:45.88; (5) Garren Dutto (La Grande) 1:46.23; (6) David Spurgeon, (Valley Catholic) 1:50.66.

Boys 200 Yard Individual Medley – (1) Tristan Furnary (Catlin Gabel) 1:50.53; (2) Brandon Vasfaret (SH) 2:04.51; (3) Keegan Dutto (La Grande) 2:04.80; (4) Rawlins Lupoli (SH) 2:06.47; (5) Lance Denny (La Grande) 2:09.24; (6) Nolan Clements (La Grande) 2:12.93.

Boys 50 Yard Freestyle – (1) Noah Norris (North Marion) 21.05; (2) Bryce Ebel (La Grande) 22.05; (3) Jerrad Perez-Duncan (North Bend) 22.27; (4) Ethan Shepherd (Phoenix) 22.56; (5) Taden Swing (Salem Academy) 22.93; (6) Danny Woodruff (North Bend) 23.01.

Boys 100 Yard Butterfly – (1) Bryce Ebel (La Grande) 51.12; (2) Wesley Norris (North Marion) 52.91; (3) Sid Pai (Catlin Gabel) 54.86; (4) Danny Woodruff (North Bend) 55.69; (5) David Spurgeon (Valley Catholic) 56.53; (6) Tony Clay (La Grande) 56.67.

Boys 100 Yard Freestyle – (1) Noah Norris (North Marion) 45.24; (2) Tristan Furnary (Catlin Gabel) 45.37; (3) Josh Ebel (La Grande) 49.09; (4) Nathan Hager (SH) 49.41; (5) Garren Dutto (La Grande) 49.48; (6) Ian Shultz (Salem Academy) 50.28.

Boys 500 Yard Freestyle – (1) Ben Settle (Valley Catholic) 4:43.33; (2) Nate McFaul (Catlin Gabel) 4:47.56; (3) Karl Stuntzner-Gibson (North Bend) 4:48.15; (4) Keegan Dutto (La Grande) 4:56.64; (5) Brandon Vasfa;ret (SH) 5:02.06; (6) Lucas Elling- son-Cosenza (Newport) 5:10.56.

Boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay – (1) Catlin Gabel 1:29.01; (2) Sweet Home (Rowland Lupoli, Rawlins Lupoli, Brandon Vasfaret, Nathan Hager) 1:32.70; (3) North Marion 1:32.91; (4) La Grande 1:33.80; (5) Henley 1:34.88; (6) Newport 1:35.40.

Boys 100 Yard Backstroke – (1) Jared Miller (Baker) 51.86; (2) Ben Settle (Valley Catholic) 53.40; (3) Ethan Hanson (Catlin Gabel) 53.50; (4) Josh Ebel (La Grande) 55.31; (5) David Liu (Catlin Gabel) 56.72; (6) Wesley Norris (North Marion) 57.30; (8) Sean Wolthuis (SH) 1:00.15.

Boys 100 Yard Breaststroke – (1) Jerrad Perez-Duncan (North Bend) 1:01.42; (2) Ian Shultz (Salem Academy) 1:02.39; (3) Lance Denny (La Grande) 1:03.35; (4) Rawlins Lupoli (SH) 1:04.37; (5) Rowland Lupoli (SH) 1:04.78; (6) Sid Pai (Catlin Gabel)

1:05.25.

Boys 400 Yard Freestyle Relay – (1) La Grande 3:15.49; (2) North Bend 3:16.79; (3) Sweet Home (Rowland Lupoli, Sean Wolthuis, Brandon Vasfaret, Nathan Hager) 3:22.61; (4) Salem Academy 3:24.83; (5) Newport 3:31.46; (6) Madras 3:33.20.

Total
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