Despite not having their top swimmers, Sweet Home’s boys and girls swim teams got off to a fast start Friday as both scored decisive victories over visiting Cascade and Blanchet.
The boys won 10 of 11 events to score 179 points, to Cascade’s 62 and Blanchet’s 37, while the girls won five events and added multiple placewinners to score 116 points, to 89 for Cascade and 81 for Blanchet. That was without Naomi Gunselman, Gabe Gunselman and Zach Pearce, all returning state placewinners, who swam in another meet Friday.
“I thought we had a pretty good meet for the first meet of our season,” said Coach Doug Peargin. “Our returning swimmers stepped up to the plate and did the job that I thought they could do. The new swimmers got their first taste of competition and came through with flying colors. What I look for in the new swimmers is that never-give-up attitude – and I saw a lot of that in the meet.”
Winners for the boys were all three “A” relay teams, Brandon Courteau in the 200 freestyle and the 50 butterfly, Alex Stupin in the 50 and 100 freestyles, Don Rockstead in the 500 freestyle and 50 backstroke, and Derek Jaques in the 50 breaststroke. (The backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke distances were halved because it was the first meet of the season and swimmers are still working on conditioning.)
“Courteaau, Alex Stupin, Rockstead, (Cory) Martin, (Bryce) Roberts and Jake Johnson came through for the boys in a big way.”
Rookies who placed for the Huskies were Saul Jones, Zach Pratt, Zane Jackson and Sten Weld.
Winners for the girls were the 200 freestyle “A” relay team, Sami Webb in the 200 intermediate medley and the 100 butterfly, Kimber Swanson in the 100 freestyle, and Cassie Johnson in the 100 backstroke.
Peargin noted that newcomers Johnson and Tanisa Bell were big contributors, along with returnees Webb and Swanson and Emily Thompson.
“It’s exciting to coach these guys and gals because we are so young as a team but yet they understand what it takes to compete at this level,” he said.
“We’re just starting our season and having nine more meets to go before the district championships, we’re still in the process of finding events that our athletes are more proficient in – and the best way of doing this is by having meets like we just had.”
The Huskies will be back in action Thursday, Dec. 9, at the Philomath Relays.
Sweet Home vs. Cascade, Blanchet Husky Boys
and Relay Results
Sweet Home 179, Cascade 62, Blanchet 37
200 Medley Relay – (1) Sweet Home “A” (Brandon Courteau, Derek Jaques, Don Rockstead, Alex Stupin) 1:53.75; (2) Blanchet 2:02.14; (3) Sweet Home “B” (Cory Martin, Sten Weld, Jake Johnson, Wes Clarkson) 2:08.64.
200 Freestyle – (1) Brandon Courteau 2:12.94; (2) Bryce Roberts 2:18.63; (4) Victor Stupin 2:23.07.
200 Intermediate Medley – (2) Jake Johnson 2:36.60.
50 Freestyle – (1) Alex Stupin 24.98; (4) Saul Jones 28:40; (5) Zach Pratt 31.19.
50 Butterfly – (1) Brandon Courteau 29.78; (5) Zane Jackson 36.53.
100 Freestyle – (1) Alex Stupin 57.86; (2) Cory Martin 1:02.95.
500 Freestyle – (1) Don Rockstead 5:53.52; (2) Victor Stupin 6:44.86; (5) Josh Liskey 7:21.57.
200 Freestyle Relay – (1) Sweet Home “A” (Cory Martin, Bryce Roberts, Derek Jaques, Victor Stupin) 1:49.57; (2) Sweet Home “B” (Donnie O’Brien, Jake Johnson, Wes Clarkson, Josh Liskey) 1:54.68; (3) Sweet Home “C” (Zane Jackson, Saul Jones, Zach Pratt, Sten Weld) 1:56.32; (4) Blanchet 2:05.73.
50 Backstroke – (1) Don Rockstead 29.37; (2) Cory Martin 32.17.
50 Breaststroke – (1) Derek Jaques 31.89; (3) Bryce Roberts 37.62; (4) Wes Clarkson 40.56; (5) Sten Weld 41.01.
400 Freestyle Relay – (1) Sweet Home “A” (Don Rockstead, Brandon Courteau, Jake Johnson, Alex Stupin) 3:56.23; (2) Sweet Home “B” (Sten Weld, Bryce Roberts, Victor Stupin, Wes Clarkson) 4:20.12; (3) Blanchet 4:12.48; (4) Sweet Home “C” (Josh Liskey, Zach Pratt, Zane Jackson, Saul Jones) 4:42.32.
Sweet Home Girls
and Relay Results
Sweet Home 116, Cascade 89, Blanchet 81
200 Medley Relay – (1) Blanchet “A” 2:19.34; (2) Cascade “A” 2:29.59; (3) Sweet Home “A” (Laura Mauer, Emily Clayborn, Shelby Wymetalek, Cheryl Wilson) 2:39.82; (4) Blanchet “B” 2:43.22.
200 Freestyle – (2) Kimber Swanson 2:22.96; (3) Katie Turner 2:36.47.
200 Intermediate Medley – (1) Sami Webb 2:27.58; (3) Cheryl Wilson 3:21.96.
50 Freestyle – (3) Paige Sanders 31.53; (4) Cassie Johnson 31.74.
50 Butterfly – (1) Sami Webb 29.85; (4) Shelby Wymetalek 41.50.
100 Freestyle – (1) Kimber Swanson 1:05.00; (4) Paige Sanders 1:17.03.
500 Freestyle – (2) Emily Thompson 6:07.84; (3) Katie Turner 6:56.81.
200 Freestyle Relay – (1) Sweet Home “A” (Cassie Johnson, Kimber Swanson, Paige Sanders, Sami Webb) 2:01.45; (2) Sweet Home “B” (Laura Mauer, Cheryl Wilson, Emily Thompson, Katie Turner) 2:17.69; (3) Blanchet “A” 2:19.73; (4) Blanchet “B” 2:45.54.
50 Backstroke – (1) Cassie Johnson 39.11; (4) Emily Claborn 41.53; (5) Laura Mauer 41.63.
50 Breaststroke – (3) Tanisa Bell 44.21; (5) Emily Thompson 44.89.
400 Frestyle Relay – (1) Blanchet “A” 4:33.08; (2) Sweet Home “A” (Cheryl Wilson, Paige Sanders, Kimber Swanson, Sami Webb) 4:39.93; (3) Cascade 4:52.63; (4) Sweet Home “B” (Cassie Johnson, Laura Mauer, Katie Turner, Emily Thompson) 5:15.60; (5) Blanchet “B” 5:55.34.