The New Era
The OSAA 1A-2A-3A-4A state swimming championships came down to half a point Saturday, Feb. 2(1) for the Sweet Home girls, as they finished a close second to North Bend for the team championship.
Wow, what a meet,” said Coach Doug Peargin, who has seen many of them since he took over the helm for the Huskies in 1973. “I couldn’t have been any happier with them, even if they’d won it. On paper we were almost 30 points down to that team going into that meet.”
Sweet Home placed third in the boys team race, behind Catlin Gabel (63) and La Grande (46), with 42 points, which also was a big achievement for the Huskies.
For those guys to trophy in that meet, they weren’t expected to be there,” Peargin said.
On the girls side, Sweet Home finished with 74.5 points, a whisker behind North Bend’s 75. That half-point was the result of a dead tie in the 100 Butterfly – for second – between Sweet Home’s Jessica Coats and Sarah Krueger of Valley Catholic.
Sophomore Lucie Davis of Sweet Home had three division record-breaking swims, posting a 4:59.12 to win the 500 Freestyle for the second straight year – and set a new state record by five seconds. She then swam a 24.97 to anchor the 200 Freestyle Relay team, with Lauren Yon (25.40), Jessica Coats (25.21) and Makayla Nelson (25.71), to clock a 1:41.29 and break the record of 1:43.35 set in 2014 by St. Mary’s. The Huskies actually broke St. Mary’s record on Friday, with a 1:42.65 in the preliminaries.
In the final event, the 400 Freestyle Relay, the quartet did it again, with Davis swimming 53.32 for the final 100 yards to edge out Alyssa Bennett of North Bend and take Sweet Home home in 3:37.19, another school and division state record, half a second ahead of the Bulldogs.
The Huskies realized they were close to the record, Davis said.
The whole weekend, we just prayed a lot and focused on pulling together. At (North Bend’s) districts, they went 3:38. When we heard that, we panicked a little,” she said.
Peargin told the relay team to trust him: They could do it.
Sweet Home won its preliminary on Friday, Davis said. “We realized we could beat them in the finals too.”
That performance gave them confidence in the championship on Saturday.
Lauren Yon swam the first leg of the dramatic 400 free relay.
I was really happy we won,” she said. “We set the state record in the prelims and broke it (again) in the finals. I was happy to be a part of it.”
Her team wasn’t sure if it would win, Yon said, but “I knew that we could. We all trained together, so I know what they’re capable of. I knew I had to get ahead for my position.”
As Davis dove in for the anchor leg, “I could see I was ahead,” she said. “I knew she had just won the 100 free.”
That worried her a little, since she is more a distance swimmer while Bennett specializes in sprint events. Bennett had already won the 50 and 100 free.
When Davis reached the end, “I was freaking out,” she said. “I was all excited. I was praising God in my head. We were just on top of the world.”
They broke a record from the 1980s,” Peargin said.
Sweet Home (3:25.33) and La Grande (3:25.46) raced to a close finish in the 400 free relay, five seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
Davis also won the 200 Freestyle (1:54.02) for the second year in a row, and freshman Lauren Yon followed that up by winning the 200 Individual Medley in 2:09.25, both of them two seconds ahead of the runner-up finishers in those races.
Peargin said Yon’s win over Cassie Dallas of North Bend was even more significant than the fact it brought her a state title.
That was a big upset in the 200 IM,” he said. “She’d never beaten that girl before. She beat her when we needed her to.”
Coats also placed second in the girls 100 Backstroke, three-tenths of a second behind Kiera Supple of Salem Academy.
The Huskies and North Bend each won five events – out of 11 – in the meet, and the Bulldogs were lurking close behind in most of the events Sweet Home won.
They’re an extremely good club,” Peargin said. “We couldn’t break the gap. We couldn’t separate from them.”
Davis said the team built each other up, worked hard and trained together.
I’m so proud of where we are right now,” she said. “I’m so proud of how we finished. At the end of the season, we focused on building up as a team. Instead of saying, you have to do something, we say, you can do something.”
Davis is already looking at next year, she said. “I’m one of those people that set my own goals ahead of time. I’m totally thinking ahead about what I want to accomplish my junior year.”
Yon said the win was “pretty awesome,” particularly after one of the swim dads calculated the likely result before the meet, with North Bend winning by 74 points.
‘”We were supposed to lose by a lot,” Yon said.
She and her team are looking forward to next year, she said. North Bend loses a senior, its best swimmer in the relay, while the Huskies lose no one.
I know we have a really, really good chance of winning,” Yon said, noting that her team wasn’t even fully “tapered,” or completely rested. “We keep on getting faster every year.”
On the boys side, it was a similar story.
The Huskies won the 400 Freestyle Relay as anchor Nathan Hager swam a 49.63 to hold off fast-closing Bryce Ebel of La Grande (47.30) to finish in 3:25.33, for a .13-second victory margin.
I had the fastest time, a 49, which is a best time for me, personally,” Hager said.
With La Grande gunning for them, the Huskies were “excited” entering the last race, he said.
Lead-off swimmer Rowland Lupoli had swum his 100 in 53 seconds, with Brandon Vasfaret finishing the next leg in 51 seconds to give Sweet Home a one-second lead. Jaeger Howatt finished in 51 seconds, extending the lead to two seconds.
On the blocks, Hager looked up at La Grande’s anchor, Bryce Ebel, he said. Ebel had just won the 100 fly event and he could move through the water.
We saw each other,” Hager said. “I knew he was fast. I jumped in and went all out.”
Ebel gained on him slowly before the first two turns. Hager said his turns tend to be the weaker part of the relay for him. By the third turn, Hager said he could see how close Ebel was. He put his head down and kicked as hard as he could in the third turn, reaching as far for the wall.
Hager knew his team had won it as he came out of the water to hear the cheering, he said.
Nathan swims a lifetime best of 49 seconds and that guy swam 47,” Peargin said. “I didn’t know who won it. It was that close.”
The boys were second, behind Catlin-Gabel, in the 200 Freestyle Relay (1:35.10) and fifth in the 200 Medley Relay.
Individual medalists were Hager and fellow sophomore Brandon Vasfaret, fourth and fifth in the 200 Freestyle, Vasfaret second in the 500 Freestyle (5:00.99) and Hager sixth in the 100 Freestyle. Freshman Rawlins Lupoli also took home hardware, finishing fifth in the 200 IM and sixth in the 100 Breaststroke.
His twin brother Rowland, along with senior Howatt, rounded out the relay team swimmers.
Hager said he was surprised by their third-place finish, especially after the Husky boys’ drought over the past few years.
We haven’t placed, and we have a smaller team.”
He said that makes them hopeful for next year.
They lose only Howatt, while the freshman twins Rowland and Rawlins Lupoli will get stronger.
“We had a good time,” Peargin said. “Everybody who went medaled. I couldn’t be happier. Every kid that went for us swam a lifetime best. It was a great year.”
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OSAA 4A/3A/2A/1A Swimming
State Championships
Placewinners and Sweet Home finishers
**State record *Preliminaries finish/time
Team Scores – (1) North Bend, 75. (2) Sweet Home, 74.5. (3) La Grande, 32. (4) Henley, 29. (5) Salem Academy, 27. (6) Valley Catholic, 21.5. (7) Sisters, 17. (8) St. Mary’s 11. (9) Madras 7. (10–tie) Newport, Gladstone 4. (12) Catlin Gabel 2. Phoenix, 2. 1(12) Tillamook, 2.
Girls 200 Medley Relay – (1) North Bend 1:49.75. (2) Salem Academy 1:54.50. (3) Henley 1:55.74. (4) La Grande 1:57.56. (5) Valley Catholic 1:58.19. (6) Sweet Home (Esther Gunselman, Elea Hewitt, Mia Davis, Sara Helfrich) 2:01.35.
Girls 200 Freestyle – (1) Lucie Davis 1:54.02. (2) Sarah Krueger (Valley Catholic) 1:56.95. (3) Jenny Kirschner (Henley) 1:58.89. (4) Abbey Felley (La Grande) 1:59.19. (5) Makayla Nelson (SH) 1:59.50. (6) Makayla Proett (North Bend) 2:04.87. (10) Mia Davis (SH) 2:05.72.*
Girls 200 Individual Medley – (1) Lauren Yon (SH) 2:09.25. (2) Cassie Dallas (North Bend) 2:11.18. (3) Kiera Supple (Salem Academy) 2:15.67. (4) Olivia Dow (St. Mary’s) 2:17.21. (5) Angela Liu (Catlin Gabel) 2:19.11. (6) Aunika Torres (Henley) 2:21.98. (8) Elea Hewitt (SH) 2:23.00.* (10) Esther Gunselman (SH) 2:26.69.*
Girls 50 Freestyle – (1) Alyssa Bennett (North Bend) 24.59. (2) Vianka Hoyer, (North Bend) 24.81. (3) Shelby Baker (La Grande) 25.06. (4) Mary Stewart (Sisters) 25.21. (5) Haley Steiner (Henley) 25.46. (6) Hannah Roberts (La Grande) 25.56.
Girls 100 Butterfly – (1) Vianka Hoyer (North Bend) 57.32. (2-tie) Jessica Coats (SH), Sarah Krueger (Valley Catholic) 58.65. (4) Sophia Gemelas (Madras) 59.79. (5) Grace Jovanovic (St. Mary’s) 1:00.20. (6) Sarah Clyde (Gladstone) 1:00.66. (11) Esther Gunselman (SH) 1:04.57.*
Girls 100 Freestyle – (1) Alyssa Bennett (North Bend) 53.57. (2) Lauren Yon (SH) 54.18. (3) Mary Stewart (Sisters) 54.20. (4) Jenny Kirschner (Henley) 54.34. (5) Shelby Baker (La Grande) 55.32. (6) Kara Putman (Tillamook) 58.32.
Girls 500 Freestyle – (1)Lucie Davis (SH) 4:59.12**. (2) Makayla Nelson (SH) 5:18.62. (3) Abbey Felley (La Grande) 5:19.83. (4) Sarah Clyde (Gladstone) 5:22.10. (5) Mia Davis (SH) 5:32.97. (6) Makayla Proett (North Bend) 5:33.71.
Girls 200 Freestyle Relay – (1) Sweet Home (Lauren Yon, Jessica Coats, Makayla Nelson, Lucie Davis) 1:41.29**. (2) North Bend 1:44.35. (3) Valley Catholic 1:45.56. (4) Sisters 1:45.63. (5) Newport 1:46.43. (6) Salem Academy 1:46.44.
Girls 100 Backstroke – (1) Kiera Supple (Salem Academy) 59.29. (2) Jessica Coats (SH) 1:00.19. (3) Hannah Roberts (La Grande) 1:00.48. (4) Grace Jovanovic (St. Mary’s) 1:01.29. (5) Emma Boles (Salem Academy) 1:02.38. (6) Zaraya Estrada (North Bend) 1:03.55.
Girls 100 Breaststroke – (1) Cassie Dallas (North Bend) 1:06.98. (2) Haley Steiner (Henley) 1:08.29. (3) Sophia Gemelas (Madras) 1:08.63. (4) Olivia Dow (St. Mary’s) 1:08.81. (5) Lauren Speaks (Phoenix) 1:09.98. (6) Kara Putman (Tillamook) 1:11.84.
Girls 400 Freestyle Relay – (1) Sweet Home (Lauren Yon, Jessica Coats, Makayla Nelson, Lucie Davis) 3:37.19**. (2) North Bend 3:37.63. (3) La Grande 3:48.49. (4) Henley 3:49.22. (5) Sisters 3:51.51. (6) Salem Academy 3:51.64.
Boys Results
Team Scores – (1) Catlin Gabel, 63. (2) La Grande, 46. (3) Sweet Home, 42. (4) Philomath, 26. (5) North Bend, 23. (6) Newport, 21. (7) Valley Catholic 15. (8) Seaside 14. (9) Blanchet Catholic 13. (10-tie) Baker, Riverdale 10. (12) Phoenix 7. (13-tie) Junction City, Cascade Christian 4. (15-tie) Henley, Salem Academy 3. (17-tie) Marshfield, Madras 2.
Boys 200 Medley Relay – (1) Catlin Gabel1:39.69. (2) La Grande 1:44.77. (3) Philomath 1:46.15. (4) Seaside 1:46.21. (5) Sweet Home (Brandon Vasfaret, Rawlins Lupoli, Jaeger Howatt, Rowland Lupoli) 1:47.43. (6) Blanchet Catholic 1:50.41.
Boys 200 Freestyle – (1) Ethan Hanson (Catlin Gabel) 1:43.29. (2) Karl Stuntzner-Gibson (North Bend) 1:43.59. (3) David Spurgeon (Valley Catholic) 1:49.39. (4) Nathan Hager Sweet Home, 1:51.41. (5) Brandon Vasfaret (SH) 1:52.30. (6) Keegan Dutto (La Grande) 1:53.04.
Boys 50 Freestyle – (1) Bryce Ebel (La Grande) 22.45. (2) Ethan Shepherd (Phoenix) 22.62. (3) Ryan Sherman (Junction City) 22.89. (4) Taden Swing (Salem Academy) 23.39. (5) Clay Youker (Philomath) 23.57. (6) Danny Woodruff (North Bend) 23.70.
Boys 200 Individual Medley – (1) Tristan Furnary (Catlin Gabel) 1:50.65. (2) Jared Miller (Baker) 1:59.63. (3) Ben Settle (Valley Catholic) 2:00.48. (4) Raul Carrasco (Newport) 2:06.55. (5) Rawlins Lupoli (SH) 2:09.63. (6) Vincent Kelly (Blanchet) 2:10.72.
Boys 100 Butterfly – (1) Bryce Ebel (La Grande) 50.86. (2) Garen Marter (Riverdale) 54.62. (3) Sid Pai (Catlin Gabel) 55.73. (4) David Spurgeon (Valley Catholic) 55.95. (5) Clay Youker (Philomath) 55.98. (6) Austin Thompson (Newport) 56.89.
Boys 100 Freestyle – (1) Tristan Furnary (Catlin Gabel) 45.84. (2) Patrick Williamson (Philomath) 49.38. (3) Josh Ebel (La Grande) 49.61. (4) Jeremy Darst (Blanchet) 50.12. (5) Ethan Shepherd (Phoenix) 50.87. (6) Nathan Hager (SH) 51.06.
Boys 500 Freestyle – (1) Karl Stuntzner-Gibson (North Bend) 4:50.54. (2) Brandon Vasfaret (SH) 5:00.99. (3) Keegan Dutto (La Grande) 5:04.99. (4) TJ Morgan (Henley) 5:17.86. (5) Spencer Fromm (Marshfield) 5:19.73. (6) Trevor Hoffman (La Grande) 5:25.05.
Boys 200 Freestyle Relay – (1) Catlin Gabel 1:31.76. (2) Sweet Home (Rowland Lupoli, Rawlins Lupoli, Jaeger Howatt, Nathan Hager) 1:35.10. (3) Seaside 1:35.18. (4) Newport 1:35.22. (5) North Bend 1:35.53. (6) Philomath 1:36.65.
Boys 100 Backstroke – (1) Ethan Hanson (Catlin Gabel) 51.71. (2) Jared Miller(Baker) 53.07. (3) Ben Settle (Valley Catholic) 53.57. (4) Jeremy Darst (Blanchet) 54.25. (5) Josh Ebel (La Grande) 56.08. (6) Raul Carrasco (Newport) 56.40.
Boys 100 Breaststroke – (1) Patrick Williamson (Philomath) 1:01.61. (2) Garen Marter (Riverdale) 1:01.98. (3) Christian Scaglione (Cascade Christian) 1:02.20. (4) Chris Junn (Catlin Gabel) 1:03.78. (5) Austin Thompson (Newport) 1:04.85. (6) Rawlins Lupoli (SH) 1:05.18.
Boys 400 Freestyle Relay – (1) Sweet Home (Rowland Lupoli, Brandon Vasfaret, Jaeger Howatt, Nathan Hager) 3:25.33. (2) La Grande 3:25.46. (3) Newport 3:30.93. (4) North Bend 3:31.66. (5) Blanchet Catholic 3:32.15. (6) Madras 3:35.59.