Sweet Home’s swimmers opened their season at home Friday afternoon, Dec. 2, hosting longtime league rivals Stayton and Blanchet Catholic, and Kennedy, which is a more recent member but is gaining ground.
Although the Huskies were lacking some of the firepower they enjoyed the past few years, the current swimmers stepped up to the mark, coming away with decisive wins on both the girls and boys sides.
“We swam well,” Head Coach A Jay Bronson said. “(Assistant) Coach (Doug Peargin) and I were happy with how we progressed.”
Sweet Home swept the relays on both the boys and girls sides, which racked up points for the Huskies, but they added individual wins by freshman Breeza Rodriguez in the 50 and 100 Freestyles, sophomore Kristen Sautel in the 200 Individual Medley and 500 Freestyle, and junior Rylee Markell in the 50 Breaststroke on the girls side. The boys got victories from sophomores RJ Abbott in the 100 IM and the 100 Freestyle, Arman Marble in the 200 Freestyle, Blake Arthur in the 50 Freestyle and 500 Freestyle, and Boden Sayer in the 50 Breaststroke.
“Being the first meet, there is a lot of improvement to be made,” Bronson said, but he said some who have been working out with the Sweet Home Swim Club posted best times in the first meet and others picked up where they left off last year.
Marble, who didn’t swim with the high school team as a freshman, had the best day on the boys side, Bronson said.
For the girls, “I’m really happy with Breeza,” he said of the freshman, who also swims with SHSC. “We expect good things out of the club swimmers because they’ve done it before, but we also beat them up a little more (in practice) and she did well.”
Sweet Home should be able to put on a good showing this year in the girls relays, he said.
“In the relays, we’re going to be tough.”
Sweet Home will host Sisters, Philomath and Salem Academy, traditionally all three competitive opponents, this Friday, Dec. 9, at 4 p.m.
“We’ll see how this week goes,” Bronson said. “We should have some good races. Sisters and Philomath both have fast people. In dual meets, team-wise, we’re tough to beat because of our depth, but individually there are some good races to be had.”
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