Sweet Home’s swimming teams outscored league rivals Salem Academy, Sisters and Kennedy in a home meet Friday, Dec. 9.
The Huskies swept the relays on both the boys and girls side to give them big leads. The girls finished with 124 points ahead of Salem Academy’s 54, and 48 from Sisters, while the boys outstroked Sisters 132-47.
Coach A Jay Bronson said his team had to make some last-minute adjustments after some of his girls swimmers were unable to participate due to sickness and “other things.”
“Our depth really helps on the girls side,” he said. “We do have better depth than most,” adding, “that helps us down the stretch. The more we have who can score fourth, fifth places down the stretch, the better.”
The Huskies are training hard in practice, which means they should be tired, he said, but it didn’t really who in the times on Friday.
“I was really happy with their times,” Bronson said. “A lot of the kids hit best times or were right on. We’re at the peak of training sessions right now. We’re not really expecting great swims.”
Individual winners for the girls were freshman Breeza Rodriguez in the 200 Individual Medley and the 100 Backstroke, sophomore Kirsten Sautel in the 50 Freestyle and the 100 Breaststroke, sophomore Payton Brookfield in the 100 Butterfly, and sophomore Daisy Lalonde in the 100 Freestyle.
Bronson said Lalonde, who won the state small-schools cross-country title earlier this fall for East Linn Christian Academy, is “really coming on” in swimming.
“She swam as a younger kid, but not in recent years. She’s the epitome of a coachable athlete – you tell her to fix something in her stroke or do things, she does it.”
For the boys, sophomore Shayne Schuster was the winner in the 200 Freestyle, as was sophomore Blake Arthur in the 50 Freestyle, junior Garrett Peake in the 500 Freestyle, sophomore Arman Marble in the 100 Backstroke, and sophomore RJ Abbott in the 100 Breaststroke.
Tolman, Bronson said, is “doing really well.”
“He has swum a little bit of club,” the coach said.
“We have three or four kids who have a shot to be on the “A” relay,” noting that Tolman is one of those.
“They’re all going to be fighting for it until the last meet. It’s a good problem to have.”
Sweet Home was scheduled to compete in the Lebanon Invite this Saturday, but Bronson said Monday he’d just learned that the meet had been canceled. Instead, the Huskies will travel to Molalla Friday, Dec. 16, for a meet there, the beginning of more than a month on the road before the next home meet, on Jan. 20.