Ken Roberts
Sports Writer
In his 30th year as the head coach of Sweet Home’s swim team, Doug Peargin isn’t about to change his basic goal: bring home some hardware from the district meet.
Under Peargin’s guidance, the Huskies have always come away with at least a third place trophy, either in the boys or girls division, and often times in both. Last year, with a veteran boys squad, the Huskies were district champions and took fourth at the state meet. The girls were sixth at district and 21st at state. This year the task will be a little more difficult because of the age, experience, and numbers of the teams.
On the boys team, only one senior, Sean Martin, returns. He is strongest in the distances but is versatile enough to help the squad in any event. Last year Martin place second in state in the 500 meter freestyle and was a member of two fourth place relay teams.
Jeff Stratman, who also placed in the 500 free at state, and Larry Coulter, a state qualifier, figure to help Martin the most in their quest to place in district. Four others off this year’s 10 man team, James Davis, Anthony Ertsgaard, Andy Holmes, and John Lovik each placed in two events at the district meet. Matt Maloney, who has come along faster than any swimmer without background that Peargin can recall, rounds out the team along with exchange student Andree Hoxfeldt and freshman Peter Vanderlip.
On the girls side, they too must produce with just 10 members and one senior, Anne Helfrich. Helfrich and sophomores Dani Birky and Katie Jones went to state in a relay and finished just out of the points in ninth place. Birky, however, did score with her sixth place showing in the 200 meter freestyle.
Other than that, the Huskies will depend on two freshmen, Nicole Martin and Katie Stratman, both long time club swimmers. They also have water polo team players Amber Larsen, Elizabeth Anderson, and Krystle Streight and two freshmen Staci Grove and Jessica Trautwein.
The question is can the Huskies compete at district with this low turnout? Right now, there are too many factors to predict how the new kids will perform. One thing is certain; they will work hard to get there.
“It’s lonely,” said Peargin of the swimmer’s workouts. “You’re chasing a black line twice a day for an hour and a half at a shot. It takes a special kid.”
Swimmers must gauge their success not on wins and losses but on their improvement against the clock as the year progresses. Peargin and his assistant coaches, Rene Kirkland and Bruce West, chart that progress to determine what four events each swimmer is assigned. The early meets, the Sweet Home and Philomath relays, are designed to give the coaches further information on the swimmers’ strongest events.
By Christmas break, every swimmer must be able to swim four events in the scoring meets. That means chasing the black line that much more.
“We swim tired all year long,” stated Peargin. “We swim doubles right down to a week before district.”
The idea is to have them in shape for that district meet. If they stay healthy and have a good attitude about the events they enter, Peargin is confident they can compete well.
“Their goal is to make all the practices they can to get in shape so I’ll know where they are and know what to do with them,” said Peargin. “My goal is to have every swimmer hit their lifetime best in the last meet they swim, whether it’s district or state.”
Meanwhile Peargin spends a great deal of time keeping track of the other teams in the district and state to aid in his decision-making for placement of the athletes. Of the 11 teams in district, Marist and Junction City probably have the strongest boys teams. Sweet Home will be vying for third place with Philomath, Cascade, and Stayton. In the girls division, Philomath and Junction City appear to be the leading contenders. Peargin gives the Huskies a chance to finish above the middle of the pack against the likes of Cascade and Stayton.
But his goal will always be the same for both the boys and the girls: bring home a trophy.
“They have goals and I have goals,” stated Peargin. “If we do them together, we usually have a good district meet.”