Lucie Davis and Lauren Yon were named the top girls swimmers and Nathan Hager and Brandon Vasfaret earned the boys awards at the Huskies’ awards potluck Tuesday, March 1.
Underclassmen honored were Rawlins and Rowland Lupoli for the boys, both sophomores, and sophomore Mia Davis and freshman Sara Hewitt for the girls.
The event gave the Huskies a chance to celebrate the girls’ first-ever state championship and the boys’ third-place finish, which Coach Doug Peargin said he was as proud of as the championship trophy.
“Any time you come home with a trophy from that (competition), you earned it,” he said, noting that there were nearly 50 teams represented in the preliminaries on Friday of the state meet at Mount Hood Community College. By Saturday morning’s finals, the number of teams was down to 15.
“That’s how tough it is,” Peargin said.
In the 27-year span since 1989, the Huskies have won 43 first-place district trophies at the district meet on either the girls or boys sides, and have trophied at the state championships nearly every other year, he said.
Sweet Home won the girls district title for the _____ year in a row and placed second behind a very deep Salem Academy team on the boys side.
“I’ve had a lot of fun teams and a lot of good teams, but this was one of the most fun. It was one of the most productive, with a lot of hard work.
Introducing the team award winners, he credited the underclassmen for their eagerness to mix it up with older swimmers.
“We have 14- and 15-year-olds swimming against great 18- and 19-year-old swimmers,” he said, noting that those freshmen and sophomores will grow and develop. “They’ve got good years coming up.”
He credited juniors Hager and Vasfaret for their willingness to put the team ahead of their individual interests.
Lucie Davis, a junior, and Yon, a freshman, both had big days at state, both winning two individual events and playing key roles in the Huskies’ record-setting 200 Freestyle Relay win and a dead tie with second-place team finisher North Bend in the 400 Freestyle Relay.
Peargin noted that Davis had been diagnosed with mononucleosis and had missed school leading up to the state meet, but delivered what the Huskies needed, even if her times weren’t what she normally could have swum, including swimming anchor on both winning relays.
“She won four events when she was flat sick,” he said. “She came up to me before her races and asked me, ‘Coach, How fast do you want me to go?’”
He said they played each event by ear and it worked out in the coveted first-place trophy.
Yon set a state and school record in the 100 Freestyle, swimming 52.94 in the state final, the first girl in 4A history to go under 53 seconds, Peargin noted, attributing her success to “God-given talent” mixed with a willingness to work hard.
Perfect Attendance Awards, which Peargin said “always mean a lot to me,” went to Luke Flierl, Craig Hansen, Megan Oberg, Natasha Benson and ____________.
Fourth-year letter winners were Makayla Nelson, Esther Gunselman, Benson, Oberg, Livvie Hindmarsh and Sarah Helfrich on the girls side, and Grant Jones on the boys.
Third-year winners were senior Adam Barber and juniors Hager, Vasfaret and Sean Wolthuis on the boys side, and on the girls, juniors Jessica Coats, Lucie Davis, Kristin Adams and Elea Hewitt.
Second-year letters went to sophomores Mia Davis, Yon and Milah Weld, and senior Kendra Vorce, a transfer from Colorado last year, for the girls. Boys receiving their second letter were Rowland and Rawlins Lupoli, both sophomores, and junior Wesley Parker.
Earning their first letter were senior Hope Fears, sophomore Milah Weld, and freshmen Ella Parker and Sara Hewitt for the girls, and senior TJ Baham, a first-year swimmer, sophomore Cameron Taber and freshman Bradley Wolthuis for the boys.
Junior varsity certificates went to Tonya Cook, Tanner Sayers, Dennis France, Nick Tolman, Dakota Seward and Riku Funabashi.
Funabashi, an exchange student from Japan who, Peargin said, grew up in “a small town that didn’t even have a swimming pool,” made swift progress at Sweet Home and was presented a special medal by the coaches.
“He stayed after practice every night to work on his strokes,” Peargin said, adding he wished Funabashi, who went from “holding on to the side of the pool” during the first few practices, to competing in three different strokes for the Huskies, could return for another year.
“This was a tough group,” Peargin said of his team, adding that he appreciated the coaching help he received from longtime assistants Joe Gunselman and Tia Sitton.
“I’m just really proud I got to coach this kind of team.”