Lebanon’s swimmers qualified three relays and Orianna Buczko made state in two individual events as the Warriors competed last week at the Mid-Willamette Conference district meet.
The meet was held at the South Albany pool Feb. 11-12.
The Warriors placed fourth out of nine teams on the girls side with 124 points, as SIlverton took the district title with 300 points, followed by Crescent Valley (246) and West Albany (239).
The boys placed fifth with 91 points in a field of eight, behind Crescent Valley (329), Silverton (269), West Albany (221) and Corvallis (111).
The Warriors posted 27 personal bests out of 73 swims in what was the final meet of the year for most.
Buczko, a senior, moves on after qualifying in the 100 (58.86) and 200 (2:10.62) freestyles.
“Very impressed with Orianna’s 100 Free,” Coach Joe Andrews said. “She really stepped up and raced tough to lock in the second-place swim. The coaches are excited to see how she comes back this week at state.”
Buczko is ranked eighth in the 100 Free going into state.
The boys 200 Freestyle Relay team of Grant Basting, Jack Johnson, Michael Kluttz and Boston Borgmann qualified in 1:37.97, while both boys and girls qualified in the 400 Freestyle Relay.
The same four boys qualified for the 400 relay in 3:37.72, while Buczko, Anouk Ricketts, Samantha Walsh and Molly Basting qualified for the girls in 4:23.81.
“Both freestyle relays on the men’s side took care of business to get the state qualification,” Andrews said. “The teams we raced are going to be gunning for the state championships and are very deep. In some of the other leagues our guys would have been in the running for the district title, where in our league they placed fifth.
“Several of the guys will be well positioned at state as they will not have individual swims before the relays, which should allow us to find some additional time drops.
“While we projected to place a little higher overall in the points rankings, we held steady versus last year’s performance (fifth place) and qualified an additional relay to the state championships.”
Andrews said he also saw some “breakout performances” from underclassmen, such as Johnson, a sophomore, who swam the fastest split of 51.9 on the 400 Free Relay.
“Had he swum that in the individual event, likely he would have made a state berth,” Andrews said.
“New freshman Paul Bloedel, John Kluttz, Carson Kolling and Samual Williamson also showed massive improvements over the season and with continued work will be making big contributions to the team.”
He noted that Borgmann delivered “very consistent swims” after experiencing a block malfunction in the 50 Free prelims..
On the girls side, “our entire women’s team raced well.” Andrews said. “We have had several of our key swimmers have a lot of roadblocks this season, with tough classes, injuries and illness, but most were able to swim very well, with all things considered.”
As a team, he said, the girls “dramatically improved” to fourth from last year’s seventh-place finish.
“With only graduating one senior this year, Orianna Buczko, we are well-positioned to keep crawling up the standings, Andrews said. “This group of women have been a great group to coach this year and really have come together as a team.”
The state championships will be Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20-21, at the Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center.