Baldessari paces fine Outlaw showing

Facing some of their top rivals in the 3A district, the Outlaws swimmers competed on Thursday, December 15, in the first invitational of the season against Sweet Home, 3A State Champion Sherwood, Philomath, Stayton, Mollala and Blanchett.

Brittany Baldessari spoiled State Champion Sherwood’s nearly flawless performance.

Instead of placing first and second in every event, Sherwood had to concede the 100-yard backstroke to Baldessari, who swam an outstanding race from beginning to end. Baldessari’s time of 1:08.14 was already faster than last year’s prelim time of District Champion Sarah Rosa.

“1:08 is an excellent time for the beginning of the season,” said Coach Isolde Hedemark.

Baldessari, new to Outlaws swimming, but certainly no novice in the sport, showed more of her talents by setting a new Sisters High School record in the 50-yard freestyle. Leading the 200-yard freestyle “A” relay in a blistering 26.50, followed by Aria Garau in 33.25, Cammie Patterson in 31.34 and Jessie Swaner in 30.5, Baldessari replaced Hilary Hedemark’s old 1997 record of 27.07 seconds.

Allie Opsahl and Camille Pederson framed the “B” relay with 31-second splits, while Deidre Kelleher and Chelsea Flanders swam good segments for the beginning of the season.

“Strokes are looking good but significant time drops will come with the perfection of starts and turns,” Coach Hedemark said.

In the 200-yard freestyle, Baldessari finished fourth in a time of 2:21.8 behind Sherwood and Sweet Home. Pilliod and Flanders looked strong in the individual medley.

Newcomers Camille Pederson and Aria Garau teamed up with Chelsea Flanders and Tori Carlson to swim to a respectable 2:34.5 in the first heat of the medley relay. Aubyn Geser led the second heat in a personal best backstroke segment, followed by Jessie Swaner in the breaststroke, Brittany Baldessari in the butterfly and Rachel Pilliod as anchor in the freestyle. Geser swam another personal best in the 100-yard backstroke, almost one second faster than at the end of last season at District Championships. The relay’s final time of 2:20.8 put the Outlaws behind Sherwood, Philomath and Sweet Home.

On the boys side, Tyler Young’s exceptional butterfly leg of 29.8 and Steven Waltosz’s freestyle segment of 30.1 helped the Outlaws earn additional points in the competition. Young’s time represents a personal record of more than two seconds from last year’s District Championships.

Justin Dean’s freestyle leg of 31.5 in the relay was also a personal best by almost three seconds, with Dylan Stuwe in the “B” relay hot on his heels in a time of 32.2 seconds.

Waltosz impressed with two additional 50-yard freestyle sprints, the best one in a time of 28.8

“If Steven can swim that fast without a refined turn and suffering from a leg cramp, his performance at Districts could be stellar,” said coach Hedemark.

Eric Brown, Joe Mantecon and Jake Scott contributed to the team effort. All events contested by the Outlaws helped eliminate the first meet of the season jitters and showed great promise individually and in relays.

The next meet for the Outlaw swimmers will be against Cascade at the Stayton Community Pool January 13.