Swimmers notch top place finishes at Stayton

The Outlaw swimmers racked up one first-place and several top-six spots in an invitational competition at the Stayton Community Pool on January 12.

A slightly reduced team of eight boys and 12 girls swam several best times individually and in relays during the meet against Gladstone, Valley Catholic, Junction City, Stayton and Cascade.

Brittany Baldessari finished first in the 100-meter backstroke. Her converted time of 1:08 put her almost eight seconds ahead of Stayton senior Brianna Schumacher and Gladstone’s Chelsea Thompson. Aubyn Geser added valuable points with her sixth place in the same event.

Gladstone senior Libby Brooks and Junction City junior Heidi Tilicki dominated the 200-meter Individual Medley. Baldessari finished third in this event, successfully keeping Stayton’s Monique Beauchamp two strokes at bay the entire race.

Jessie Swaner added another top place finish with her third place in the 100-meter breaststroke. Getting off the blocks with a slight hesitation, Swaner pulled within a stroke and a half of second-place finisher Monique Beauchamp. Swaner’s converted time of 1:26.8 was an improvement of over two seconds from the Sweet Home competition.

Baldessari, Swaner, Patterson and Pedersen teamed up in the 200-meter freestyle relay for a second-place finish behind Gladstone. Junction City chased the Outlaws every length of the pool but had to succumb in the end by a difference of two seconds.

Other top-six finishers included the medley relay team with Baldessari in the backstroke, Jessie Swaner in the breast, Rachel Pilliod in the butterfly and Camille Pedersen as anchor in the freestyle. Their combined converted yard time of 2:21.10 was four seconds slower than Stayton’s but good enough for sixth place in a lineup of very strong medley relay teams.

Barely out-touched by senior Lauren Knox from Junction City, Jessie Swaner added another sixth-place finish with her 50-meter freestyle sprint in a personal best of 29.8 seconds. A total of 23 swimmers competed in this event.

Pilliod, Kelleher, Swaner and Geser completed the meet with their 100-meter freestyle sprints in the 400 free relay. Top finisher was Jessie Swaner with a 1:09.

“Even though the competition was extremely fierce on the boys’ side, several best times and great first swims were accomplished,” Coach Isolde Hedemark commented.

Clifton Williams set a new PR in the 50-meter freestyle and battled Valley Catholic’s Max Brady stroke for stroke in the 100 free. Williams’ converted 100-yard time of 1:12 was the top time for the Outlaws. Drew Herron was the next best Outlaw in the 50 free, followed by Dylan Stuwe and Joe Mantecon. Mantecon improved his time by an incredible 8 seconds.

Justin Dean took four seconds off his best 100 breaststroke time, finishing a mere 0.22 seconds behind Stayton’s Jared Harris.

The Outlaws travel to the Stayton Community Pool again January 20 to compete against Mollala, North Marion, Stayton and Cascade.