Outlaws swimmers shine at State Championships

Freshman Michelle Young finished on a high note during another successful Outlaws participation at the 4A/3A/2A/1A Swimming State Championships at Mt. Hood Community College on February 20.

Seeded ninth going into prelims on Thursday night, Young, a member of both the 200-yard medley relay and 200-yard freestyle relay, swam into second place, earning a silver medal during the final swim on Friday night.

Henley's Kristen McBride won the event with a time of 1:03.72. Felicia Pledger was fifth.

The Outlaws started their attempt to achieve a top-six team finish at State with an outstanding performance in the first relay of the competition. Seeded fifth behind Marist, North Bend, Cottage Grove and Henley, Michelle Young, Courteney Satko, Tia Berg and Felicia Pledger raced perfect individual segments and lowered their entry times enough to keep their closest competitors, Taft, La Grande, La Salle and Gladstone at bay.

The Outlaws' final time of 2:03.17 was a season best and it assured them a place on the medal podium.

Courteney Satko followed with an individual fourth-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle (26.11) ahead of District champion Barry McLaren (26.19). Henley's Melinda Duran won the event in a time of 25.25. Felicia Pledger was ninth.

Satko continued her medalist performances with a fifth-place (57.58) in the 100-yard freestyle. Baker's Charlotte Bowers outtouched Satko by 12 hundredths of a second for fourth place. Henley's senior Melinda Duran won the event in a time of 54.62 seconds.

In their second relay state qualification, Courteney Satko, Hillary Johnson, Michelle Young and Felicia Pledger defended their prelim position successfully (-0.2 seconds) against perennial challenger Cascade and in the process set a new Sisters High School record. The new record of 1:47.39 replaces last year's best of 1:47.46 set by Felicia Pledger, Jessi Swaner, Courteney Satko and Brittany Baldessari.

Henley, Cottage Grove and North Bend were the only teams faster than the Outlaws.

Overall the Outlaws tied with Taft for sixth place among 21 girls' teams.