Outlaws swimmers turn in fast times in Sweet Home

In spite of missing three swimmers, a strong girls team came within nine points of winning the meet in Sweet Home on December 15.

Philomath, Stayton, Junction City and Central were represented at the Invitational. Sweet Home won the meet with 88 points to the Outlaws' 79.

Katie Stewart won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:29.28, just slightly slower than last year's state championship mark. Sam Williamson added another win for the Outlaws. She swam 100 yards freestyle in 1:01.88, which was 1.5 seconds faster than at the 2011 district championships. The foursome of Sam Williamson, Marcy Calavan, Cierra Tigard and Katie Stewart finished first in the 400-yard freestyle relay, all coming close to bettering times from the end of the 2010-11 season.

"The swimmers showed great promise to make waves at the top during Districts and State next February," Coach Isolde Hedemark commented.

Battling Stayton for second place in the 200-yard medley relay, Codie Lagao, Liz Stewart, Katie Stewart and Sam Williamson kept the Eagles at bay and finished with a time of 2:12.25, 0.41 seconds ahead of Julie Wallace, Aleya Hill, Taniaya Wagner and Krysta Reynolds.

Freshman Emily Christen added another second-place in her outstanding effort in the 100-yard butterfly. Christen's time of 1:15.31 was better than last year's third-place finish by Cascade's Janie Naylor at district championships in Albany.

Codie Lagao swam into second place with a great 100-yard backstroke race, finishing in 1:13.64, close to her all-time best performance.

The foursome of Sam Williamson, Emily Christen, Geneieve MacKenzie and Katie Stewart were barely outtouched by the Sweet Home "A" team and finished second with a time of 1:54.08, a scant 0.33 seconds behind the Huskies.

Jordan Williams, Harley Bowler, Emily Christen and Geneieve MacKenzie added valuable points for the Outlaws in their performance in the 200-yard medley relay. Cierra Tigard contributed three points in her individual performances in the 200-yard individual medley and the 50-yard freestyle, as well as her participation in the fifth-place finish on the 200-yard freestyle relay. Liz Stewart, Jordan Williams, and Codie Lagao joined Tigard in the relay race against the Junction City Tigers. In spite of great splits swum by each of the Outlaws, the Tigers prevailed with a time of 2:02.25 against the Outlaws' 2:03.18.

The Outlaws travel to the Kroc Center in Salem on January 7 for their next competition.