Swimmers win at Salem

In their first competition after winter break, an almost-complete Outlaws swim team faced four of their district competitors in the impressive Kroc Aquatic Center in Salem on Saturday, January 7.

The Outlaws won the meet with a combined score of 172 ahead of Stayton (133), Central (132), Blanchet (115) and Salem Academy (58). The Sisters girls finished first with a small lead of six points ahead of Stayton, and the boys were 28 points behind the very strong team from Central.

In the first event, the 200-yard medley relay, the foursome of Codie Lagao (back 33.8), Katie Stewart (breast 37.2), Michelle Young (fly 29.3) and Sam Williamson (free 27.5) set the tone with an impressive victory over Stayton's top relay team. The Outlaws' time of 2:07.82 was already half a second faster than last year's entry time for district championships.

The "B" team, with Jordan Williams in the backstroke (42.4), Liz Stewart in the breaststroke (38.8), Emily Christen in the fly (30.6) and anchor Cierra Tigard (free 31.3), earned valuable points for the Outlaws with their fourth-place finish.

The boys' "A" team, with Tyler Baldessari (back 28.7), Ian Baldessari (breast 34.8), Tyler Berg (fly 28.6) and Jake Miller (free 25.6), finished in second place behind Central, but their time of 1:57.7 was only one second slower than their third-place finish at districts last year.

The boys' "B" team scored also. Brennan Miller (back 29.5), Davidson Small (breast 39.3), Shawn Horton (fly 34.9) and Jonathan Luz (free 29.8) were fifth with a time of 2:13.5.

Katie Stewart won the individual medley. Cierra Tigard came in fourth in the same event.

Samantha Williamson added another first place for the Outlaws in the 50-yard freestyle (28.2). Geneieve MacKenzie (30.3) and Marcy Calavan (31.2) finished in the top six, earning points for the team.

Freshman Emily Christen squeaked out another victory for Sisters, when she found another gear on the last 25 yards of the 100-yard butterfly race (1:18.4) and out-touched Stayton's Taniaya Wagner by 0.4 seconds.

Codie Lagao raced an excellent 100-yard backstroke and never let anyone come close. Her time of 1:14.7 was only one second slower than her third place at last year's district championships, where she finished third.

In the 100-yard breaststroke, it was again Katie Stewart who secured a first place for the Outlaws. Her time of 1:19.2 was the same as during last year's district prelims.

"This result is impressive considering she had nobody to race," Coach Isolde Hedemark commented. Her closest rival, Taniaya Wagner, was five seconds behind her.

The last relay of the meet, the 400-yard freestyle relay (4:13.6) went to the girls as well.

The "B" team, with Geneieve Mackenzie, Marcy Calavan, Cierra Tigard and Jordan Williams finished fifth, and JV swimmers Harley Bowler, Cheyenne Sproat, Nathalie Marshall with varsity swimmer Liz Stewart helped the team with their sixth-place finish.

Top scorer on the boys' side was Brennan Miller with his first-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke (1:04.9) followed by fellow Outlaw Tyler Berg (1:05.5) in an outstanding race.

Jake Miller added a valuable second place in the 200-yard freestyle (2:11.9), followed by his brother Brennan (2:12.8) in third and Ian Baldessari (2:15.6) in fourth place.

Tyler Baldessari and Jake Miller added another second and third place to the total points. Tyler (55.5) finished barely one second behind Central's Andrew Hasbrook (54.54) in the 100-yard freestyle and Jake (57.6) kept Blanchet's Brian Fitzpatrick (57.9) at bay.

Tyler Berg and Tyler Baldessari finished in second and third place in the 500-yard freestyle. Baldessari raced an incredible last 50 yards in 31.1 seconds to push Central's Rahevin Potter-Clark into fourth

place.

The boys added another second place to their point score. Tyler Baldessari, Ian Baldessari, Tyler Berg and Jake Miller finished second in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:42.4). Brennan Miller, Davidson Small, Canyon O'Neal and Shawn Horton finished sixth.

Ian Baldessari scored another five points for his second-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:16.9) followed by Canyon O'Neal in fifth (1:26.5) and Davidson Small in sixth (1:28.8).

The Outlaws travel to Madras on January 12 for a three-way meet against the White Buffaloes and Cascade.