Swimmers win at Sweet Home

An almost-complete Outlaws swim team faced off against the Stayton Eagles and the Sweet Home Huskies on Friday, January 27 at the Sweet Home High School Pool. Sisters won the meet with 216 points; Sweet Home was second (190 points) and Stayton third (141).

The girls racked up seven out of 11 relay and individual event victories.

Tyler Baldessari was top finisher with two first places.

The girls' medley relay "A" team started the meet off with a win and best time this season. Codie Lagao pushed off on the back (33.1), followed by Katie Stewart (breaststroke, 36.2), Michelle Young (butterfly, 28.9) and anchor, Sam Williamson in the freestyle (27.3). Their time of 2:05.52 was the best this season and should be very competitive at district championships.

Jordan Williams (backstroke, 39.6) led the "B" team with Liz Stewart (breaststroke 42.1), Emily Christen (butterfly 29.8) and Marcy Calavan (freestyle 30.4) to a respectable 4th place in the same event.

Tyler Baldessari led the 200-yard medley relay in the backstroke (28.7), followed by Ian Baldessari in the breaststroke leg (34.8), Tyler Berg in the butterfly (28.7) and anchor Jake Miller (25.3). Their combined time of 1:57.49 was shy of their best time but good enough for second place.

The "B" relay with Brennan Miller, Canyon O'Neal, Shawn Horton and Jonathan Luz was fourth, with personal records for Miller and Luz and a combined best time of 2:10.64.

Katie Stewart won the 200-yard individual medley, with Emily Christen in second place.

Michelle Young added another first-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle, and Samantha Williamson won the 100-yard freestyle with a PR of 1:01.55.

On the boys' side, it was Tyler Baldessari who claimed the first win of the meet for the boys in the 100-yard freestyle.

Tyler Berg finished second in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:47.47, barely 1.5 seconds off his best time at districts in 2011. This result is quite impressive, as athletes will not be tapered or shaved until the last few days before the championships.

The girls also won the 200-yard freestyle relay ahead of their competition. Their time of 1:52.86 was slower than expected, but anchor Michelle Young kept Stayton's backstroker and freestyler Julie Wallace from catching up with the Outlaws. Stayton's freshman Aleya Hill set a fast pace, followed by Taniaya Wagner and Krista Reynolds and this foursome is one to be reckoned with at districts.

Codie Lagao was the individual winner of the 100-yard backstroke (1:14.11) and Brennan Miller was second (1:03.29) in the same event.

Katie Stewart added the 100-yard breaststroke (1:20.28) event to her wins and was closely followed by Stayton's Taniaya Wagner (1:21.19). Stewart's time was 1.4 seconds off her best time, but considering she had nobody to race it was a pretty good result.

Tyler Baldessari, helping the team score by winning the 100-yard breaststroke (1:13.82), clearly showed that he is the fastest all-around swimmer on the team.

The last event of the competition, the 400-yard freestyle relay (4:31.99), went to the Outlaws as well. Sam Williamson raced to a PR in the first leg (1:00.1), followed by Marcy Calavan (1:11.1), freshman Natalie Marshall (1:13.2), and Michelle Young (1:08).

The Outlaws travel to Salem for a meet at the Kroc Center on Saturday, February 4. District championships are in Albany, February 10-11.