Outlaws make a splash at district meet

A focused, prepared and determined Outlaws Swim Team represented Sisters High School at the 2012 District 3 Championships in Albany.

The girls finished second overall, and the boys came in fourth.

Setting the tone for the entire competition was a win by the girls' medley relay with Emily Christen (backstroke 31.4), Katie Stewart (breaststroke 36.3), Michelle Young (butterfly 28.8) and Samantha Williamson (freestyle 27.4) for a combined time of 2:03.9, less than a second away from the Sisters High School record.

The same group of swimmers added a closely contested but well-deserved victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:49.5) over rivals Stayton (1:50.9) and Blanchet (1:51.5).

All girls' relays qualified for state championships with their wins in the 200-yard medley relay, the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:49.48) and the 400-yard freestyle relay (4:04.44) with Samantha Williamson, Emily Christen, Codie Lagao and Michelle Young.

Individual winners, Michelle Young in the 50-yard freestyle (27.09) and Katie Stewart in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:17.15), also advance to the state competition.

Codie Lagao was the last championship finals scorer with a PR in the 100-yard Backstroke race (1:12.3).

Geneieve MacKenzie (50-yard freestyle, 28.6) and Liz Stewart (100-yard freestyle, 1:08.3) added points to seal the second-place overall finish for the Outlaw girls.

Top finishers on the boys' side were Jake Miller, Tyler Berg, Brennan Miller and Tyler Baldessari with their silver medal performance in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:38.5). They replaced the old record of 3:39.87 established in 2011 by Tyler Baldessari, Tyler Berg, Seth Flanders and Jake Miller.

The Baldessari and Miller brothers added a bronze medal to their collection with outstanding performances in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:39.2) behind district winner Sweet Home (1:33.0) and third-place district finisher Central (1:34.9).

Brennan Miller (backstroke; 28.4), Tyler Baldessari (breaststroke, 31.5), Tyler Berg (butterfly, 29.3) and Jake Miller (freestyle, 23.6) came within 0.5 seconds of breaking the old Sisters High School record of 1:50.6 in the 200-yard medley relay.

Brennan Miller added another fifth-place in the Outlaws' medal standing with his individual performance in the 100-yard backstroke (PR, 1:01.9).

Tyler Baldessari added a fifth-place in one of the most competitive races of the championships, the 100-yard freestyle. Baldessari finished with a PR 52.7 behind Philomath's Chase Celorie (52.6) and Central's Andrew Hasbrook (52.1). Sweet Home's Zach Pearce (48.1) and Don Rockstead (51.5) claimed gold and silver.

The final medals (sixth-place) went to Jake Miller (50-yard freestyle, 23.98), Tyler Berg (500-yard freestyle, 5:59.9) and Ian Baldessari (100-yard breaststroke, 1:12.59).

In addition to the girls' relays, the following swimmers have qualified for a berth at the state championships: Katie Stewart (200 IM, 100 breaststroke), Michelle Young and Emily Christen (50 freestyle), Samantha Williamson (100 freestyle), boys 200-medley relay, 200-freestyle relay, 400-freestyle relay, Brennan Miller (100 backstroke).

State Championships are scheduled for February 17-18 at the Mt. Hood Aquatic Center in Gresham, with prelims and finals starting at 1 p.m. For more information, visit http://www.osaa.org/swimming.