Swimmers excel at White Buffalo Classic

The Outlaws turned in an outstanding performance at the White Buffalo Classic held at the Madras Aquatic Center on Saturday, January 17. Sisters competed against Madras, The Dalles and Corbett and the girls team walked away with a first-place finish overall. The boys finished runner-up.

The girls A 200-yard medley relay (Madelyn Zadow, Anna Bartlett, Mary Stewart and Emily Christen) finished first ahead of The Dalles with a time of 2:06.10. The girls B relay team (Hannah Stuwe, Brooke Knirk, Maddi Boettner and Tara Greaney) finished fifth.

On the boys side in the relay, Shawn Horton, Jonathan Luz, Will Werts and Alex Cyrus finished second with a time of 2:03.68.

Coach Brittany Morioka told The Nugget that the boys team expects to be seeded fairly well at the district level in this event.

Stewart, Christen, Knirt, Greaney and Moriah Jones all had outstanding swims in the 50-yard freestyle. Stewart walked away with an easy first-place finish with a time of 27.09. Knirk took fifth, Greaney finished 11th, and Jones took 12th.

"Brooke and Tara both swam personal records," said Morioka. To have Stewart, Christen, and Knirk all finish in the top six is a big deal. Only the top six in each event score points overall for the team."

Kennedy Hall and Christopher Burdick both swam personal records in the boys 100-yard freestyle. Hall came in fifth with a time of 29.84 and Burdick came in seventh with a time of 31.37.

Morioka noted that it is rare for anyone to volunteer to swim the 100-yard butterfly, yet the Outlaws are lucky enough to have three top male swimmers in the event. All three swam personal records and placed in the top six. Jonathan Luz dropped 3.5 seconds from his best time, for a personal best of 1:04.77. Shawn Horton took third, and took 2.5 seconds off his best for a time of 1:06.05. Will Werts was fourth, and took six seconds off his best for a time of 1:16.09.

In the boys 100-yard freestyle, Alex Cyrus swam to a fifth-place finish with a time of 1:05.75. Werts was right behind him and finished sixth at 1:07.75. Patrick Krevi swam a personal best in the event and took three seconds off his time.

"Both Alex and Will were within half of a second of their personal best times," said Morioka. "Patrick is brand-new to swimming this year and has come such a long way since the first day of practice."

Anna Bartlett swam to a second-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 6:50.44. Maddi Boettner was behind her for a third-place finish at 7:20.20.

"Anna's pacing is quite outstanding," said Morioka. "Her ability to hit the same exact splits 50 after 50 is amazing."

On the boys side, Horton swam a personal best time for a second-place finish with a time of 6:12.58.

Christen, Zadow, Knirk and Stewart breezed to a first-place finish in the girls A 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:51.52. This helped the Outlaws tremendously, since relays score double points for the team. The boys A relay team (Luz, Cyrus, Werts and Horton) also placed first with a time of 1:48.78. The girls B team (Boettner, Greaney, Stuwe and Bartlett) swam to a fifth-place finish with a time of 2:11.03.

Madelyn Zadow came in second in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:13.34. Morioka noted that Zadow will be one to watch in this event at district. Hannah Stuwe wasn't far behind and finished eighth with a time of 1:31.32.

Kennedy Hall and Christopher Burdick took second and third in the boys 100-yard backstroke. Burdick took one second off his personal best.

The Outlaws had three swimmers finish in the top six in the 100-yard backstroke. Anna Bartlett took second with a time of 1:28.48, Brooke Knirk took third with a time of 1:28.68, and Maddi Boettner finished fifth at 1:29.82.

Jonathan Luz wrapped up the meet with a fourth-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of

1:17.61.

The Outlaws will travel to Albany on Saturday, January 24, to compete in the pre-district swim meet. The meet is intended specifically to give swimmers a taste of the pool and format for the district meet.