Swim team ready to plunge into season

The 2017-18 edition of Sisters High School's swim team includes a total of 30 athletes under the leadership of first-year Head Coach Bryn Singleton. That's one of the largest squads in school history.

With the competitive season beginning on Saturday, December 2 at Madras, the 13 boys and 17 girls on the roster will take their first steps toward building on last year's success, which included a fourth-place finish at state by the girls team.

Rosie Horton will be serving as an assistant for the team, taking the spot Singleton held for the past three years.

The top returnees for the girls team include senior Hawley Harrer, juniors Brooke Robillard and Meredith Mandal, and sophomore Lydia Bartlett.

Robillard is the girls team captain, and Jackson Rheuben serves as the boys captain. Other top returnees for the boys team include Jordan Pollard, Connor Crowe and Sam Mitchell.

During pre-season practices, Singleton has found the team to be enjoyable to work with.

"They seem to be an enthusiastic bunch, so it will be exciting to watch them learn over the course of the season," she said. "The girls who went to state last year are great role models and I expect they will help us have a very successful season, both in individual events and on our relay teams."

The Outlaws compete in Special District 3, which includes 4A/3A/2A/1A schools Blanchet, Junction City, Cascade, North Marion, Salem Academy/Western Mennonite, Stayton, Sweet Home and Philomath.

Sweet Home is a perennial power. The Husky girls won the state title last year with a whopping 99 points, followed by North Bend (58), La Grande (32), and Sisters (29) as the other trophy teams. Sweet Home's boys team also won the state title last year.

Singleton's goal for the team is that every member feels valued, regardless of speed or ability.

"I intend to structure my practices and team activities so that everyone improves in the sport, and most importantly, has fun being part of the team," she said.

With two weeks of practices completed, Singleton is pleased with what she is seeing thus far.