Outlaws swimmer is state champion

Senior Lydia Bartlett capped a stellar high school career in her final event at the OSAA 4A/3A/2A/1A state swimming championships in record-breaking fashion.

The meet was held Friday, February 21 and Saturday, February 22 at the Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton.

Bartlett started the day in the 200-yard freestyle and came up just short of a victory.

After posting the second-fastest time in Friday’s prelims at 1:53.27, behind district rival Megan Hager of Sweet Home (1:50.29), Bartlett knew who to focus on in the finals. The Saturday final was a battle throughout, with Hager holding on to a slim lead through each of the first three laps. After the final turn, Bartlett closed a bit, but Hager was able to hold her off by a mere .15 seconds to claim the crown in 1:50.63 against 1:50.78 for Bartlett.

The pair finished nearly nine seconds in front of third place.

“What a race!” said Coach Bryn Singleton.

But by no means was Bartlett finished as the senior led wire-to-wire in the 500-yard freestyle and set a new 4A/3A/2A/1A state meet record in the process with a time of 4:58.58, breaking the previous record of 4:59.12 set in 2015 by Lucie Davis of Sweet Home.

Making the effort even more impressive is that Bartlett was never challenged and won by nearly 22 seconds over Kalea Mullins of Corbett, who finished second in 5:20.38.

“So great!” said Singleton. “I couldn’t be happier for Lydia. She has worked so hard for so many years and is so deserving of such a great end to her high school career!”

The remaining state qualifiers for the Outlaws were not able to advance past Friday’s preliminaries, but Singleton noted that most of them swam to personal records.

The 200-yard freestyle relay of Mary Root, Iris Diez, Laura Clem and Bartlett narrowly missed making the final by .82 seconds, finishing seventh in 1:50.62, the team’s fastest time of the year.

The boys’ 200-yard freestyle relay team of Osmond Bates, Austen Heuberger, Clayten Heuberger, and Sam Mayes finished eighth in Friday’s prelims with a time of 1:39.01, its best time of the year, but not quite fast enough to make the final. The squad later placed 10th in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:43.97

Bates, who won the district title in the 100-yard breaststroke to earn a spot at state, finished 12th in the event in a time of 1:13.13.

“I am so extremely proud of everyone who competed,” said Singleton. “It was so fun to watch them swim and watch all their work over the season come together. Most of them had not swam at all prior to their freshman years, which makes it all the more impressive.”

Bartlett, who has signed to swim at NCAA Division 1 California Baptist, owns school records in five individual events, including the 50, 100, 200 and 500 freestyle races as well as the 100 butterfly. She also swam on all three record relay teams.

The 12 points earned by Bartlett placed the Outlaws sixth overall as a team. Catlin Gabel outlasted Sweet Home for the team title with 78 points to 65 for the Huskies. The Newport Cubs demolished the boys’ field, amassing 75 points to easily outdistance second place Madras, who finished with 30.