The Philomath High boys and girls swim teams (Photo by Munk Davis)
The Philomath High School boys swim team placed second Friday in the 4A District 3 Championships at Sweet Home. The Warriors did not win any events for automatic berths in next week’s state meet but the team should have athletes who qualify as results from other districts come in and at-large spots are filled out.
The girls followed on Saturday in the same pool and the Warriors placed fourth as a team. Again, no event winners but Philomath should qualify swimmers for state through the at-large process.
In the boys’ meet on Friday, Philomath had two second-place finishes in relays. The 200-yard medley relay with senior Eli McLennan, sophomore Kellen Houchin, sophomore Carrson Hirte and senior Caleb Matthews came in with a 1:54.90, which was 3.53 seconds behind the winning team from Marist Catholic.
The Warriors’ 200 freestyle relay with McLennan, Houchin, Matthews and Hirte placed second in 1:44.16, which was 2.26 seconds behind Marist.
In the individual events, Hirte had two third-place finishes in the 50 freestyle (25.46) and the 100 freestyle (56.38). McLennan placed third in the 100 backstroke (1:03.42) and fourth in the 50 freestyle (25.75). Houchin was third in the 100 butterfly (1:12.66) and fourth in the 100 breaststroke (1:18.89). And Matthews placed third in the 100 breaststroke (1:16.74).
In the team race, Marist Catholic easily took first place with 308 points and Philomath beat out Stayton for runner-up honors. The Warriors had 154 points to Stayton’s 128. Ten schools competed in the meet.
For the girls, two swimmers had third-place finishes with senior Audrey Davis in the 500 freestyle and senior Melia Morton in the 100 breaststroke. Davis shattered her personal-record in the long-distance event with a time of 6:10.68. Morton touched with a time of 1:17.05 in the 100 breaststroke. Morton also placed fourth in the 200 individual medley in 2:38.16.
Philomath had two fourth-place finishes in the relays. Davis, sophomore Grace Bennett, senior Ruth Cropp and Morton had a 2:06.21 in the 200 freestyle. In the 400 freestyle, sophomore Emma Holden, freshman Madison Juhl, junior Kaeleigh Houchin and junior Ophelia Katsikis swam a 5:11.95.
PHS coach Daniel Mikula said it could be a couple of days before the full list of state qualifiers is announced — perhaps on Sunday or Monday. The state meet, which will include Class 4A only (not 1A, 2A and 3A as would happen in an OSAA-sponsored meet), is scheduled for June 26 at Cottage Grove.
4A District 3 Championships BOYS Friday, June 18, at Sweet Home HS
Team Scoring
1, Marist Catholic 308; 2, Philomath 154; 3, Stayton 128; 4, Salem Academy 123; 5, Sweet Home 118; 6, Blanchet Catholic 116; 7, North Marion 80; 8, Cascade 53; 9, Kennedy 32; 10, Junction City 10.
Winners & PHS Results
200 Medley Relay
1. Marist Catholic (Kyler Lajoie, Hudson Jarvis, Jackson Anderson, Ryan Watts), 1:51.37
