Philomath High’s Allison Neelands, Kathleen Donovan, Kellen Houchin and Carrson Hirte all had victories on Friday in a four-school meet at Sweet Home Community Pool.
Neelands, senior, won both of her individual events with firsts in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:18.12 and in the 500 freestyle in 6:29.64. Neelands win in the 200 free was by a 2.55-second margin over the runner-up. In the 500 free, she edged teammate Kyah Weeber, who finished second in 6:38.45. Warriors senior Emma Holden was third in 7:14.70.
Donovan, freshman, had the girls squad’s other victory with first in the 200 individual medley. Donovan won easily in 2:53.34 by more than 12 seconds over the second-place finisher. Weeber placed third in the 100 breaststroke in 1:22.49.
All three of the team’s relays had top-three finishes. The 200 medley relay opened the meet with second in 2:24.57. Donovan, sophomore Hanna McDaniel, Weeber and junior Madison Juhl swam legs.
Both of the Warriors’ entries in the 200 freestyle relay were in the top three. Juhl, senior Hannah Beck, Neelands and Weeber finished in 2:05.68 for second. Sophomore Carlota Pastor Infantes, sophomore Brooke McDaniel, senior Vanessa Wyroslawski and senior Katherine Holden finished third in 2:21.45.
The 400 freestyle relay placed second with Emma Holden, Neelands, Donovan and Beck coming in with a time of 4:43.98.
In the team standings, the girls finished second behind the host team. Sweet Home won seven of the 11 events and had 140 points in all with Philomath second at 102. Cascade was third (38) and Madras fourth (22).
On the boys side, the teams were a little more balanced although Sweet Home did win five events. The Huskies were first with 99 and Cascade edged Philomath for second with 74 and 71 points, respectively. Madras was fourth at 35.
Individually, Houchin’s victory came in the 100 butterfly. A senior, Houchin touched in 1:08.27 for a win over 1.22 seconds over the runner-up. Houchin also had a third-place showing in the 100 breaststroke in 1:11.55.
Another senior, Hirte, took first place in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.87, a win of nearly 8 seconds. Hirte had to settle for second in the 50 freestyle in a close race with Colby Anderson-O’Brien of Madras. Anderson-O’Brien won in 23.36 with Hirte second in 23.93.
Philomath had two other top-three individual finishes — freshman Cameron McLennan in the 100 butterfly (1:13.00) and Ike Avery in the 200 individual medley (3:10.11).
All three relays had third-place finishes. The 200 medley of Hirte, senior Micah Matthews, Houchin and McLennan touched in 2:00.33; the 200 freestyle of McLennan, junior Henry Katsikis, Houchin and Matthews came in at 1:56.60; and the 400 freestyle of Hirte, sophomore Emmitt Gaskey, Avery and junior Marshall Morrison finished in 4:22.68.
Philomath’s next meet is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Clemens Community Pool for the program’s final home appearance. The teams’ seniors will be recognized.
