Philomath senior Carrson Hirte ended his high school swim career on a high note Saturday by winning two medals at the Class 4A/3A/2A/1A State Championships at Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton.
In the 100-yard backstroke, Hirte placed fourth in a very fast field with a time of 55.65 seconds, which for the second straight week bettered his own school record in the event. He had qualified for finals with the fourth-best time in prelims on Friday morning.
Hirte also medaled in the 200-yard individual medley by touching in sixth with a time of 2:05.17 — two-hundredths of a second faster than his prelim time the previous morning. Hirte just barely missed breaking the school record of 2:05.10, which was set by Rex Watkins in 1982.
Through his four years in the PHS program, Hirte qualified for state in six individual events and as part of five relays. Before this weekend’s appearance, his other state medals or top-six finishes came with the 200 medley relay in last year’s meet and in the June 2021 meet arranged for 4A schools (not recognized in the official OSAA results).
The 200-yard medley relay qualified for state and finished 10th in prelims on Friday with a time of 1:57.43. Swimming on the relay were Hirte, senior Kellen Houchin, freshman Cameron McLennan and junior Henry Katsikis.
As a team, the Philomath boys were 14th with Hirte’s four points. Catlin Gabel (70 points) won the team title by a fair margin over runner-up Newport (48). Besides Philomath, other teams out of Special District 4 included Marist Catholic in fourth (26), Sisters in ninth (9), Sweet Home in 13th (5), Kennedy tied for 15th (3) and Junction City in 20th (1).
Philomath High’s girls team qualified sophomore Kyah Weeber in two individual events. Weeber finished 12th in both the 200 IM with a time of 2:40.65 and in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:21.73.
Catlin Gabel (54 points) swept the team trophies by also finishing first in the girls’ competition by just three points over runner-up Sweet Home (51). Beyond the Huskies, other Special District 4 teams and their finishes at state included Stayton in 15th (3) and Marist Catholic (1) and Sisters (1) tied for 17th.