Philomath High boys 2nd in first virtual swim meet

The Philomath High School boys swim team finished second in the Sweet Home Invitational — a virtual meet with each school swimming in their home pools. The Warriors completed their events on Friday afternoon at Clemens Community Pool but organizers did not release the combined results of the meet until Tuesday.

In the boys’ competition, Stayton finished first with 73 points with Philomath not far back in second with 68. Sweet Home was third with 61 and Blanchet Catholic fourth with 33. For the girls, Sweet Home won with 129 points, followed by Stayton’s 92, Blanchet Catholic’s 48 and Philomath’s 32.

Individually, Eli McLennan took first place by just over 2 seconds in the 100-yard individual medley with a time of 1:08.62. Carrson Hirte finished the 50 butterfly in 28.07 seconds for a very comfortable win of nearly 5 seconds. The PHS boys were the only entry in the 200 medley relay with McLennan, Kellen Houchin, Hirte and Caleb Matthews finishing in 2:00.21.

In addition to the winners, other top-three finishes were turned in by Hirte in the 500 freestyle (second, 6:04.28), McLennan in the 50 breaststroke (second, 34.31), Matthews in the 50 freestyle (third, 28.22), Braedon Littrell in the 50 butterfly (third, 38.22) and Houchin in the 50 breaststroke (third, 35.35)

The 200 freestyle relay placed second for the boys with a time of 1:51.01. Hirte, Houchin, Matthews and McClennan each swam legs.

Audrey Davis had the top placing for the PHS girls. Davis finished second in the 500 freestyle with a time of 6:24.13. Davis improved upon her previous best time from last year’s district meet in just the second competition of the season.

Allison Neelands was third in the 50 freestyle in 30.29 and had personal-best times in that event and the 100 freestyle. Also, the 200 freestyle relay finished third in 2:14.66 with Neelands, Ruth Cropp, Kaeleigh Houchin and Davis.

Swimmers of the meet for PHS were Phoebe Coen for the girls and Hirte for the boys. Coach Daniel Mikula said Coen has done well in the individual medley for just learning to swim the strokes this year while Hirte performed well in the 500.

Philomath High’s swim teams are scheduled to compete Tuesday with a home dual against Salem Academy.

---

Sweet Home Invitational
Friday, May 21 (Virtual)
BOYS

Team Scoring
1, Stayton 73; 2, Philomath 68; 3, Sweet Home 61; 4, Blanchet Catholic 33.

Winners & PHS Results

200 Medley Relay
1. Philomath (Eli McLennan, Kellen Houchin, Carrson Hrte, Caleb Matthews), 2:00.21

200 Freestyle
1. Tanner Fixsen, Stayton, 1:54.52
4. Kellen Houchin, Philomath, 2:27.50
5. Braedon Littrell, Philomath, 2:54.14

100 Individual Medley
1. Eli McLennan, Philomath, 1:08.62

50 Freestyle
1. Parker Dirkx, Stayton, 25.51
3. Caleb Matthews, Philomath, 28.22
7. Marshall Morrison, Philomath, 35.44

50 Butterfly
1. Carrson Hirte, Philomath, 28.07
3. Braedon Littrell, Philomath, 38.22

100 Freestyle
1. Parker Dirkx, Stayton, 57.49
4. Caleb Matthews, Philomath, 1:04.54
8. Marshall Morrison, Philomath, 1:31.00

500 Freestyle
1. Tanner Fixsen, Stayton, 5:04.33
2. Carrson Hirte, Philomath, 6:04.28

200 Freestyle Relay
1. Stayton (Parker Dirkx, Caleb Brown, Mason Luna, Tanner Fixsen), 1:48.63
2. Philomath (Carrson Hirte, Kellen Houchin, Caleb Matthews, Eli McLennan), 1:51.01

50 Backstroke
1. Jacob Kennedy, Sweet Home, 41.62

50 Breaststroke
1. Clifford Hegney, Blanchet Catholic, 32.96
2. Eli McLennan, Philomath, 34.31
3. Kellen Houchin, Philomath, 35.35

400 Freestyle Relay
1. Stayton (Tanner Fixsen, Caleb Brown, Mason Luna, Parker Dirkx), 4:08.37

GIRLS

Team Scoring
1, Sweet Home 129; 2, Stayton 92; 3, Blanchet Catholic 48; 4, Philomath 32.

Winners & PHS Results

200 Medley Relay
1. Sweet Home (Jamie Seward, Chloe Tyler, Josie Hewitt, Isabel Sayer), 1:59.66
5. Philomath (Opehlia Katsikis, Kaeleigh Houchin, Audrey Davis, Allison Neelands), 2:31.09

200 Freestyle
1. Kylie Mannix, Stayton, 2:09.93
7. Emma Holden, Philomath, 2:49.53
9. Kaeleigh Houchin, Philomath, 3:00.72
10. Grace Bennett, Philomath, 3:18.66

100 Individual Medley
1. Josie Hewitt, Sweet Home, 1:03.63
7. Ophelia Katsikis, Philomath, 1:31.44
9. Phoebe Coen, Philomath, 1:55.56

50 Freestyle
1. Jamie Seward, Sweet Home, 27.31
3. Allison Neelands, Philomath, 30.29
4. Audrey Davis, Philomath, 30.97
13. Madison Juhl, Philomath, 41.44

50 Butterfly
1. Chloe Tyler, Sweet Home, 28.35
7. Katherine Holden, Philomath, 45.78
8. Grace Bennett, Philomath, 45.85

100 Freestyle
1. Chloe Tyler, Sweet Home, 57.34
4. Allison Neelands, Philomath, 1:13.68
9. Madison Juhl, Philomath, 1:39.72
10. Phoebe Coen, Philomath, 1:46.22

500 Freestyle
1. Isabel Sayer, Sweet Home, 6:10.81
2. Audrey Davis, Philomath, 6:24.13
5. Emma Holden, Philomath, 7:54.47

200 Freestyle Relay
1. Sweet Home (Maren Weld, Jamie Seward, Meagan Baham, Chloe Tyler), 1:53.25
3. Philomath (Allison Neelands, Ruth Cropp, Kaeleigh Houchin, Audrey Davis), 2:14.66
7. Philomath B (Phoebe Coen, Grace Bennett, Madison Juhl, Emma Holden), 2:37.00

50 Backstroke
1. Jamie Seward, Sweet Home, 29.50
5. Ophelia Katsikis, Philomath, 38.94
8. Katherine Holden, Philomath, 46.25

50 Breaststroke
1. Josie Hewitt, Sweet Home, 32.16
6. Kaeleigh Houchin, Philomath, 44.31

400 Freestyle Relay
1. Stayton (Kylie Mannix, Bethany Wagar, Liberty Wiseman, Caitlyn Martinak), 4:21.25