Philomath High senior Carrson Hirte took first place in two events Saturday at the Blanchet Catholic Invitational and both the Warrior boys and girls placed fifth in the team standings in the program’s final meet before districts.
Hirte sprinted to an easy victory in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 52.76 seconds — a margin of 2.72 seconds over the runner-up. In the 100-yard backstroke, Hirte was even more unchallenged with a victory of 5.75 seconds over the second-place finisher. The school record-holder in the event, Hirte turned in a time of 58.50.
The meet was held at the Kroc Center in Salem.
Among the other results, Hirte and his teammates placed second behind Silverton in the 200 medley relay with a time of 155.20. Hirte, senior Kellen Houchin, freshman Cameron McLennan and senior Micah Matthews finished a strong second in 1:55.20.
Philomath’s Matthews and Houchin both had top-six finishes in their individual events. Houchin placed third in the 100 breaststroke in 1:12.56 and sixth in the 100 butterfly in 1:09.56. Matthews was fourth in the 50 freestyle in 26.40 and fifth in the 100 breaststroke in 1:16.19.
Philomath’s 400 freestyle relay placed sixth in 4:26.40 with sophomore Emmitt Gaskey, freshman Evan Hernandez, Hirte and Matthews.
The meet was the final appearance for Matthews, who will not be available to swim in the Feb. 10-11 district meet in Albany because of an academic commitment.
Silverton won the boys title with 290 points with Molalla a distant second at 187, followed by Cascade (150), Valley Catholic (145) and Philomath (118). Eight schools had teams at the meet.
The Warrior girls had several top-six finishes, including in all three relays and in six individual events.
Sophomore Kyah Weeber had the top finish for Philomath at the meet with fourth place in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:44.75. Weeber tied for fifth with sophomore teammate Brooke McDaniel in the 100 breaststroke — both Warriors coming in with a time of 1:21.83.
Freshman Kathleen Donovan had a fifth and a sixth individually. She was fifth in the 100 backstroke in 1:17.03 and sixth in the 200 IM in 2:52.37. Senior Allison Neelands gave the Warriors fifth place in the 500 freestyle in 6:37.22.
On the relays, the 400 freestyle placed fifth in 4:52.82 with senior Hannah Beck, senior Emma Holden, junior Madison Juhl and Neelands. The 200 medley relay with Donovan, sophomore Hanna McDaniel, Weeber and Juhl was sixth in 2:19.56. The 200 freestyle relay with Weeber, Hanna McDaniel, Neelands and Beck was sixth in 2:07.43.
Silverton won the girls team title with a whopping 402 points. Molalla was second at 129 followed by Valley Catholic (126), Stayton (122), Philomath (116) and four other teams.
