The Philomath High School swim teams opened the season with victories Wednesday in a home meet against Gladstone and Riverside.
Swimming at Clemens Community Pool, the Warrior boys swept all three relays and won four individual events.
Sophomore Lucas Brandt had first-place finishes in the 500-yard freestyle and 100 breaststroke. In the 500, he came in with a time of 5:07.57 for a winning margin of a little more than 2 minutes, 10 seconds. Brandt’s time in the 100 breast was 1:01.96, which just missed breaking the school record of 1:01.61 set in 2015 by Patrick Williamson.
Junior Cameron McLennan had a winning performance in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:31.93, which was more than 16 seconds faster than the runner-up. In the 50 freestyle, senior Alex Dye touched in 26.67 seconds for first place in an event that featured 14 entries.
In the relays, Philomath won the 200 medley in 1:58.70 with senior Emmitt Gaskey, Brandt, McLennan and Dye; the 200 freestyle in 1:49.86 with junior Evan Hernandez, Dye, McLennan and Brandt; and the 400 freestyle in 4:41.31 with sophomore Wyatt Coen, junior Ike Avery, Gasket and junior Mason Stevens. The Warriors swam alone in the 400 freestyle relay.
In the final team scoring, the Warriors rolled to a large margin of victory with 121 points to Riverside’s 48 and Gladstone’s 34.
For the girls, Philomath had six individual victories along with two relay wins. Junior Katherine Donovan was a double winner with first in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke. Donovan had a time of 1:06.62 in the 100 free to win by 15.11 seconds over the runner-up. In the 100 back, she turned in a time of 1:20.09 to beat out the second-place finisher by 16.08 seconds.
Senior Kyah Weeber was also a double winner in the individual results with firsts in the 500 freestyle and 100 breaststroke. Weeber took first in the 500 free by more than a full minute over the second-place finisher with a time of 6:51.34. Weeber swam the 100 breaststroke in 1:21.17 for a victory of nearly 12 seconds.
Sophomore Emma Mecham won the 50 freestyle in 31.09 among a crowded field of 17 competitors. Sophomore Kate Burriel won the 100 butterfly in 1:23.64.
In the two relays that came off, Philomath won the 200 medley with Donovan, senior Kateri Pindell, Kyah Weeber and Mecham in 2:16.89; and the 200 freestyle with Mecham, Donovan, Pindell and Kyah Weeber in 1:59.90. There were no entries in the 400 freestyle relay.
Philomath’s girls ended up with 85 team points with Gladstone second at 52 and Riverside third at 44.
Coach Illiana Kaiser said she and assistant Ophelia Katsikis were proud of how the new swimmers performed.
“There were a lot of nerves and anxiety before the meet and I think they surprised themselves with how well they did,” Kaiser said, a reference to newcomers Emmylou Cook, Hailey Smith, Kayden Boynton, Cedric Gaskey, Samuel Holroyd and Oakley Pausch.
The Warriors will compete again on Saturday with an appearance in the North Marion Invitational at the Woodburn Aquatic Center. The meet is scheduled to begin at 2:15 p.m.
