As the season’s conclusion appears on the horizon with the arrival of the Special District 4 meet Friday and Saturday in Albany, Philomath High’s swimmers are chasing a number of goals.
Not all are the same.
A couple would like to not only qualify for the 4A/3A/2A/1A championships but bring home a medal. A few more hope to simply earn the experience of competing at state, which is scheduled for Feb. 16-17 at the Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton. Then there are swimmers who just want to make it out of prelims to Day 2 of the district meet, whether that’s in the A finals or B finals.
PHS coach Iliana Kaiser said she tries to be strategic on how to set the lineup for districts in a way that will most benefit a swimmer’s chances to reach state. Each week, the district sends out a list of the top 20 fastest swimmers in each event. Plus, she studies up on tendencies of what can be expected from other teams as to how athletes are entered in certain events.
“I try my best to put like three or four kids in every event,” she said. “We have a kid swimming in every event this year, which is nice, and a lot of them I think — probably 80% — are going to make it to Day 2 in the B finals and a smaller chunk will make it to the A finals.”
Event winners from each of the four districts automatically qualify for state. The next eight fastest times out of the four districts combined also earn a trip to state.
Freshman Lucas Brandt will swim the 200-yard individual medley and the 500-yard freestyle for his individual events, Kaiser said. Heading into districts, he has the top times in those two events.
Kaiser admitted that Brandt can make it to state in any event but the 200 IM and 500 free were chosen to help other Philomath athletes have a better chance of punching their tickets.
“I think he’ll probably try all of the strokes over his four years because he likes everything, he swims everything,” Kaiser said. “He has the best chance in the 2(00) IM — he’s like 19 seconds faster than the next person. The 5(00) free’s going to be a really good race.”
In the marathon, Brandt has a time of 5:05.93 compared to a 5:08.57 by Marist Catholic’s Micah Hugo and a 5:14.91 by Sweet Home’s RJ Abbott. Hugo placed second at state in the event last year and Abbott is a top swimmer in the exceptional Sweet Home program.
“He hasn’t had a race where he’s competing with people around his time so it’s going to be really good for him to push himself and not be a minute faster than everybody else,” Kaiser said.
Sophomore Cameron McLennan, meanwhile, has the top time in the 100-yard butterfly. The race for first should be close with Cascade’s Jacob Gehley just 0.16 of a second behind him. Marist teammates Jonathan McDonough and Michael Coffey could factor in as well.
Philomath’s best chances at qualifying a boys relay for state appear to be in the 200 medley and 200 freestyle. Brandt, Katsikis, McLennan and Alex Dye will swim on the medley relay. Then it will be Dye, McLennan, Brandt and Mason Stevens on the 200 free relay.
Junior Kyah Weeber will swim the 100 breaststroke and 100 butterfly for her individual events. She has the fifth-best time in the breaststroke, an event that she advanced to state in last year.
“If she can keep her stroke up and keep fighting the whole race, I think she has a good shot,” Kaiser said. “She’s put in the work as well because she knows how close she came last year and she wants to give herself a better shot this time.”
Last season, Weeber qualified by the closest of margins in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke.
Sophomore Jessica McLennan is down the list a ways in the 100 backstroke but Kaiser believes she could have a shot.
“I think she’ll at least make it to A finals but I’m not sure if her time this year is going to qualify,” Kaiser said. “But she might, she could jump time. This is her first year swimming so the thought of her making it to finals is a really good accomplishment for her.”
The top relay for the girls looks like the 200 medley with McLennan, Kateri Pindell, Weeber and Madison Juhl.
“We are working really hard to get that relay synced together and trying to make sure they work as one unit,” Kaiser said.
Seniors on the team could be appearing in their final meet unless they move on to state. Henry Katsikis appears to have a good chance in his individual events, sitting in third for the 100 breaststroke and fifth in the 100 freestyle. He got a taste of the state meet last season with the 200 medley relay. And he wants to go back for another shot at a medal.
“Through the whole season, I’ve been slowly improving and in breaststroke, just in the last home meet when we had senior night, I did really good,” he said. “I cut down 2 seconds on my time and won my event. What I didn’t know was I was right next to the guy the whole time and that’s my favorite part, when it’s a really close competition. So that was super cool.”
Kaiser believes Katsikis can take the next step.
“We’ve been working really hard on him fine-tuning his technique and really building his confidence in that he can do it,” Kaiser said. “He’s been putting in a lot of work to make every stroke count and not have a weak moment.”
Katsikis could have a shot at state in the 100 free as well.
“I just recently got sub-minute, which is a huge accomplishment for me,” he said. “I think for state, I’ll have to cut down a couple of more seconds but it’s just cool to have that time in general.”
Juhl, also a senior, said she’s excited for districts and state.
“I’ve had some major improvements in the last couple of weeks … so it’s really awesome to get to just put those to use,” she said.
Juhl will miss the camaraderie of the swim program.
“It is a bummer to be leaving all the kids that I’ve gotten so close with over the years,” Juhl said. “It’s going to be hard. But I’m excited.”
Senior Marshall Morrison and foreign-exchange student Ginny Lauzzana, who is listed with the seniors, are in their final stretch with the program as well.
Juhl anticipates competing individually in two freestyle events — the 200 and probably either the 50 or 100. She is also part of a 200-yard medley relay that could have a shot at qualifying.
“When I swim the 50 with the girls (as part of the relay), I swim harder for our team than I do for myself,” Juhl said. “So the medley (relay) is probably my best bet” to qualify.
Kaiser overall has worked with a young roster this season. Out of the 35 swimmers on the season-opening roster, 31 were listed as underclassmen with only four seniors — and one of those is a foreign-exchange student.
The coach said she’s seen growth with many of the athletes, some dropping as much as 30 seconds off times in the longer events.
“It’s really cool to see how it’s clicked in their brain — my freshmen from last year who are sophomores now — and just how much they’ve improved … now it’s really paying off for them,” Kaiser said. “They’re getting excited, they believe that they can (be successful).”
Juhl and Katsikis have found themselves in leadership roles.
“I get called ‘Team Mom’ in the locker room a lot just because I’m the one that tells them they have 10 minutes to get out,” Juhl said. “It’s definitely been a great opportunity … I’ve learned how to be a leader — Girl Scouts has definitely helped me with that — but this really has just furthered that skill alone.”
As for the upcoming district meet, Juhl and Katsikis have been through the drill.
“Don’t stress so much about the results and just try to have a lot of fun with it,” Juhl said when asked what tips she would give a younger swimmer heading into the meet. “It is a high school sport and everyone wants to go bigger but at the same time, just really try to enjoy it and make more friends that way.”
Katsikis mentioned sacrifice — in his case that includes going to bed at a reasonable hour, taking magnesium supplements, cutting down on sugar intake and filling the water bottle at least three times.
Just as important is for swimmers to focus on form in practice.
“The other thing is if it gets in your head, if you have to think,” Katsikis said. “Like on the blocks and you’re about to go for your race, you can’t start too early, you can’t do the wrong kick. You’ve got to think about it over and over and over again. That’s what really helps me.”
There are a number of sibling connections on the swim roster, including Katsikis with his sister, Ophelia, who is an assistant coach.
“It’s like a balance between she pushes me really hard sometimes and then she goes a little bit easier when I need to,” he said. “I’ve had like three or four different coaches during my high school career but having her as a coach … I think it’s awesome. She’s really connected with the team.”
