BEAVERTON – Bend's girls swim team capped a season a dominance with a tour-de-force performance in the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 5A championships Saturday night at Tualatin Hils Aquatic Center.
The Lava Bears finished first in nine of the 11 events, including all three relays, to win their second consecutive title and fifth since 2015. They amassed 119 points to run away from Canby (48), Redmond (33) and West Albany (30).
“We have great coaches, we have great swimmers. It's an all-around amazing team,” junior Kamryn Meskill said. “We work really hard, we train together and we get the job done. We get competitive. It's a fun way to bring out that side of us.”
After breaking the OSAA meet record in the 200-yard medley relay in prelims, Bend broke it again in the finals. The team of sophomore Maddie Thornton, junior Hadley Hayes, sophomore Emma Bronson and Meskill lowered the time from 1:43.03 to 1:41.91.
“That was the highlight today, for sure,” Meskill said. “We knew we could do it.”
Said Thornton: “We were all just super excited about it. We were all in a real positive, good mood before the race.”
Bend coach Brandon Powers marveled at how his swimmers reached another level.
“They weren't even expecting to break it again, but they were super, super stoked that they were able to break it a second time,” Powers said. “And they're so, so proud of themselves.”
Meskill (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle), Thornton (200 IM, 100 backstroke), Bronson (100 butterfly) and Hayes (100 breaststroke) claimed individual titles.
It was the third 50 freestyle title for Meskill, who won it for Caldera in 6A in 2022 and for Bend in 5A in 2023. Her time of 22.89 broke the 5A meet record of 22.96, set by Wilsonville's Helena Jones in 2022.
Bronson, a transfer from Mountain View, broke Meskill's 5A meet record in the 100 butterfly. She finished in 55.47, topping Meskill's winning time of 55.53 from last year.
With all of Bend's individual champions eligible to return next season, the Lava Bears seem to be just getting started.
The only non-Bend swimmers to win titles Saturday were from Canby: senior Kali Mull (200 freestyle) and freshman Quincy Taliaferro (500 freestyle).
6A
Jesuit won its second consecutive title and fourth in five state meets, scoring 107 points to beat Lakeridge (93), West Linn (57) and Lincoln (55). The Crusaders did not win an event but had five runners-up and 12 top-six finishes.
Lake Oswego junior AnneMarie Vlaic repeated as champion in the 100 butterfly and won the 500 freestyle by knocking off the two-time reigning champion, Jesuit senior Sydney Wilson.
Vlaic edged West Linn senior Maeve DeYoung by .11 seconds in the 100 butterfly and controlled the back end of the 500 freestyle to defeat Wilson by 2.16 seconds. Vlaic's winning time of 4:57.15 in the 500 freestyle was three seconds off her PR.
“Last year was a rocky year for me, so I kind of stayed about five minutes,” Vlaic said. “But this year, I started doing a lot of distance, and so I've dropped three seconds so far.
“My front half, I was just try to get into it, and just try to stay with the event and see how it plays out. Because if I waste my energy in the first half, then I'm just going to be dead by the end.”
Westview senior Stephanie Lee successfully defended her title in the 100 freestyle. She won by .57 seconds with a time of 51.61, which was .01 off the personal best she set at the Metro League district meet.
“It's definitely exciting to end my senior year like this,” said Lee, who plans to swim in college at Emory. “I definitely had the motivation with it being my senior year and everything. … I definitely put pressure on myself, but my teammates and my coaches were supporting me.”
DeYoung came back from the narrow defeat in the 100 butterfly to win the 100 backstroke for the second year in a row, coasting to victory by 1.4 seconds.
David Douglas freshman Ariya Abdullah won the 50 freestyle, becoming the Scots' first individual champion since 2009. Barlow senior Kaitlyn Logue won the 200 freestyle to become the Bruins' first champion since 2008.
Lakeridge captured the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay. Pacers senior Rae Dodson won the 100 breaststroke and swam a leg on the 200 medley relay.
4A/3A/2A/1A
Behind its relay teams – two champions and one runner-up – Newport claimed its first team title. The Cubs scored 54 points, topping La Grande (43), Sweet Home (29) and Cove/Union (26).
Cove/Union sophomore Becca Koza (200 freestyle, 100 freestyle) and Molalla senior Marie Mason (200 IM, 500 freestyle) each won two events. Koza, who won the 500 freestyle last year, repeated as champion in the 200 freestyle. Mason took the 200 IM for the second year in a row.
Others repeating titles from last year were Cove/Union senior Sarah Koza (50 freestyle) and Sweet Home junior Kirsten Sautel (100 breaststroke).
Seniors Claire Hurty and Layla Bretz swam on both winning relays for Newport, joining freshman Ruby Perucci and junior Allison Pettett on the 200 freestyle relay and freshman Gwynn Postlewait and senior Pia Lihou on the 400 freestyle relay.
Two freshmen claimed titles: Riverdale's Sam Borus (100 butterfly) and Cottage Grove's Avery Bengston (100 backstroke).
Boys
6A
Jesuit survived a record-setting performance from Metro League rival Sunset in the final event, the 400 freestyle relay, to win a repeat title and eighth championship in nine state meets.
Sunset set an OSAA meet record to win the 400 freestyle relay, but Jesuit finished third in the event to secure first place. The Crusaders scored 93.5 points to finish ahead of Sunset (92), West Linn (78) and Glencoe (76).
The Apollos' clocked 3:06.09 in the 400 freestyle relay with sophomore Luca Ignatescu, senior Charlie Settle, sophomore Victor Krautsov and senior Andrew Ignatescu, breaking the record of 3:06.67 set by Jesuit in 2019. The Ignatescus and Krautsov also swam on the winning 200 freestyle relay.
Glencoe also set an OSAA meet relay record. The Crimson Tide finished the 200 medley relay in 1:33.14 with freshman Nicolas Lee and seniors Nate Steiner, Mason Leach and Chris Lee, eclipsing the mark of 1:33.38 set by Nelson last year.
Nelson senior Mason Hopper was the only dual winner, repeating as champion in the 200 freestyle and taking the 100 freestyle. He edged Sunset's Andrew Ignatescu by .06 seconds in the 200 freestyle and cruised to victory in the 100 freestyle by .67 seconds.
Hopper, who has signed with Arizona, said he “didn't really have that many expectations” entering the meet.
“I'm committed to college, so I'm just trying to have fun while I'm still here at home,” Hopper said. “At the Junior National meet, I had a super good meet, so I knew those times were going to be hard to beat coming into here. But I've been close to them, so I'm happy with that. I'm just happy to come home with some first places in my last meet here in Oregon.”
Hopper takes pride in helping build the swimming program at Nelson, which opened in 2021.
“Honestly, just putting them on the map has been a pleasure,” Hopper said.
Glencoe not only set a relay record, but got titles from Steiner in the 100 butterfly, Nicolas Lee in the 500 freestyle and Leach in the 100 backstroke.
It was Steiner's second consecutive title in the 100 butterfly, but it didn't come easily, as he edged Lincoln senior Diego Hodge by .01 seconds. Hodge nearly sneaked up on Steiner from Lane 7.
“I didn't see him,” Steiner said. “I saw him at the wall. I didn't even know that guy was second. I just didn't know. I was just swimming by myself.”
Fatigue almost got the best of Steiner.
“My first 50 was really good. I was happy with it,” he said. “My second 50, I was just struggling. I was trying to survive, just get it over with, honestly.”
Nelson sophomore Drew Eubanks repeated his title in the 100 breaststroke.
5A
Caldera junior Campbell McKean was the star of the meet, smashing OSAA meet records in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke.
McKean, who has committed to USC, swam the 200 IM in 1:44.54 to crush the previous mark of 1:46.91, set by Jesuit's Diego Nosack last year. He won the event for the second year in a row.
“I did not feel like it was one of my better races,” said McKean, whose personal best is 1:44.23. “I kind of surprised myself. I thought I was going like 46.”
McKean came back later in the meet to finish the 100 breaststroke in 53.36, a stunning two seconds faster than the record of 55.40 (Brian Frazier, Oregon City, 2016). He improved on his PR of 53.87.
“I felt great, actually. A lot better than the IM,” McKean said.
McKean won the 100 backstroke at state last year, but switched to the 100 breaststroke this year. He has another year to do more damage to the record book.
“Hopefully I'll break them again next season, but we'll see,” he said. “Maybe I'll do something different.”
Caldera swimmers delighted in McKean's record-setting day.
“He's kind of the north star,” Caldera coach Jayme Van Erden said. “All the kids on the team try to be like Campbell. It's really fun to have him, and we're just thankful to get him for one more year.”
McKean's future USC teammate, Parkrose senior Thomas Olsen, completed three-peats in the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle. Olsen's winning times of 1:39.65 and 4:28.21 fell short of the 5A meet records of 1:39.14 and 4:26.52 he set last year.
"I'm not upset with the times,” Olsen said. “Obviously, state records sound nice, but I think just getting the win for myself – three-peating is obviously something I wanted to do. And also just wanting to represent Parkrose, and make Parkrose look good.
"It's almost like a weight on my shoulders, wanting to do some good for Parkrose, that state champions come out of Parkrose."
West Albany, runner-up in 2019, 2020 and 2022, finally picked up its first team championship. The Bulldogs scored 76 points to beat Crescent Valley (57), Summit (53) and Caldera (30).
Senior Conner Dickerson led the charge for West Albany by repeating in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle. He also swam on the winning 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay teams.
Dickerson led the Bulldogs to water polo state titles in 2021 and 2023.
“It means a lot for me to get both swimming and water polo this year,” Dickerson said. “I think the main thing it says is that we're a big family.”
4A/3A/2A/1A
Newport returned to the top of the small-school division by outscoring two-time reigning champion Catlin Gabel 72-47. La Grande (31) and North Bend (23) were next.
The Cubs, who won three consecutive titles from 2018 to 2020, were runners-up to Catlin Gabel the last two years. But they were too much for the Eagles this time, winning five events and placing second in three others.
Newport senior Sam Postlewait won the 50 freestyle for the second year in a row. He also won the 100 freestyle and swam the anchor on the winning 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay teams.
Cubs junior Ben Hurty, the 100 freestyle champion last year, finished first in the 100 backstroke and was part of the winning 400 freestyle relay.
Catlin Gabel senior Hodge Dauler and junior Adam Li repeated their titles in the 100 butterfly and 200 IM, respectively. La Grande junior Zane Ricker notched his second consecutive title in the 500 freestyle.
jerryu@osaa.org
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