BEAVERTON – Campbell McKean wasn't satisfied with holding two OSAA meet records, so the Caldera senior decided to test himself in the 5A swimming championships at Tualatin Hills Recreation Center.
The Texas-bound McKean, who set all-time state meet marks in the 200-yard IM and 100 breaststroke last year, added to his legacy by shattering the record in the 100 butterfly Saturday.
McKean finished in 46.52 seconds, a full second faster than the previous standard of 47.63, set by Churchill's Charley Page-Jones in 2022. Later, McKean nearly picked up another record in winning the 100 backstroke, his time of 47.58 just missing the mark of 47.45 (Marcus Gentry, Crater, 2022).
He knew he could make a run at the 100 butterfly record after lowering his time to 46.78 at a club meet last month.
“It was just to see how fast I'd go in different events,” McKean said. “I kind of wanted to break another record, maybe even two. It's good to mix it up.”
McKean finishes his high school career with six individual state titles. He also won the 200 IM the last two years, the 100 breaststroke last year and the 100 backstroke in 2023.
If he had chosen, McKean could have blown away his previous state meet records. In December, he swam 51.72 in the 100 breaststroke and 1:41.54 in the 200 IM, better than his records of 53.36 and 1:44.54.
His 100 breaststroke record got wiped out in the ensuing 6A meet, however, when Nelson junior Drew Eubanks broke it by finishing in 52.98.
“I think it's great that people want to go after those,” McKean said. “I hope I'm someone that people look up to.”
Crescent Valley, behind big points from seniors Emerson Gatherum and Keller Evans, scored 76 points to win its first team title since 2022. Gatherum won the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke and Evans took the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle for the Raiders, who also finished first in both freestyle relays.
Crescent Valley finished well ahead of Summit (47), Thurston (35) and Caldera (30). After finishing as runners-up the last two years, the Raiders had high hopes entering the season.
“We got a couple transfers and some new freshmen, so we thought right away, 'We've got this,'” Gatherum said.
Summit senior Landon Egeland won the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle. In the 200 freestyle, he led a 1-2-3 finish for the Storm with his brother, junior Brecken Egeland, and senior Holden Short.
“That was definitely the goal, and we did it,” Landon Egeland said. “That was a cool thing to experience.”
6A
One day after setting the 6A meet record in the 100 breaststroke, Nelson junior Drew Eubanks took down the OSAA meet record in completing a three-peat in the event.
His time of 52.98 beat the record of 53.36 set by Caldera's Campbell McKean last year. It's also a personal best for the Tennessee-bound Eubanks, who swam 53.09 at Junior Nationals West in December.
“It feels amazing,” Eubanks said. “That's the time I was hoping to get, got the record in the process, which is like a cherry on top. It's really great. I'm super excited. The training I've been doing is pretty hard, pretty intense, but I know it pays off. It's always great when all the hard work you've put into the season finally pays off.”
Westview's 200 medley relay team also set an OSAA meet record. The team of sophomores John Sommers and Ethan Sommers and seniors Matthew So and Shawn Kim finished in 1:33.11, narrowly beating the mark of 1:33.14 that Glencoe set a year ago.
The Wildcats made a leap after swimming 1:34.61 at district and 1:35.77 in Friday's prelims.
“We didn't go crazy on the 200 medley relay at districts,” Kim said. “We had a decent bit to drop, so we were pretty surprised that we got it. Yesterday we didn't have the greatest performance, so we put it together at the end.”
Jesuit won its third consecutive team title and ninth in 10 seasons. The Crusaders scored 126 points to beat Sunset (95), McMinnville (77) and Westview (77).
Jesuit got titles from senior Tenmy Wangpo in the 100 butterfly and junior Suiyao Li in the 50 freestyle.
“Last year I performed not as well as I wanted to, so I'm happy to bring a good time this year,” said Wangpo, who placed sixth in the 100 butterfly in 2024.
Li's win was especially impressive considering last month he was in the hospital with a collapsed lung.
“We thought we had a three-peat, but hearing that news, we all got really scared,” Wangpo said. “But then seeing him come back and recover, and then winning a state championship, it was amazing to watch.”
It was a big meet for Sunset, which nearly broke OSAA meet records in winning both freestyle relays and got two individual titles each from juniors Victor Krautsov (200 IM, 100 freestyle) and Luca Ignatescu (200 IM, 500 freestyle).
Krautsov and Ignatescu were on both freestyle relays. The 200 freestyle relay (1:25.01) came within .01 seconds of Lake Oswego's 2022 record. The 400 freestyle relay was fell .11 seconds short of the record Sunset set last year.
Krautsov and Ignatescu lived up to their goal of “going 4-for-4” at the meet. With both returning next season, they have high expectations for the Apollos.
“Next year we're looking for that title,” Ignatescu said. “Next year we for sure got that in the bag.”
Westview's Ethan Sommers won the 100 backstroke, giving the Metro League 10 of the 11 titles at the meet.
4A/3A/2A/1A
Catlin Gabel outscored reigning champion Newport 70-47 to claim its third title in four seasons. It's the fourth consecutive season that the Eagles and the Cubs have finished in the top two.
Catlin Gabel won both freestyle relays and was runner-up in the 200 medley relay. Eagles senior Adam Li won the 200 IM for the third year in a row and added a title in the 100 butterfly.
La Grande senior Zane Ricker completed a three-peat in the 500 freestyle and won the 200 freestyle for the first time. Newport senior Ben Hurty repeated as champion in the 100 backstroke and won the 100 freestyle for the second time in three seasons.
Other winners were Astoria senior Finn Bizzell (50 freestyle) and Philomath sophomore Lucas Brandt (100 breaststroke).
La Grande (30) and Phoenix (26) finished third and fourth, respectively.
Girls
6A
Jesuit did not win an individual event, but wrapped up its third consecutive team title by collecting 118 points. Behind a win in the 400 freestyle relay and four second-place finishes, the Crusaders ended with a comfortable cushion over Wells (77), Lincoln (72) and Lakeridge (70).
Lake Oswego senior AnneMarie Vlaic won the 100 butterfly for the third year in a row and repeated as champion in the 500 freestyle. She was shooting for the OSAA meet record in the 100 butterfly (53.13, Michelle Cefal, Westview, 2013), but came up short in 53.44, a personal best.
“I just missed it,” said Vlaic, an SMU commit. “I went into it like whatever happens, happens. Although I didn't get the state record, I'm happy with the race. It felt good. I went a best time, so in my books, that's a win.”
Vlaic came back 12 minutes later to clock 4:56.04 in the 500 freestyle, about two seconds off her best.
“I definitely wish I could've gone faster, but it was a double, and that's the way it is,” she said. “I felt really good today. Yesterday I didn't feel that good. Today I felt almost at my best.”
David Douglas sophomore Ariya Abdullah and West Linn junior Lauren Sexton repeated titles in the 50 freestyle and 200 IM, respectively. Abdullah was seeded second to Newberg junior Sydney McDonald but defeated her 23.03 to 23.51.
David Douglas coach James Bowe said the adrenaline was flowing for Abdullah, who also swam the anchor as David Douglas captured the 200 freestyle relay.
“I think this meet is one where she may put the ultimate importance to,” Bowe said. “This is what she gets psyched up for. She feels like she's representing the community more when she swims for the high school than she does for the club team.”
McDonald claimed her own victory, winning the 100 freestyle. Wells got wins from seniors Cassidy Schneider (200 freestyle) and Julia Iwanow (100 breaststroke). Oregon City junior Rowan Schmidt took the 100 backstroke.
5A
Bend, which set a 5A meet record last year with 119 points, put up 121 points to run away with its third consecutive state championship. The Lava Bears ran away from Redmond (40), West Albany (26), Canby (23) and Summit (23)
Bend won all three relays for the second year in a row and got individual titles from juniors Maddie Thornton (200 IM, 100 backstroke) and Emma Bronson (100 butterfly) and senior Hadley Hayes (100 breaststroke). The Lava Bears had 15 top-three finishes.
“Kicking off with that medley relay at the beginning of the meet, I think we just take that momentum and roll with it,” Bronson said.
The Alabama-bound Bronson, who in prelims broke her own 5A meet record in the 100 butterfly by finishing in 55.12, lowered that mark to 54.95 in finals. She swam 53.05 at Junior Nationals West in December, better than the OSAA meet record of 53.13 (Michelle Cefal, Westview, 2013).
“My goal was to try to break the overall record, but I know I still have next year, so there's not a lot of pressure,” Bronson said.
Thornton completed a three-peat in the 100 backstroke and repeat in the 200 IM. Hayes won the 100 breaststroke for the second year in a row.
Bend maintained its dominance from last year despite senior Kamryn Meskill – a five-time individual state champion – moving out of state.
“We were all super sad when Kamryn left, but I feel like we have a lot of depth on our team right now,” Thornton said. “It's super fun to keep setting goals and seeing where we can go with them.”
Summit junior Adeline Bennett won titles in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle. Canby sophomore Quincy Taliaferro won the 500 freestyle for the second year in a row.
Thurston freshman Madelyn Del Castillo came through with one of the meet's upsets when she defeated the top-seeded Bronson in the 200 freestyle. Del Castillo finished in 1:52.91; Bronson was second in 1:55.20.
“I haven't even processed it yet. I wasn't expecting it,” Del Castillo said. “I was very nervous. All morning and last night I've been thinking about it. You never know what's going to happen until you're in the race.”
4A/3A/2A/1A
Catlin Gabel won its second team title in three seasons, capturing all three relays and getting two wins apiece from sophomore Tia Chakrapani (200 IM, 100 butterfly) and freshman Summer Whittle (50 freestyle, 100 backstroke). Whittle won after having the No. 2 qualifying time in both of her races.
Catlin Gabel scored 87 points to pull away from runner-up Sweet Home (44), which finished second in all three relays. Valley Catholic (29) and Marshfield (28) were next.
Cove junior Becca Koza picked up two more titles, raising her career total to six. She won her third consecutive title in the 200 freestyle and repeated as champion in the 100 freestyle. As a freshman, she won the 500 freestyle.
Sweet Home senior Kirsten Sautel won the 100 breaststroke for the third year in a row. Her sister, freshman Khloe Sautel, took the 500 freestyle.
jerryu@osaa.org
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