|
At the traditional
season opener, the Sweet Home Relay Meet, a record number of
Outlaw swimmers competed on Friday, December 1, against District
Champions Sweet Home, as well as Marist, Stayton, Jefferson and
Central. The Outlaws came home with several first place finishes.
 The
four returning lady Outlaws,
Jessi Swaner,
Brittany
Baldessari,
Tori
Carlson,
and Chelsea
Flanders
were joined by experts,
Felicia Pledger
and
Courtney Satko,
as well as eight very talented, new team members.
On the boys’ side,
Brian
Greaney,
expert backstroker and 4A State Championship swimmer, lead five
returnees and a group of emerging and very promising young
athletes through the events.
2005 State
Championship contender,
Brittany
Baldessari,
opened the first event, the 200 yd medley relay with an explosive
backstroke start, followed by senior,
Jessi
Swaner’s
powerful breaststroke leg, freshman
Courtney
Satko’s
exceptional butterfly and anchor,
Felicia
Pledger’s
record breaking freestyle.
Pledger
broke the 50 yd freestyle record, established by
Brittany
Baldessari
last year, with a time of 26.2 .
The girls finished in
a time of 2:08.9, barely two seconds under the Sisters High School
record established in 1999 by Hilary Hedemark, Meghan Timms,
Shauna Timms and Rachel Kemp. The Outlaws finished first, followed
by Sweet Home, Stayton, Central and Marist. Jefferson did not
compete in this event.
On the boys’ side,
Sweet Home dominated the competition in the medley relay with four
returning seniors, finishing first in a time of 2:03.5.
Brian Greaney
led the rest of
the competition with an impressive backstroke leg in 26.9 seconds,
followed by
Jake Scott
in the breaststroke,
Justin Dean
in the butterfly and newcomer and freshman,
Holden
Sellentin
in an extraordinary time of 27.4 seconds in the freestyle.
 “Sellentin
is someone to watch. His ability to transfer verbal instruction
into action, as well as his work ethic during practices are
astonishing”, Coach Hedemark commented.
The Outlaws finished
in fourth place in the medley relay, ahead of Jefferson and
Marist.
The girls’ 400-yard
freestyle relay, with legs of 50-100-200-50 yards, was contested
by Brittany
Baldessari,
Chelsea
Flanders,
Felicia
Pledger
and Tori
Carlson.
The girls finished second behind Marist with a time of 4:30.76
In the same event,
Eli Callan,
senior and first year swimmer, sent the Outlaws off with a good
33.8 second sprint.
Holden Sellentin
followed
with a great 1:02.1. The 200 yds segment was swum by
Brian
Greaney
in another record-breaking time.
Greaney’s
time of 1:59.6, only
three seconds short of last year’s winning District 3 finish,
replaces
Justin Hedemark’s
record, established in 2003. “Greaney
is well on his way to swim into the top at Districts and represent
the Outlaws at State Championships in 2007”, remarked coach
Hedemark.
The lady Outlaws won
the next event clearly with a 14 second lead over Sweet Home.
Courtney
Satko led
the 4x100 IM with a great time of 1:15.9, followed by
Jessi Swaner
in 1:20.7,
Felicia Pledger
in 1:12.6 and anchor
Brittany Baldessari
in a best
time of 1:11.9.
The girls clearly
showed excellence in their strokes and a high level of
conditioning at the beginning of the season.
The boys finished
third in the same event, with
Greaney
leading the group in a 1:03.9 and a commendable, second fastest
time by
Drew Herron
in a 1:25.4.
New swimmers,
Jamie Kemp,
Aubrey
Cretsinger,
Marissa
Tosello
were joined by
Tori Carlson
in the 200 yds
freestyle event.
 Also
new to swimming,
Allan Schaad,
Billy
Sampson,
Nick Luz
and
Eli Callan
competed on the
boys’ side in the same event.
Allan Schaad
finished with the
fastest time in 31.5 seconds.
One of the closest
races was the next event, the 200 butterfly relay. The Outlaws
battled it out with the Marist Spartans to the end, with the lead
changing several times through the race.
Courtney Satko
started the relay in
a time of 35.9, followed by
Jessi Swaner
in 33.7,
Chelsea Flanders
in 38.3 and anchor
Felicia
Pledger
finished in an outstanding time of 31.3 seconds, just a stroke
behind Marist in second place.
The boys finished
with the third fastest time with
Greaney
leading with a 27.4 segment, followed by
Drew
Herron,
Holden
Selentin
and Justin
Dean.
However, the group was disqualified for a stroke infraction.
Another second place
for the girls came in the next event, the 200 yard backstroke
relay.
Brittany
Baldessari
led the group with a 31.2, followed by
Hilary
Johnson
(38.3),
Chelsea
Flanders
(37.8) and
Tori
Carlson
(38.1). Their time of 2:25.0 was barley two seconds slower than
first place finisher Sweet Home.
The boys were
disqualified in the 200 yds backstroke for a stroke infraction on
a turn.
A stellar performance
and extremely tight race was executed by the girls in the next
event. The breaststroke relay with
Courtney Satko,
Kathleen
Greaney,
Jamie Kemp
and Chelsie
Flanders
won with a powerful finish in a time of 2:52.2. Marist was second
in 2:53.5.
The boys relay with
Scott,
Duvenik,
Herron
and Dean
swam an outstanding race against third place finisher, the Stayton
Eagles. However, they were disqualified for an illegal kick.
In the 4x100
freestyle relay,
Jessi Swaner
led the team with
a 1:08, followed by
Kathleen Greaney
(1:18.4),
Hilary Johnson
(1:12.5) and
Tori Carlson
(1:18.8) to a
second place finish behind Sweet Home.
The boys finished
third in the same event.
On December 14 the
Outlaws travel back to Sweet Home for the first Invitational
competition, swimming a regulation meet format. |
