In their first meet of the season, the Outlaws swimmers competed against some of the top teams in District 3.

Sweet Home hosted a newly configured relay meet for Marist, Jefferson, Stayton, Central and Sisters on November 30 and accommodated the Outlaws with an additional 200 freestyle relay event for the unusually large girls team.

The very experienced foursome of Brittany Baldessari, Chelsea Flanders, Tia Berg and Felicia Pledger opened the meet with explosive individual races and a visibly even finish with Marist. Only the final time averages showed the Outlaws 0.09 seconds behind the Spartans. Stayton touched the wall at 2:48.36, almost seven seconds behind the two top teams and Sweet Home and Central rounded out the group. Jefferson did not participate in the event.

Event 3, the 200 yd backstroke relay, was made up of veterans Jordyn Valdez, Aubrey Cretsinger, Zoey Wavrin and freshman Amanda Norman. Norman swam the second fastest leg behind Wavrin’s segment of 34.8. Their combined  time of 2:25.05 was good enough for third place.

The first victory for the Outlaws came in event 5, the 250 yd medley relay. Brittany Baldessari started off with an exceptional 50 yd backstroke leg in 29.9 seconds, followed by Chelsea Flanders in the 100 yd breaststroke (1:19.8), Tori Carlson in the butterfly and Courtney Satko in the freestyle. Stayton finished in second place, followed by Sweet Home and Central. Marist was disqualified.

The second top finish for the girls came with event 7, when Camille Pedersen, Kathleen Greaney, Hillary Johnson and Tia Berg swam outstanding 50 yd breaststroke legs and finished in second place behind Marist. Sweet Home attacked the Outlaws from the start, but could not catch up with this experienced squad.  Freshman, Tia Berg, swam the fastest leg in 39.2 seconds and will be a challenge to breaststrokers and butterflyers in the district.

Fe Pledger led the third 250 yd medley relay team with Claire Greaney in the breaststroke, Tia Berg in the butterfly and Hillary Johnson in the freestyle. Marist won the event, followed by Stayton and Sweet Home. Sisters finished fourth.

In event 11, Cammie Patterson(32.9) and Tori Carlson(31.5) stepped up to help the large group of very talented  JV girls during their 200 yd freestyle relays to respectable 3^rd and 4^th place finishes. Tani Chick and Breezy Tewalt recorded the fastest splits among the young swimmers, with all of them showing great potential.

The fourth 250 yd  medley relay also finished third behind Marist and Sweet Home with a time of 3:07.6. Jordyn Valdez led with a good backstroke leg, followed by Tori Carlson in the breast, Courtney Satko in the butterfly and Zoey Wavrin as anchor in the 100 freestyle segment. All girls looked strong and ready for the challenge of the top district 3 teams, Marist and Sweet Home. “The Outlaws will certainly be contenders for top placements during district and state  championships” coach Hedemark commented.

They finished up the meet with another victory over the rest of the competition during event 15, the 400 yd freestyle relay. Brittany Baldessari swam a strong 1:01.4, Tia Berg 1:07.9, Camille Pedersen 1:11.4 and anchor Fe Pledger brought the relay home with an impressive 59.7.

The boys were not as lucky in their attempts to show the competition what they can accomplish. Brian Greaney started event 2, the 250 yd medley relay, with a very strong 100 yd backstroke leg to give Drew Herron a good lead for his 50 yd breaststroke segment. Holden Sellentin followed with an outstanding 50 yds butterfly and Justin Duvenick anchored the relay with a best time in the 50 yds freestyle. The Outlaws outtouched Marist but were later disqualified for an early take-off violation.

The boys did not compete in the 200 yd backstroke relay but finished second behind Sweet Home in the second 250 yd medley relay. Allan Schaad pushed off the wall in the backstroke, chased by Drew Herron in the 100 yd breaststroke, Justin Duvenick in the 50 yds butterfly and anchor Holden Sellentin in the 50 yds freestyle. Sellentin broke the 26 second mark for a personal best.

Sweet Home and Marist won events 8 and 10 with Sisters coming in third in both the 200 yds breast relay and the third medley relay with Schaad, Bennett, Greaney and Herron.

First year swimmers Parker Bennett, Seth Flanders, Bryant Lasken and Joey Schlatter showed great promise in their 50 yds freestyle sprints with Lasken being the fastest of the freshmen boys.

The Outlaws boys were disqualified for another early take-off in the last event of the meet.

On December 14, the swimmers will be traveling back to Sweet Home  for a regulation meet against Philomath, Stayton, Blanchett and Central.