The 2015 OSAA 5A Swimming State Championships at Mt. Hood Community College Aquatic Center featured exciting team battles on both the girls’ and boys’ side of the meet. The Bend girls won their first state title since 1999, keeping Summit from continuing their three year streak. The Summit boys picked up their fourth championship in a row. Both meets were exciting to the very end; the girls won by 2 points and the boys, by 9.
Girls’ Meet
Bend opened the meet with a 1:50.11 win in the 200 medley relay from Elliyana Ferrin (27.08), Emily Brockman (31.21), Jennifer Robeson (26.22), and Bella Wiener (25.60). Mountain View (Hannah Peterson, Kennedy Bright, Teresa Cobb, and Justine Hanway) came in second at 1:51.22; Sandy (Shelbi Hayzlett, Zayna Salveter, Hannah Gupton, and Asha Gatchell) were third in 1:53.24.
Summit’s Mackenzie Halligan was a double event winner, dominating the field in the distance free events. Halligan first won the 200 free with 1:52.03 over teammate Merritt Allen (1:53.63) and Bend’s Brockman (1:54.54). Allen went on to win the 100 fly in record-breaking style. After having established the OSAA 5A state record with 57.10 in prelims, Allen lowered it by another 8/10 in finals, going 56.35. Bend’s Robeson was also under the new mark with her 56.83 second-place finish. Sandy’s Gupton took third in 58.71.
Halligan’s 500 free win was specatular, coming within .16 of the OSAA 5A state record. She finished with 4:54.98, well in front of the field. Crescent Valley’s Lindsey Soule placed second, coming in at 5:00.76. Third place went to Robeson of Bend in 5:03.35.
Bend’s Ferrin also finished the meet with two state titles. In the 200 IM, she narrowly missed the 5A meet record by .16 with her first-place 2:05.15. Second place went to Alison Epple of Summit in 2:07.27. Mountain View’s Cobb took third, touching in 2:08.71. Ferrin then won the 100 back with 55.98. Soule of Crescent Valley was runner-up in 58.58. Dhani Freeland of Hood River Valley rounded out the podium, taking third in 59.16.
Maddy Kelly of Lebanon doubled up in the sprint freestyles. First she clocked a 24.00 to earn the 50 free crown, with Mountain View’s Peterson (24.58) and Bend’s Julia North (24.83) rounding out the podium. Next, Kelly won an exciting 100 free in dramatic fashion. Kelly, Freeland of Hood River Valley, and Mountain View’s Bright were all out in 25.5 at the 50. Kelly’s second half propelled her into first as she came to the wall in 52.46. Freeland edged Bright for second, 52.72 to 53.34.
In a very fast 200 free relay, the top three teams all came in under the previous OSAA 5A state record of 1:40.82 set by Crescent Valley in 2009. Summit’s Gianna Belza (25.76), Allen (24.61), Epple (24.54), and Halligan (24.06) combined for the winning 1:38.97. Second place went to Mountain View (Peterson, Cobb, Hanway, and Bright) in 1:39.29. Bend’s Ferrin, Wiener, Chyna Fish, and North went 1:40.70 for third.
Brockman of Bend won a thrilling 100 breast final, edging out Mikayla Grover of Summit, 1:05.93 to 1:06.06. Hailey Cablao of Liberty took third in 1:07.18.
In the 400 free relay, Summit came within .07 of breaking the 5A record that Crescent Valley set back in 2008. And although they won the final relay in decisive fashion, the Summit girls still fell 2 points short of the state title. Nevertheless, Summit’s Grover (55.68), Allen (52.90), Epple (53.64), and Halligan (52.48) clocked a 3:34.70 to earn their second state relay title of the meet. Bend (Fish, Brockman, Robeson, and North) came in second with 3:37.92. Hood River Valley placed third with Kylie Webb, Courtney Castaneda, Caitlyn Fick, and Freeland.
Final Scores – Girls
- Bend 74
- Summit 72
- Mountain View 42
- Hood River Valley 26
- Sandy 25
- Crescent Valley 16
- Lebanon 14
- Marist Catholic 12
- Corvallis 6
- South Albany 5
- Liberty 4
- Hillsboro 4
- Dallas 3
- Redmond 2
- Churchill 2
- The Dalles/Dufur 1
Boys’ Meet
Summit began big, winning the 200 medley relay with a new 5A record of 1:37.50. John Hartmeier (24.04), Taj Mercer (28.81), Tommy Brewer (22.12), and Baxter Halligan (22.53) went a full second under the previous state mark, set in 2009 by Summit. Bend (Paul Rogers, Garrett Ross, Benjamin Brockman, and Nathan Brown) placed second with 1:38.96; Liberty (Max Woodbury, Daniel Lupro, Max Schmitt, and Decker Strom), third in 1:43.65.
Noah Norris of Wilsonville was a two-time champion, beginning with the first individual event. Norris won the 200 free by a nearly two body-lengths margin, in 1:42.65, Bend’s Brockman took second in 1:45.20, while teammate Christian Offenhauser finished third in 1:47.58. Offenhauser came from behind to just out-touch Tristan James of Springfield (1:47.77) over the last 50 yards. Next, Norris dominated the 100 fly, going 51.44 over Corvallis’ Gourley (52.54) and Bend’s Brockman (52.56). Brockman had a strong second half and almost caught Gourley, but fell just .02 short of second place.
In the 200 IM, Bend’s Rogers used a huge final free leg to overtake Lupro of Liberty, winning 1:55.94 to 1:56.11. Halligan of Summit went 1:59.31 for third. Rogers then went on to win the 500 free, albeit with much less drama. Rogers put up a 4:42.16 for the championship title, coming in a full second ahead of Bend’s Offenhauser (4:43.14). Corvallis’ Noah Vial placed third in 4:49.22.
Summit’s Brewer missed his own 5A record by .05 but still won his third 50 free title with a 20.85. Lebanon’s Casey McEuen went 21.78 for second; Corvallis’ Trevor Gourley took third with 22.09. Brewer later won the 100 breast, lowering his own state record from 2013 by .12 with a 56.22. Ross of Bend came in second with 59.12. South Albany’s Bryce Dickerson went 1:00.59 for third.
Hartmeier of Summit dominated the field in the 100 free. He led from start to finish, touching in 47.43 ahead of Liberty’s Lupro (48.62). The race for third was exciting, with only about a half a second separating third from sixth places. In the end, Jeremy Moon of Summit picked up the bronze with 50.07. Hartmeier’s second state title came in the 100 back. He clocked a 50.81 to win by 3 seconds over teammate Halligan (53.81) and Mathew Arnold of Hillsboro (55.11).
Corvallis captured the 200 free relay title, posting a winning time of 1:30.41 from Karl Weiler (23.45), Quin Peterson (22.94), Charlie Way (22.47), and Gourley (21.46). Pendleton challenged Corvallis to end, but couldn’t match Gourley’s 21.46 anchor and finished second in 1:30.66. Pendleton’s relay featured Nate Rickman, Layton Kirsch, Lukas Johnson, and Jon Jennings. Lebanon (Rylan Rogers, Owen Engler, Darrin Breshears, and McEuen) took third with 1:31.75. McEuen split a 21.14 on the end of that relay.
Summit ended the meet with a 5A record in the 400 free relay, erasing the 2009 mark set by Hillsboro by 1.4 seconds. Hartmeier (47.85), Moon (50.89), Halligan (49.22), and Brewer (45.09) came in at 3:13.05. Bend secured their second-place team title with a 3:15.96 from Brockman, Offenhauser, Ross, and Rogers. Lebanon rounded out the podium with 3:22.93 from the quartet of Rylan Rogers, Owen Engler, Breshears, and McEuen.
Final Scores – Boys
- Summit 74
- Bend 65
- Corvallis 37
- Lebanon 25
- Pendleton 24
- Wilsonville 20
- Liberty 19
- Springfield 18
- South Albany 10
- La Salle Prep 4
- Hillsboro 4
- North Eugene 4
- Mountain View 2
- Central 2