By Mike Weber
For Columbia Gorge News
HOOD RIVER — The Hood River Valley High Eagles OSAA Class 5A boys and girls swim teams had spectacular performances at the Northwest Oregon Conference District 1 meet Feb. 13-14 at Parkrose High School in Portland.
The two teams combined to win seven NWOC district titles at the nine-team event. HRV, guided by first-year Coach Keith Ebbert, has a combined total of 18 swimmers who qualified for the state meet Friday and Saturday at the Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton.
“I think everyone on team swam to personal best times in every event and they all just had phenomenal swims,” said Ebbert. “Overall, it was just a fantastic meet. We had a lot of swimmers getting their best times of the season and we had a lot of district champions. Of course, they’ll all go on to the state meet now. At this point we’re just relaxing and then we’ll get back at it on Tuesday at practice to help prepare us for the state meet.”
The 18-member Eagle girls squad swam to top-five finishes in 14 events and they took second place in team scoring with 333 points. The Canby High Cougars won the district championship with 389 points. Rex Putnam (280) was third, followed by Hillsboro (262), La Salle Prep (163), Wilsonville (155), Parkrose (90), Milwaukie (75) and Centennial (65).
The Eagle girls won district championships in the 200-yard medley relay (1:57.52) and the 200 yard freestyle relay (1:49.87). The Eagles just edged ahead of runner-up Rex Putnam, which was less than one second behind at 1:50.08. The Eagles qualified for the state meet in both relays.
The quartet of sophomore Luca Montague, freshman Grace Roulette, senior Delaney Hackett and junior Ava Giordano finished in first place in the 200 free relay. The quartet of senior Sophie Helleberg, junior Oynyxa Heredia, Montague and Giordana swam to first place in the medley relay.
Montague was a four-time NWOC district champion as she also swam to victories in two individual events; the 200 freestyle (2:10.63); and the 100 breaststroke (1:11.93).
Helleberg, Roulette, Giordano, Heredia and Hackett each swam to top-five individual event finishes. Helleberg took second in the 100 backstroke (1:08.07) and she took second in the 100 free (58.67). Giordano took third in the 50 free (27.31). Roulette took third in the 100 breaststroke (1:15.83). Heredia took third in the 100 butterfly (1:08.06), and she was fifth in the 500 free (6:20.10). Hackett swam to a fifth-place finish in the 100 butterfly (1:16.06).
Helleberg (100 free), Roulette (100 breast) and Montague (200 free) qualified for individual state meet events. Freshman Ella Stromquist finished second in the 50 free Para (36.35) and the 100 free Para (1:25.94) to qualify for state in both events. Stromquist, Montague and Roulette are first-time state qualifiers.
The Eagles appeared to have good chance to win a district title in the 400 free relay after they won the preliminary event on Feb. 13 with a time of 4:04.19. However, in the Feb. 14 finals, the Eagles were disqualified after they finished in first place.
“We lost 40 points in the 400, but I don’t know if we would’ve won the team district title, but we certainly would’ve been significantly much closer to Canby,” said Ebbert.
The 15-member Eagle boys recorded a team score of 334 to take third place behind runner-up Hillsboro (335) and repeat district champion Canby (405). La Salle (266) took third, followed by Wilsonville (220), Milwaukie (130), Centennial (91) and Putnam (seven). The boys squad recorded eight top-five finishes, including three district championship event wins.
The quartet of senior Felipe Mendez, sophomore Liam McGeeney, freshman Quinn Henderson and sophomore Kane Wagner swam to a victory in the 200 medley relay (1:42.84) to win the district title. The Eagle quartet swam second in the 400 free relay (3:25.62). The Eagles qualified for the state meet in both relay events.
Mendez, senior Charlie Marcotte, senior Francisco Solberg and sophomore Logan Griffith combined to swim to a sixth-place finish in the 200 free relay (1:42.57).
Kane and Mendez were both two-time NWOC district champions as they each won individual events. Kane took first place in the 100 free (49.65) and Mendez won the 100 breaststroke (1:01.97).
McGeeney, Kane and Henderson notched top-four individual finishes in other events. McGeeney took third in the 50 free (22.87), with Wagner close behind in fourth (23.01). Henderson recorded a fourth-place finish in the 100 backstroke (1:00.96).
Wagner (50 free, 100 free), McGeeney (50 free, 100 butterfly) and Mendez (100 breast) each qualified for state in individual events.
Commented