HRV swimmers point toward district

HOOD RIVER - The Hood River Valley High Eagles OSAA Class 5A boys and girls swim teams competed in their fourth meet of the season Jan. 8 at the Hood River Aquatic Center and they had some outstanding swims by their 38-member squad.

The Eagles, guided by first-year head Coach Keith Ebbert, had a strong performance with both squads taking first place in team scoring in the three-team event. The Dalles High Riverhawks and the La Salle Prep Falcons also competed in the meet.

“We’re definitely looking at potential swimmers who are capable of winning district championships, and I think we’ll also have a number of state qualifiers, too,” said Ebbert, whose squad also competed in a three-team Northwest Oregon Conference meet Jan. 16 at the North Clackamas Aquatic Park in Milwaukie. “We’ve had a number of swimmers who recorded personal best times at recent meets. Our relays are starting to come together pretty well, too.”

The 15-member Eagle boys squad recorded a total of 18 top-five finishes, including five event wins. The HRV boys notched 98 points, followed by La Salle (97) and The Dalles (57). The Eagle girls had a total of 26 top-five finishes, including 10 event victories and they recorded a first-place score of 128 points. The Dalles was second with 79 points, followed by La Salle with 62.

Eagle boys swimmers who had an exceptional performance with event wins included freshman Quinn Henderson (three top-fives), sophomore Liam McGeeney (three wins, second place), senior Felipe Mendez (two wins, two seconds), senior Francisco Solberg (win, four top-fives) and sophomore Kane Wagner (win, four top-fives). McGeeney and Mendez are returning state qualifiers who are hoping to reach the state swim meet again this year.

The NWOC district meet is Feb. 13-14 at Parkrose High School. The state meet is Feb. 20-21 at the Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton.

Henderson won the 100 backstroke (1 minute, 13.72 seconds). Solberg, Kane, Mendez and McGeeney combined to swim to first place in the 200 medley relay (2:04.15). McGeeney won the 50 free (26.77) and the 100 fly (1:08.74).

The quartet of Henderson, Solberg, Dominik Finlayson and Charlie Marcotte swam to second in the 200 free relay (2:01.18). Solberg, Mendez, McGeeney and Wagner combined to take second in the 400 free relay (4:09.28).

The Eagles girls squad was led by junior Ava Giordano, seniors Delaney Hackett and Sophie Helleberg, freshman Grace Roulette, sophomore Luca Montague and junior Ohnyxa Heredia, who each recorded multiple event victories.

Giordano notched an individual event win in the 50 free (30.38). Giordano, Heredia, Roulette and Lilah Hibdon swam to first place in the 400 free relay (4:59.89). Hackett won the 400 free (5:58.91) and she combined with Helleberg, Montague and Heredia to get first in the 200 free relay (2:10.87). Hackett, Helleberg, Montague and Giordano swam to first place in the 200 medley relay (2:22.41).

Helleberg, like Hackett, was a four-event winner, as she won the 100 back (1:20.32) and she tied for first place with Heredia as both swam to a time of 1:08.19. Hackett took first place in the 100 fly (1:26.42).

Ebbert said: “The interesting thing about our team is that the water polo team has established a real good foundation and they’ve done really well and become a huge feeder program for the swim team. They don’t necessarily swim competitively though because they’re really only familiar with freestyle and they don’t know the other strokes as well. We’ve done a lot of work with people to expand their repertoire so that they can build their confidence and enable them to swim in other events. We’ve had a breakthrough since the beginning of the season with people who are getting out of their comfort zone and trying different events. That really makes us a significantly more well-rounded team.”