Hood River Valley High School varsity swimmers claimed 15 district titles Saturday on their way to a commanding performance at the 2015 Columbia River Conference swimming championship at the Hood River Aquatic Center.
The HRV girls won the team title with 186 points, with Pendleton in second (143 points), The Dalles in third (108 points) and Hermiston last (60 points); the HRV boys (178.5) were a close second to Pendleton (189.5) and ahead of The Dalles (62) and Hermiston (51).
The result means coach Keith Ebbert will accompany 17 swimmers (including alternates) to the OSAA 5A championships Feb. 20-21 at Mt. Hood Community College, a number he’s very satisfied with.
“We had a fantastic meet,” said Ebbert, a fourth-year coach for the Eagles. “The kids performed a lot better than I was expecting. This is by far the largest contingent of kids and the highest number of events that we’ve been able to bring to the state meet.”
One thing about the final scores, particularly with the boys team result, is that Pendleton had nearly twice as many swimmers as HRV. “They had a lot more swimmers in the pool than us, but in terms of points-per-person, we were much higher,” Ebbert said.
With the top finisher in each event qualifying for next weekend’s state championships, the Eagles won 15 of the meet’s 22 events, thus leaving just six openings occupied by swimmers from the rest of the conference.
Earning top honors on the girls team, Dhani Freeland won two individual events (100 freestyle and 100 backstroke) and helped secure the winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams. Kylie Webb and Allison Burke each won two individual events and swam on one winning relay team. Freeland’s 100 freestyle time of 53.50 and Burke’s 500 freestyle time of 5:39.21 are both new CRC records.
Highlighting the boys results, Carlos Galvez, David Walker and Trey Schilling all earned individual titles and swam on the winning 200 medley relay team.
In addition to event winners (complete results page A7) qualifying for state, HRV earned three wild-card entries into the meet. The state’s top two second-place district finishers in each event earn wild-card entries to state. Walker qualified in the 100 backstroke, Stan Ocheskey qualified in the 100 freestyle and the girls 200 freestyle relay team qualified.
“One of the biggest surprises of the meet came from Trey Schilling; he had an absolutely fantastic race,” Ebbert said. Schilling posted a blazing 22.97 time to win the 50 freestyle event and better his runner-up district time from last year by more than a full second. Freshman Yasmin Ziada also surprised the competition with a come-from-behind win in the 100 butterfly finals.
“She was in third place going into the final 50 (meters) and won the event in the last 25,” Ebbert said. “That was a fantastic race for her. She beat her prelim time by about four seconds.”
For several event winners who came as less of a surprise, the focus has been less on simply getting to state and more on how best to compete once they’re there.
Last season’s state meet brought eight HRV swimmers to MHCC, with the lineup of Freeland, Webb, Caitlyn Fick and Danielle Miller finishing third overall and runner up in the 200 medley relay and third in the 200 relay. Webb was also second in the 200 IM and third in the 100 breaststroke and Freeland finished fifth in the 100 and 200 freestyle events. For the HRV boys who made it to state, the appearance alone was a mission accomplished (none made it through the preliminary rounds).
“We’re looking for top-three performances for those swimmers,” Ebbert said. “For others, just the opportunity to compete at state is a success.”
HRV at Columbia River Conference championships
Girls
1st: Hood River, 186; 2nd: Pendleton, 143; 3rd: The Dalles, 108; 4th: Hermistion, 60
200 medley relay: 1st, Dhani Freeland, Kylie Webb, Yasmeen Ziada and Caitlyn Fick (1:59.62)
200 IM: Kylie Webb, 1st (2:16.13); Yasmeen Ziada, 2nd (2:30.32)
100 freestyle: Dhani Freeland, 1st (53.50), new district record
100 backstroke: Dhani Freeland, 1st (1:00.87); Annika Martinez, 5th (1:22.55)
400 freestyle relay: 1st, Caitlyn Fick, Allison Burke, Courtney Castaneda, Dhani Freeland (3:57.89)
200 freestyle: Allison Burke, 1st (2:06.74); Jocelyn Pedrotti, 3rd (2:18.22); Mackenzie Booth, 5th (2:36.93)
100 butterfly: Yasmin Ziada, 1st (1:06.74); Courtney Castaneda, 3rd (1:10.48)
500 freestyle: Allison Burke, 1st (5:39.21), New district record
100 breaststroke: Kylie Webb, 1st (1:12.42)
200 freestyle relay: 2nd, Caitlyn Fick, Allison Burke, Yasmeen Ziada and Kylie Webb (1:49.21)
50 freestyle: Courtney Castanada, 3rd (27.07); Caitlyn Fick, 4th (27.20)
Boys
1st: Pendleton, 189.5; 2nd: Hood River, 178.5; 3rd: The Dalles, 62; 4th: Hermiston, 51
200 medley relay: 1st, David Walker, Stan Ocheskey, Carlos Galvez, Trey Schilling (1:46.66)
100 butterfly: Carlos Galvez, 1st (57.78)
200 IM: David Walker, 1st (2:14.41)
200 freestyle relay: 1st, Trey Schilling, Andrew Rinella, Carlos Galvez and Stan Ocheskey (1:36.35)
400 freestyle relay: 1st, Trey Schilling, David Walker, Andrew Rinella, Stan Ocheskey (3:39.76)
50 freestyle: Trey Schilling, 1st (22.97)
200 freestyle: Daniel Mears, 4th (2:08.62); Cameron Marquez-Villegas, 5th (2:10.04)
100 freestyle: Stan Ockeskey, 2nd (51.99); Cameron Marquez-Villegas, 5th (58.04)
100 backstroke: David Walker, 2nd (58.55)
500 freestyle: Carlos Galvez, 2nd (5:35.32)
100 breaststroke: Daniel Mears, 3rd (1:13.44)
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