The Dalles swimmers continue improvement

THE DALLES - The Dalles High Riverhawks boys and girls swim teams participated in three meets recently and recorded some outstanding results.

On Jan. 8, the Riverhawks competed in a three-team event at the Hood River Aquatic Center. The Dalles boys were third with 57 points and the Riverhawk girls were second with 79. The Hood River Valley High Eagles won both the boys and girls meets.

The Dalles’ boys squad recorded 11 top-five finishes, including one event win by junior Sawyer Dray in the 100 free (1 minute, 4.91 seconds). Dray, junior Maverick Varland, senior Everest Lenardson and junior Rhett Loughmiller swam to a third-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay (4:15.87).

Loughmiller was second in the 100 backstroke (1:13.79) and in the 200 free (2:18.86). Loughmiller, Lenardson, Dray and Varland swam were second - behind HRV - in the 200 medley relay (2:10.04). Lenardson also was third in the 100 breaststroke (1:22.71).

“My goal is to qualify for the state meet again,” said Lenardson, already a two-time qualifier. “I have been really close to getting some personal best times in some events. As we get closer to the end of the season, we start to taper down a little and then we focus on trying to swim faster at that point. … My favorite event is the 200 IM and I had a time of two minutes, 11 seconds at the state meet last year and I got fourth place. It’s so exciting with all the teams there … and it’s such a nice pool to swim in, too.”

The state meet is Feb 20-21 at the Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton.

The Riverhawks girls had 12 top-five finishes and one event win by junior Kaiya Doty in the 200 free (2:33.86). Doty, junior Lillen Vaught, senior Laura Black and junior Riley Elliot were second behind HRV in the 200 medley relay. The quartet also took second to HRV in the 400 free relay (5:16.31). Elliot was third in the 100 breaststroke (1:42.40).

The Riverhawks, guided by seventh-year Coach Shea Macnab, won a five-team Class 4A/3A/2A/1A Special District 1 meet Jan. 13 at Madras; the boys notched 227 points and the girls had 193.

“I anticipate that similar to last year, we’ll have a good number of swimmers qualifying for state,” said Macnab. “I think Kaiya, Rhett and Everest will qualify in individual events. I think we’ll be able to qualify in four relay events, too.”

The boys’ highlights included a 1-2 finish by juniors Cannon Stocks in the 50 free (26.38) and Creighton Clack (26.60). Loughmiller won the 100 free (54.02). Loughmiller, Varland, Dray and junior Aiden Nunez combined for a win in the 200 free relay (1:42.91).

Doty (1:01.77) and Vaught (1:02.15) highlighted the meet for the girls squad with their 1-2 finish in the 100 free. Doty, Elliot, Vaught and Black combined to swim to first place in the 200 free relay (1:55.34).

The Riverhawks capped the week Jan. 17 winning a five-team meet at La Grande. The boys squad won the meet with 61 points, and the girls took third with 56 points.

Loughmiller provided highlights with his individual event wins in the 200 free (1:42.91) and the 100 backstroke (1:05.15). Doty had an impressive performance, swimming to three victories in the pool. Doty won the 200 IM (2:34.32) and the 100 breaststroke (1:17.31). Doty, Elliot, Vaught and Black swam to first place in the 200 free relay (1:55.59).