Mid-Valley swimmers head to the state championships for the first time in two years

Edith Noriega, Salem Statesman Journal
·6 min read
South Salem's Madelyn Spier competes in the 100-yard butterfly during the 6A-6 district swim meet in Bend on Feb. 12.
South Salem's Madelyn Spier competes in the 100-yard butterfly during the 6A-6 district swim meet in Bend on Feb. 12.

For the first time in two years, the Oregon School Activities Association will again host swimming state championships.

Plenty of Salem-area swimmers are expected to compete this Friday and Saturday at Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton. Although this time around, competing will mean more given that the last state championships were held in February 2020 — a few weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools.

All state competitions were canceled during the 2020-2021 school year.

At this year's championships, Silverton continues its domination with swimmers in 11 events at the Class 5A level — the most of any of the Mid-Valley schools.

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Silverton's Catherine Hyde will compete in four events — 100-yard butterfly, 100-yard backstroke, 200-yard medley relay and 200-yard freestyle relay.

The Silverton boys 200 freestyle relay team is the state's No. 2 seed, with a time of 1:36.00.

Also at the Class 5A level, Central's duo Gentry Hagedorn and Taylor Hagedorn will compete in six events combined.

Gentry will compete in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle while Taylor will compete in the 500-yard freestyle and 200-yard IM.

Together they will also compete in the 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard freestyle relay.

Kennedy's Cameron Miller will compete in two events — 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly at the 4A/3A/2A/1A level.

Miller is the state's top seed in the 100-yard backstroke, with a time of 55.48.

The Stayton girls 200 freestyle relay team is the state's No. 2 seed, with a time of 1:48.35. They will compete at the 4A/3A/2A/1A level.

Friday's finals will open with 5A competition from 4:30-8:28 p.m.

Saturday's finals open with 6A from 10 a.m. to 1:58 p.m., followed by 4A/3A/2A/1A from 4:45-9:04 p.m.

Mid-Valley swimmers competing at state

CLASS 6A GIRLS

  • 200-yard medley relay: West Salem (Caitlin Waldner, Mia Piexoto, Emily Silldorff, Paige Anderson, Hailey Heflin, Caroline Haworth) 1:54.64.

  • 200-yard IM: Mia Piexoto (West Salem) 2:17.13.

  • 200-freestyle relay: South Salem (Madelyn Spider, Olivia Buswell, Sophia Buswell, CC Baurer, Anna Whitney, Jolie Rice) 1:43.78; West Salem (Reyna Macias, Caitlin Waldner, Mia Piexoto, Olivia Powell, Natalie Peterson-Hunt, Elfida Laroya) 1:43.94.

  • 100-yard breaststroke: Madelyn Spider (South Salem) 1:07.78; Mia Piexoto (West Salem) 1:09.21.

  • 400-yard freestyle relay: West Salem (Paige Anderson, Reyna Macias, Emily Silldorff, Olivia Powell, Trinity Reis, Hailey Heflin) 3:54.62.

McNary's Caleb Skipper competes in the 50-yard freestyle race during the 6A-6 District swim meet at Juniper Swim & Fitness in Bend on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022.
McNary's Caleb Skipper competes in the 50-yard freestyle race during the 6A-6 District swim meet at Juniper Swim & Fitness in Bend on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022.

CLASS 6A BOYS

  • 50-yard freestyle: Matthew Graham (Sprague) 22.93.

  • 200-yard freestyle relay: Sprague (Christoph Jones, Jackson Brown, John Allen, Matthew Graham, Joshua Bare) 1:37.53; McNary (Tyshin Nguyen, Brayden Kaehler, Caleb Skipper, Zachary Kilby, Zander Rhoades) 1:37.77.

  • 100-yard backstroke: Elijah Buswell (South Salem) 57.38.

  • 400-yard freestyle relay: South Salem (Jaden Sohl, Joshua Barraza, Elijah Buswell, Will LaDuca, Ryan Morrow, Travis Derting) 3:32.03.

CLASS 5A GIRLS

  • 200-yard medley relay: Silverton (Libby Grogan, Evie Smith, Catherine Hyde, Lucy Fronza, Cordelia Bay, Cecelia Petrik) 2:01.27.

  • 200-yard freestyle: Gentry Hagedorn (Central) 1:58.19; Kaitlyn Landis (Central) 2:07.34.

  • 200-yard IM: Taylor Hagedorn (Central) 2:15.67; Lonny Stork (Dallas) 2:17.20.

  • 50-yard freestyle: Kaitlyn Landis (Central) 26.64; Hope Mikkelsen (Dallas) 26.82.

  • 100-yard butterfly: Catherine Hyde (Silverton) 1:00.39.

  • 100-yard freestyle: Gentry Hagedorn (Central) 55.35.

  • 500-yard freestyle: Lonny Stork (Dallas) 5:22.86; Taylor Hagedorn (Central) 5:32.51.

  • 200-yard freestyle relay: Silverton (Catherine Hyde, Libby Grogan, Cordelia Bay, Lucy Fronza, Cecelia Petrik, Evie Smith) 1:48.32; Central (Kaitlyn Landis, Sarah Cooper, Gentry Hagedorn, Taylor Hagedorn, Madison Hanson, Samara Winningham) 1:48.60.

  • 100-yard backstroke: Catherine Hyde (Silverton) 59.38; Libby Grogan (Silverton) 1:05.38.

  • 400-yard freestyle relay: Central (Kaitlyn Landis, Sarah Cooper, Gentry Hagedorn, Taylor Hagedorn, Madison Hanson, Samara Winningham) 3:59.58.

CLASS 5A BOYS

  • 200-yard medley relay: Silverton (Micah Hurley, Nathan Barnes, Landon Miller, Grant Nealon, Dalton Buller, Carter Daniel) 1:55.87.

  • 200-yard freestyle: Makani Buckley (Silverton) 1:54.97; CJ Hollis (Silverton) 2:00.00; Cash Hagedorn (Central) 2:05.36.

  • 50-yard freestyle: Kellen Hayter (Silverton) 23.44.

  • 100-yard freestyle: Kellen Hayter (Silverton) 52.62.

  • 500-yard freestyle: Makani Buckley (Silverton) 5:16.36.

  • 200-yard freestyle relay: Silverton (CJ Hollis, Grant Nealon, Makani Buckley, Kellen Hayter, Dalton Buller, Micah Hurley) 1:36.00.

  • 100-yard breaststroke: Vasili Karatzas (Dallas) 1:05.76.

  • 400-yard freestyle relay: Silverton (Makani Buckley, Dalton Buller, CJ Hollis, Kellen Hayter, Micah Hurley, Carter Daniel) 3:36.35.

CLASS 4A/3A/2A/1A GIRLS

  • 200-yard medley relay: Stayton (Caitlyn Martinak, Avery Mannix, Liberty Wiseman, Ashley Rea, Bethany Wagar, Vanessa Zamudio) 2:05.38; Cascade (Dixie Mandyck, Brylee Syverson, Jorja Sell, Marie Tarrab Dabbah, Mar Alemany Lorente, Allie Fiskus) 2:13.66.

  • 200-yard freestyle: Bethany Wagar (Stayton) 2:13.66.

  • 200-yard IM: Brylee Syverson (Cascade) 2:22.82; Avery Mannix (Stayton) 2:32.91.

  • 50-yard freestyle: Ashley Rea (Stayton) 26.47; Caitlyn Martinak (Stayton) 26.67; Eliana Kuenz (Salem Academy) 27.22.

  • 100-yard butterfly: Liberty Wiseman (Stayton) 1:15.57.

  • 100-yard freestyle: Caitlyn Martinak (Stayton) 58.60; Bethany Wagar (Stayton) 1:01.28.

  • 200-yard freestyle relay: Stayton (Caitlyn Martinak, Ashley Rea, Bethany Wagar, Avery Mannix, Vanessa Zamudio, Liberty Wiseman) 1:48.35; Cascade (Brylee Syverson, Dixie Mandyck, Jorja Sell, Marie Tarrab Dabbah, Allie Fiskus, Mar Alemany Lorente) 1:59.81.

  • 100-yard breaststroke: Brylee Syverson (Cascade) 1:12.74; Avery Mannix (Stayton) 1:18.58; Haley Krieger (Salem Academy) 1:21.29.

  • 400-yard freestyle relay: Stayton (Ashley Rea, Vanessa Zamudio, Liberty Wiseman, Bethany Wagar, Caitlyn Martinak, Avery Mannix) 4:16.81; Salem Academy (Naomi Makin, Emiri Sakumoto, Haley Krieger, Eliana Kuenz, Ella Ditchen, Tananya Fleming) 4:34.34.

CLASS 4A/3A/2A/1A BOYS

  • 200-yard medley relay: Cascade (Jacob Gehley, Arlen Kuenzi, Ryan Pederson, Tyler Bitikofer, Scott Christiansen, Cole Tofflemire) 1:57.52.

  • 200-yard freestyle: Sebastian Ramos (Blanchet) 2:01.25.

  • 200-yard IM: Gabriel Carroll (Salem Academy) 2:18.08.

  • 100-yard butterfly: Cameron Miller (Kennedy) 56.73.

  • 500-yard freestyle: Sebastian Ramos (Blanchet) 5:33.15.

  • 200-yard freestyle relay: Cascade (Tyler Bitikofer, Jacob Gehley, Arlen Kuenzi, Ryan Pederson, Scott Christiansen, Cole Tofflemire) 1:44.81.

  • 100-yard backstroke: Cameron Miller (Kennedy) 55.48; Ryan Pederson (Cascade) 1:06.25.

  • 100-yard breaststroke: Arlen Kuenzi (Cascade) 1:12.08.

Edith Noriega is a sports reporter. Reach her at ENoriega@salem.gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Noriega_Edith To support her work, subscribe to the Statesmanjournal.com today.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: These Mid-Valley swimmers have the top times heading into state