BEAVERTON – Wilsonville senior Helena Jones didn't get a chance to be a four-time state champion in the 100-yard freestyle, but she more than made up for it Saturday in the OSAA swimming championships at Tualatin Hills Recreation Center.
The Georgia-bound Jones ensured that she will go down as one of the state's all-time great freestylers by breaking OSAA meet records in the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle.
It was an ideal sendoff for Jones, who was the 6A champion in the 100 freestyle as a freshman at West Linn before the COVID shutdown wiped out the state championships her sophomore year.
“It's a great way to end my senior year,” Jones said. “I was pretty happy with it. I felt like if I had my head in the right place, I definitely thought it was possible. I'm just glad I was able to pull it off today.”
Jones swam the 200 freestyle in 1:47.15 to break the OSAA meet record of 1:47.96, set by Wilson's Grace Carlson in 2013. She came back to finish the 100 freestyle in 49.26, beating the previous mark of 49.46, established by Centennial's Jamie Stone in 2016.
Last year, Jones set 5A meet records in winning the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle.
“This has been her goal since she set the 5A records last year,” Wilsonville coach Deb Mandeville said. “She wanted to take down the all-time records. We thought about the backstroke and settled on the 200. She thought she was going to go for it yesterday, and she missed it by a bit, but she got it today, so she's really happy.”
Jones' performance was part of a record-filled 5A girls meet.
Bend sophomore Kamryn Meskill set the 5A meet record in the 100 butterfly (55.53) and won the 50 freestyle. She also swam legs on both first-place freestyle relays, which set 5A meet records for the second day in a row.
Meskill joined junior Jacquelyn Horning, freshman Maddie Thornton and senior Grace Benson to record winning times of 1:36.06 in the 200 freestyle relay and 3:28.29 in the 400 freestyle relay.
Bend, which also got a win from Thornton in the 100 backstroke, piled up 67 points to capture win the team title, outscoring Mountain View (52), Summit (49) and Crescent Valley (41). The Lava Bears won 5A titles in 2015, 2017 and 2018 before spending the last four seasons in 6A.
The transfer of Meskill, who as a freshman at Caldera won the 6A title in the 50 freestyle, was key to Bend winning the state championship.
“I think I needed to make the right decision for me, and I thought Bend High was going to be the right fit for me,” Meskill said. “So I made the switch, and I'm happy with where I am.”
Churchill senior Kelsey Wasikowski and Crescent Valley senior Viola Teglassy set 5A meet records in the 200 IM (2:00.45) and 100 breaststroke (1:02.51), respectively. It was the third title for Wasikowski, who won the 50 freestyle as a freshman and the 100 breaststroke last year.
Mountain View's 200 medley relay set a 5A meet record (1:46.07) behind junior Sienna LeFeber, senior Kinley Wigle, freshman Emma Bronson and junior Lexi Williams.
6A
Jesuit emerged on top in a 6A meet that did not feature any double winners or meet records.
The Crusaders scored 109 points to beat Lake Oswego (79), Sunset (71) and Lakeridge (58). It is the 11th title for Jesuit and ninth since 2009.
“The girls, we have a mindset that we go in, and on Friday, we've got to get the best times, and then on Saturday, it doesn't matter how fast people are, we've got to get to the wall,” Crusaders coach Bryan Butcher said.
Jesuit junior Sydney Wilson, the meet's lone returning champion, defended her title in the 500 freestyle, coming back strong after finishing second in the 200 freestyle for the second year in a row.
Wilson had the top qualifying time in the 200 freestyle by .82 seconds but finished behind Westview senior Alice Yueh, who won 1:52.40 to 1:52.42.
“I think there were some things in my race that I just didn't have it today,” Wilson said. “I think I didn't go out quite fast enough. But she had an amazing race.”
Jesuit also got a win from senior Alaina Pitton in the 100 breaststroke.
Lake Oswego, runner-up for the second year in a row, won the 400 freestyle relay and got victories from senior Dylan Gustaff (200 IM) and sophomore AnneMarie Vlaic (100 butterfly).
4A/3A/2A/1A
Trailing reigning champion Sweet Home by one point going into the final event, Catlin Gabel outdueled the Huskies in the 400 freestyle relay to capture the title.
The Eagles' relay team of junior Adrienne Tam, senior Alyssa Sanchez, freshman Katie Jin and sophomore Jane Hanson finished in 3:52.72, beating second-place Sweet Home (3:56.92) by more than four seconds.
The win allowed Catlin Gabel to outscore the Huskies 54-51 for first place. It is the second title for the Eagles, who finished first in 2020 and were runners-up to Sweet Home last year.
Tam won Catlin Gabel's only individual title, repeating as champion in the 100 butterfly.
Sweet Home won the 200 medley relay and got titles from freshman Breeza Rodriguez (100 backstroke) and sophomore Kirsten Sautel (100 breaststroke).
Cove freshman Becca Koza won the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle. Junior Sarah Koza added a title in the 50 freestyle for Cove.
St. Mary's and Cove were next in the team standings with 36 and 26 points, respectively.
Boys
6A
Jesuit held off a stern challenge from Nelson to win its ninth title, getting back on top after having its six-year reign interrupted by Lake Oswego last year.
The Crusaders trailed Nelson by two points heading into the final event, the 400 freestyle relay, but won the race to finish with a 114-108 edge over the Hawks, who took fourth in the relay. Jesuit's relay featured junior Graham Inman, senior Jack Alleman, sophomore Tenmy Wangpo and senior Diego Nosack.
Eight of Jesuit's 14 finals entries placed in the top three.
“I was telling our kids, the depth that we have, they all contributed,” Butcher said. “It's not just one person on our team. Everyone had to work as a team.”
Nosack was the star of the night, setting OSAA meet records in defending his titles in the 200 IM (1:46.91) and 500 freestyle (4:25.02). The previous records were 1:48.01 (Van Mathias, Beaverton, 2018) and 4:25.21 (Cameron Stitt, Sunset, 2013).
Neither of Nosack's records were personal bests, though. He swam 1:45.56 in a club meet and 4:24.80 in the Metro League district meet.
“The record's kind of been on my radar for a couple years now,” Nosack said of the 200 IM. “So I knew I was going to get it, it just came down to how the race went. I was happy to be able to do it here.”
Nosack's best in the 500 freestyle came in the prelims at district.
“It was a little different because the 200 IM-500 free double wasn't as tight as it was here,” he said. “I was just a couple tenths off of it, and I'm still happy with the race.”
Nelson, which set an OSAA meet record in the 200 medley relay in Friday's prelims, won the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay Saturday. The Hawks also got victories from junior Mason Hopper (200 freestyle), senior Quinlan Gould (100 backstroke) and freshman Drew Eubanks (100 breaststroke).
Nelson's 200 medley relay won in 1:33.55, just off its record of 1:33.38. Entering the meet, the Hawks had the record in their sights.
“We were planning it for a while, and that's exactly what we wanted to do,” Hopper said. “I'm glad we could execute it.”
Gould's winning backstroke time of 48.28 set the 6A meet record, beating the old mark of 48.53 (Patrick Mulcare, Southridge, 2014).
“I had three races before that, so that was really tough,” Gould said. “But it came together today. … There was a little bit more time between my relay race and (the backstroke), so I got to cool down better, and I was more refreshed. I was just a little more pumped up, a little more excited for a final race.”
Lake Oswego senior Tylor Kim won the 50 and 100 freestyle, his first state championships. In the 100, he held off Hopper to win 44.66 to 44.79, beating his goal of sub-45.
“For the 100, all I do is sprint,” Kim said. “I know Mason has a lot of energy, a lot of things he can give into the pool, so I knew it was going to be really close. … I was a lot better than I was yesterday. So I'm pretty happy about it.”
Sunset (77) and Lake Oswego (44) finished third and fourth.
5A
Parkrose junior Thomas Olsen repeated his titles in the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle, setting 5A meet records in both events.
The 6-foot-4 Olsen, committed to USC, swam the 200 freestyle in 1:39.14 and the 500 freestyle in 4:26.52. He said he was happy to get the wins for his team, but disappointed with his times.
“When I'm tapered down, I think I'll be able to go a lot faster,” Olsen said.
Olsen said he cranked up his training this week, doing double workouts on three days, hitting close to 14,000 yards on Monday. He is hoping it will pay off at the Pacific Northwest Spring Speedo Sectionals on March 9-12 in Federal Way, Wash.
“I think I have a good base built up, and I'm just going to carry this momentum and these wins into sectionals,” he said. “With some rest and some better competition – a travel meet, a hotel, no school to worry about – I think I'm going to do something special.”
Olsen and senior teammate Julian Hernandez, who last year led Parkrose to fourth place and its first state trophy, duplicated the feat Saturday. Hernandez won the 100 butterfly and was second in the 100 backstroke.
Summit, back in 5A after four years in 6A, scored 69 points to beat reigning champion Crescent Valley (58), West Albany (51) and Parkrose (26) for the team title. The Storm's only champion was senior Liam Gilman (100 breaststroke).
It is Summit's first title since it won seven 5A championships (2008-10, 2012-15) in an eight-year span.
Other double winners were Caldera sophomore Campbell McKean (200 IM, 100 backstroke) and West Albany junior Conner Dickerson (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle).
4A/3A/2A/1A
Catlin Gabel survived a late push by Newport to repeat as champion.
The Eagles won the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay and got wins from junior Hodge Dauler (200 freestyle, 100 butterfly) and sophomore Adam Li (200 IM) on its way to 70 points.
Newport, the 2020 champion, scored 48 points to finish as runner-up for the second year in a row. The Cubs won the 200 freestyle relay and picked up titles from junior Sam Postlewait (50 freestyle, 100 backstroke) and sophomore Ben Hurty (100 freestyle).
La Grande placed third with 43 points. Tigers senior Glenn Ricker, a two-time 100 butterfly champion, won the 100 breaststroke and sophomore Zane Ricker captured the 500 freestyle.
Marist Catholic outscored North Bend 26-25 for fourth place.
jerryu@osaa.org
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