In the fall, Canby junior Quincy Taliaferro didn't expect to be going after her third title in the 500-yard freestyle this weekend in the OSAA 5A swimming championships at Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center.
In fact, the college recruiting process had proved to be so time consuming for Taliaferro that she made the difficult decision to forgo her junior season.
“I didn't really plan on coming back at all,” Taliaferro said. “I didn't know how long I was going to be going through college recruiting, or if I was going to be going through college visits through the high school season. In my mind, it just made sense not to swim this year.”
As it turned out, Taliaferro was able to make her college decision in November, committing to Wyoming. Initially, she still planned to skip the high school season and focus on her training with Lake Oswego Swim Club, but after some time passed, she opted to join Canby, thanks to some encouragement from athletic director Jeremy Ensrud.
“He said, 'It's never too late to join,'” Taliaferro said. “I'm honestly really happy I came back because everyone on the team is so happy to be there. They like to cheer and motivate. It's really a nice environment.”
By coming back, she has a chance to be a four-time state champion in the 500 freestyle.
“I feel like coming out of high school knowing I won the 500 for potentially four years in a row would be a pretty big accomplishment,” Taliaferro said.
Taliaferro returned to the Cougars off a major breakthrough in a club meet Jan. 16. That's when she broke the five-minute barrier in the 500 freestyle for the first time by clocking 4:58.87 in the Washington Open, taking two seconds off her personal best.
“It's been something I've been working towards for a while,” she said. “That meet was especially rough because the air quality in the pool wasn't necessarily the best, so when it happened, it was pretty exciting.”
Taliaferro helped Canby's girls team win the Northwest Oregon Conference title with wins in the 500 freestyle and 200 individual medley. She enters Friday's state prelims as the top seed in the 500 freestyle (5:02.71) and the No. 2 seed in the 200 IM (2:07.12). She was runner-up in the 200 IM last year.
Canby coach Eric Laitinen said Taliaferro's presence helped energize his team at the district meet.
“It gave the other girls confidence that our team could do some pretty cool things,” Laitinen said. “We weren't supposed to win the district title, but we did.”
In 2024, Taliaferro and Kali Mull (200 freestyle) became the first Canby girls to win state titles since Morgan Scroggy went back-to-back in the 100 and 200 freestyle in 2006 and 2007.
With her 500 freestyle time last month, Taliaferro passed Scroggy's school record of 5:00.46. Taliaferro has moved within striking distance of the 5A meet record of 4:54.37, set by Crescent Valley's Lindsay Soule in 2018.
Taliaferro, who already has dropped three seconds from last year's state-winning time of 5:01.88, is looking to underscore that improvement at state.
“I'm really hoping I'm under five minutes at state, which would be fun for coming back late,” she said. “I would like to try to go like a 4:56 or 4:57. Normally at high school state, I can go faster. … Even if I'm not tapered, I feel like I can swim pretty well. That's just normally how I work. I don't need a lot.”
Taliaferro swam for her local Canby club from age 8 up until the winter of her freshman year, when she switched to the Lake Oswego Swim Club. She said LOSC head coach Emily Melina has made a big impact on her career.
“I can push myself more than I thought I could,” Taliaferro said.
The 5-foot-4 Taliaferro isn't big, but makes up for it by being relentless in the water.
“She's willing to attack it and give it everything she has,” Laitinen said of Taliaferro, who went out in 55 seconds in the 500 freestyle final at district. “She's kind of fearless. A lot of people aren't fearless in the 500. She just likes racing.”
The 500 is a mental game, according to Taliaferro.
“You have to go out fast and you have to hold it,” she said. “You have to just keep pushing. I feel like once you get past the initial 300 or 400, it's like machine work. You kind of just keep going.”
An overview of the state championships Friday and Saturday at Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center:
Girls
6A
Prelims, Friday 6:30 p.m.; finals, Saturday 6:30 p.m.
Teams to watch: Jesuit, Oregon City, Lakeridge
Returning state champions: Lauren Sexton, West Linn, sr. (200 IM); Ariya Abdullah, David Douglas, jr. (50 freestyle); Sydney McDonald, Newberg, sr. (100 freestyle); Rowan Schmidt, Oregon City, sr. (100 backstroke)
2025 team scores: Jesuit 118, Wells 77, Lincoln 72, Lakeridge 70
Notes: Sexton, committed to Washington State, is going for her third consecutive title in the 200 IM. She is the top seed in the 200 IM and 100 butterfly. … Abdullah is the two-time reigning champion in the 50 freestyle but enters as the No. 4 seed. South Medford junior Eleanor Geraghty has the top qualifying time in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle. … Jesuit is going for a fourth consecutive team title and sixth in seven state meets. The Crusaders have 17 top-six qualifying times; no other team has more than six.
5A
Prelims, Friday 1:45 p.m.; finals, Saturday 1:15 p.m.
Teams to watch: Bend, Summit
Returning state champions: Madelyn Del Castillo, Thurston, soph. (200 freestyle); Maddie Thornton, Bend, sr. (200 IM, 100 backstroke); Emma Bronson, Bend, sr. (100 butterfly); Adeline Bennett, Summit, sr. (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle); Quincy Taliaferro, Canby, jr. (500 freestyle)
2025 team scores: Bend 121, Redmond 40, West Albany 26, Canby 23, Summit 23
Notes: Thornton and Bronson – signed with Georgia and Alabama, respectively – lead three-time reigning champion Bend, which set meet records for points the last two years. Thornton seeks a fourth title in the 100 backstroke and third title in the 200 IM and Bronson is going for a three-peat in the 100 butterfly. At a club meet in December, they clocked times in those events that are faster than the OSAA meet records. … Bend has the No. 1 qualifying time in 10 of 11 events, including two each by Thornton (200 IM, 100 backstroke) and Bronson (200 freestyle, 100 butterfly). … Taliaferro is bidding for her third title in the 500 freestyle.
4A/3A/2A/1A
Prelims, Friday 9 a.m.; finals, Saturday 8:15 a.m.
Teams to watch: Newport, La Grande, Catlin Gabel, Valley Catholic
Returning state champions: Becca Koza, Cove, sr. (100 freestyle, 200 freestyle); Khloe Sautel, Sweet Home, soph. (500 freestyle)
2025 team scores: Catlin Gabel 87, Sweet Home 44, Valley Catholic 29, Marshfield 28
Notes: Cove's Koza, the top qualifer in the 200 freestyle and 100 freestyle, is bidding to become the fourth girl in state history to win eight individual state titles. The Idaho commit is shooting for her fourth title in the 200 freestyle and third in the 100 freestyle. She won the 500 freestyle as a freshman. … Juniors Sam Borus of Riverdale and Avery Bengtson of Cottage Grove – who won 2024 titles in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, respectively – are looking to reclaim their titles after coming up short last year. … Newport, the 2024 champion, has the No. 1 qualifying time in two relays.
Boys
6A
Prelims, Friday 6:30 p.m.; finals, Saturday 6:30 p.m.
Teams to watch: Jesuit, Sunset, South Eugene, West Linn, McMinnville
Returning state champions: Victor Krautsov, Sunset, sr. (100 freestyle, 200 freestyle); Luca Ignatescu, Sunset, sr. (200 IM, 500 freestyle); Suiyao Li, Jesuit, sr. (50 freestyle); Drew Eubanks, Nelson, sr. (100 breaststroke)
2025 team scores: Jesuit 126, Sunset 95, McMinnville 77, Westview 77
Notes: Eubanks is on course to become the first four-time big-school breaststroke champion in 51 years. The Tennessee commit set an OSAA meet record (52.98) in the event last year and lowered his time to 52.69 in December. … Sunset aspires to unseat Jesuit – which has won the three consecutive team titles and nine of the last 10 -- behind Krautsov and Ignatescu, who are committed to Hawaii and Minnesota, respectively. They each have No. 1 qualifying times in two events. … Jesuit has 14 top-six qualifying times and Sunset has nine, but the Crusaders do not have a No. 1 seed and the Apollos have five.
5A
Prelims, Friday 1:45 p.m.; finals, Saturday 1:15 p.m.
Teams to watch: Thurston, Bend, Crescent Valley, Hillsboro
Returning state champions: None
2025 team scores: Crescent Valley 76, Summit 47, Thurston 35, Caldera 30
Notes: Thurston appears to have a shot at its first-ever team title. The Colts, who placed third last year, have nine top-three qualifying times, including two top seeds in the 200 medley relay and junior Brody Wyatt in the 100 backstroke. Reigning champion Crescent Valley, the No. 1 seed in two relays, could make a run at repeat. … Summit senior Brecken Egeland, the 100 butterfly champion as a sophomore, is the top qualifier in the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle. … Hillsboro sophomore Henry McKnight has the best qualifying times in the 200 IM and 100 butterfly.
4A/3A/2A/1A
Prelims, Friday 9 a.m.; finals, Saturday 8:15 a.m.
Teams to watch: Cascade Christian, Newport, Klamath Union
Returning state champions: Lucas Brandt, Philomath, jr. (100 breaststroke)
2025 team scores: Catlin Gabel 70, Newport 47, La Grande 30, Phoenix 26
Notes: Cascade Christian of Medford has never won a team title but is in the mix in a wide-open race this year. Junior Myles Anderson is the No. 1 seed in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle and the Challengers have the top-seeded 200 medley relay team. But Newport, which has won four titles since 2018, is among the contenders. … Phoenix junior Quin Davis (200 freestyle, 500 freestyle) and St. Mary's junior Alexandru Titianu (100 butterfly, 100 backstroke) are seeded first in two events each. … The Dalles qualified first in two relays.
jerryu@osaa.org
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