The Silverton High swim team turned in a series of sterling performances June 26 at an end-of-the-season meet at Osborn Aquatic Center in Corvallis.
Five teams participated, West Salem, Crescent Valley, Corvallis, Central and the Foxes. Silverton ran away with the boys team title, scoring 393 points to 227 for runner-up Crescent Valley. Silverton’s girls finished third behind West Salem and Crescent Valley.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” coach Lucky Rogers told Our Town. “80 percent of our swims were (personal bests) and most of them were substantial. We really had a great meet.”
Kellen Hayter won the 50 free (23.93) and the 100 breast (1:08.87) while also swimming a leg on the second-place 200 free relay squad and the third-place 400 free relay unit. Hayter’s 50 free time was his first under 24 seconds.
Makani Buckley helped out by winning the 500 free (5:21.13) and taking second in the 200 free (1:56.34). Buckley also swam on the Foxes’ 200 and 400 free relay foursomes.
The other boys meet champion was the Foxes’ 200 medley relay squad of James Gilliam, Landon Miller, Dalton Buller and Jacob DeGuire.
Silverton’s patented depth also played a key role. Gilliam, DeGuire and Cade Mantie went 2-3-4 in the 100 back for 42 points. Carter Hollis and Connor Bates finished fourth and fifth in the 200 free for 25 points. Gilliam and Tyson Erickson were fourth and fifth in the 200 individual medley for 25 more team points. DeGuire was second in the 100 free, followed by teammates Mantie (5th), Mark Snyder (6th) and Logan Stutzman (8th). Ka-ching! 47 more points.
Catherine Hyde was the lone individual winner for the girls, taking the 100 back by more than three seconds in 1:00.89. Hyde also was second in the 100 butterfly at 1:02.21, breaking a school mark that had stood since 2009.
The Foxes also scored 90 points in the relays, taking second in the 200 medley and the 200 free and fourth in the 400 free. Lily Kelley was second in the 100 breast in a personal best 1:19.30.
Wrestling: Senior Owen Magill came within one point of a state wrestling championship for the Foxes. Magill, the sixth-seed at 285 pounds, won two early matches by fall before losing a 3-2 decision to Riley Godek of Crescent Valley in the championship match.
Silverton scored 56 points and took 11th in the Class 5A state meet June 25-26 at Cottage Grove. Crescent Valley scored 364.5 to easily win the title.
Steven Powell won three matches at 170 pounds for the Foxes before falling 9-4 against Adonai Peraza-Nava of Hillsboro in the match for third place. Foxes Jacob Moore (126) and Isac Whitehead (138) won one match apiece, while Ethan Graham (185) also participated.
Girls basketball honors: Silverton standout Truitt Reilly was named player of the year for the Class 5A Mid-Willamette Conference and the Class 6A Mountain Valley Conference. The coaches chose to combine the all-star selections because most Mid-Willamette schools only played games against conference foes and the Class 6A Salem schools in the Mountain Valley.
Reilly, a 6-2 senior post who will play next season at Western Washington, was joined on the first team by Foxes freshman point guard Kyleigh Brown. Junior Paige Traeger was a second-team choice and junior Lilly Horner and sophomore Lily Hayashida received honorable mention.
Silverton finished 11-1, with its lone loss a 51-48 defeat at Corvallis on May 22.
Boys basketball honors: The boys went at it a different way, choosing an all-star team only of Mid-Willamette players. Silverton, which finished 14-1 overall and 8-0 in league, placed three players on the first team, senior guard Isaac Semerikov, junior point guard Jordan McCarty and junior wing Neil Efimov. Senior Lucas Roth was a second-teamer, while Foxes juniors Austin Ratliff and Ryan Redman-Brown received honorable mention. Silverton’s Jamie McCarty, who is 53-1 in league play in four years, was named coach of the year.
One more hoops note: While I applaud the decision of Silverton and other schools to play crossover games against the Salem 6A schools, using the final week of the season for return engagements against those schools shows a failure of imagination. Class 4A schools, led by Marshfield Athletic Director Greg Mulkey, were able to hold legitimate state tournaments in most sports.
Running: The annual Homer’s Classic races return at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 8. On tap are a 2-mile run/walk and an 8K run that includes a pass through the Gallon House Bridge. For information or registration, go
to runsignup.com/Race/OR/Silverton/HomerClassic. Deadline is 10 p.m. Aug 7, with packet pickup available on race day.
Alumni watch: Former Foxes track and Concordia U. Irvine field and cross country standout Jori Paradis was named freshman of the year in the PacWest Conference. Paradis took second in the 1,500 and 5th in the 5,000 at the conference meet in May.
