Twelve swimmers advance to state following successful district tournament

Craig Wright
February 15, 2013

The swim team surpassed expectations over the weekend, as the girls team took the district title, and the boys placed fourth behind strong competition from Lake Oswego, Grant and Oregon City. Twelve swimmers advanced to the state competition, including five individuals who will compete in four separate events.

Curtis Klein, senior, and Brie Balsbough, junior, are each reigning state champions; Klein in the 100 yard backstroke, and Balsbough in the 100-breaststroke.

“I am excited for the 100-breast because I am .38 seconds off of the state record,” Balsbough said. “It does feel different (to return as the defending champion) and I’m not ranked first going in, so I have to beat somebody. It’s really exciting, and I hope to have a repeat performance.”

Three girls relay teams advanced to state, and four members will also swim in at least one solo event. For the boys, two relay teams moved on, with one competing in individual events, for a total of five competitors.

Members of the girls 200-freestyle relay team include Balsbough, Brianna Dyrdahl, sophomore, Kylie Norris, freshman and Robin Pinger, freshman. This team finished with a time of 1:40.91, good enough for the fourth seed in the state tournament.

In the 400-free relay are Sarah Cooper, junior, Lauren Laderoute, freshman, Norris, and Sidney Pinger, senior. The team finished with a time of 3:42.76 and will swim as the fifth seed.

The final relay team, the 200-medley relay team, is made up of Balsbough, Laderoute, Robin and Sidney Pinger. This crew earned the top seed at the state tournament with a time of 1:47.31.

Competing in individual events are Laderoute in the 200-individual medley and 100-back. Robin will compete in the 100-free, and in the 100-breaststroke against teammate Balsbough, reigning district and state champ. Balsbough’s final event will be the 50-free.

The boys will send five swimmers to state. Two relay teams with a core of three seniors;Justus Highbarger, Klein and Ryan O’Leary. The fourth member of the 200-medley relay team is Ian Herr, junior. Rounding out the 200-free relay race is Parker Kilstrom, sophomore.

Klein will also be competing in the 200-freestyle and in his strongest event, the 100-back. Klein enters as the second seeded swimmer, but is the current reigning state champion.

“I’m definitely excited for the 100-back; I’m looking forward to that,” Klein said. “There is an upcoming freshman who is going to give me a run for my money this year and we will see how this goes.”

Klein holds two district records, both of which were set last year. One in the 100-back, and the other in the 200-free.

“I’m excited for the relays, those are definitely going to be fun,” Klein said. “Being in a team is better than swimming by myself. I’m also really proud of our girls for winning districts this last weekend. That was really awesome.”

The state competition begins on Feb. 15 at Mt. Hood Community College.

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About the Contributor

Craig Wright, Reporter

Whether running drills on the tennis court or jamming in his basement, Craig Wright, senior, fully commits himself to his passions. Wright has been playing tennis since he was six, when he was shorter than the net. He has been on the Boys Varsity Team all four years of high school and hopes to be captain this year. Wright is just as big of a fanatic about music as he is about tennis; he’s been to too many concerts to have a sure count; his best estimate is 34.

Wright’s interest in tennis was inherited; his dad played tennis in high school and shared his interest with Wright’s mom. His parents introduced he and his brother, Brett, to the sport and they both took to it. Last year Wright and his doubles partner, Jonathan Macemon, Class of 2012, were third in the District Championship and made it to State. In fact Wright’s favorite vacation was going South Carolina, primarily because he and his family were able to play tennis on real green clay courts.

Even though he plays tennis year round,somehow Wright has time for intramural basketball. However, according to Wright, when it comes to intramural “the less effort the better.” Another extracurricular activity that Wright participates in is Symphonic Band; he is a percussionist.

Wright’s interest in music extends beyond percussion; he has been playing guitar since sixth grade and bass guitar since eighth grade. The reason that Wright is so interested in playing instruments is that he is a huge music fan.

“I like a little bit of everything,” Wright said.

Wright’s brother introduced him to a wide variety of music, and they share many favorite bands like The Beatles, The Replacements, My Morning Jacket, Arcade Fire, Gaslight Anthem, The Ramones and The Clash. Wright idolizes many musicians and dreams of meeting them.

“Joe Strummer[The Clash] would be awesome [to meet], but he’s dead,” Wright said, “I’d like to meet Brian Fallon[The Gaslight Anthem]; he’s just a cool dude.”

Wright’s interest in the arts continues into his academic career. His favorite class is AP English, and he thinks he wants to study English or journalism in college.