The West Linn boys swimming team took first place at the 2024 Three Rivers League championship meet on Saturday, Feb. 10, as senior Matthew Sexton finished first in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard backstroke while contributing to first-place finishes in the 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relays.
Sexton improved upon each of his individual preliminary times at Chehalem Parks and Recreation Center on Saturday, finishing nearly seven seconds ahead of the field in the 200-yard individual medley with a blistering time of 1:52.18 seconds.
Meanwhile, in the 200-yard back final, Sexton continued a dominant showing with a time of 51.39 seconds, edging out Lake Oswego’s Alexandru Epifanov for the title.
Ultimately, the Lions’ senior led the way to a team victory with 40 points as West Linn finished with 450 total. Lake Oswego and Lakeridge finished second and third, respectively, as the Lakers scored 378 points and the Pacers tallied 359.
Other major contributors for the Lions included freshman Jackson Wrobleski, who finished first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 56.80, junior Eric Golgotiu, who finished first in the 200-yard free with a time of 1:47.01, and senior Gabriel Schreiber, who took first in the 100-yard free with a time of 46.61 seconds.
On the title-claiming 200-yard medley relay team, Sexton was joined by Wrobleski, Schreiber and freshman Sungkook Kim. While that foursome swam 1:36.34 to take first place, freshman Caio Cobb Rodrigues joined Sexton, Wrobleski and Schreiber for the 400-yard free relay, where the Lions swam 3:12.94 to bring home another first-place finish.
Rodrigues, one of two standout freshmen for the Lions on Saturday, also took second in the 200-yard free, swimming a time of 1:47.01.
Meanwhile, Lake Oswego’s second-place effort was led by senior Roy Kim, who took first place in the 50-yard free with a time of 21.20 seconds while contributing to another first-place finish in the 200-yard free relay.
Alongside Kim, sophomore Sullevan Kirtz, freshman Jacob Kim and sophomore Alexandru Epifanov completed the relay team that took home top prize with a time of 1:30.30.
Lakeridge was led by freshman phenom Sylvan Schoenheit, who took first in the 500-yard free with a time of 4:47.12. Schoenheit ultimately tallied 36 of 359 points for Lakeridge, which managed a productive outing despite producing just one first-place finish. Sophomore Justin Turian added 32 points in his four races, while fellow sophomore Alexander Vail tallied 33 points.
On the girls side, the Pacers dominated the field, recording 427 points as a team while second-place West Linn managed just 298.
Junior Sydney Brandvold and senior Rae Dodson recorded 37 points each to lead the way for Lakeridge, which produced three individual conference champions and three relay first-place finishes on Saturday.
Brandvold took first in the 200-yard free with a time of 1:57.68, junior Jessica Paulsen finished first in the 100-yard free with a time of 53.55, edging out Brandvold, and Dodson took first in the 100-yard breast with a time of 1:03.38.
Meanwhile, the foursome of Dodson, Zoe Chen, Helena Huettemeyer and Munroe Blem brought home the title in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:46.77, and the grouping of Brandvold, Dodson, Blem and Paulsen took first in the 200-yard free relay with a time of 1:39.42.
The Pacers final first-place finish came in the 400-yard freestyle, where Huettemeyer, Brandvold, Chen and Paulsen swam 3:37.21.
Sophomore Lauren Sexton finished first in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:05.33 for West Linn, which ultimately finished second behind the performances of Sexton and senior Maeve DeYoung.
DeYoung finished first in the 100-yard back with a time of 55.76, while both Sexton and DeYoung contributed to second-place showings in the 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yard free relay.
Meanwhile, third-place Lake Oswego saw a phenomenal individual performance from junior AnneMarie Vlaic, who took first place in the 100-yard fly and 500-yard free, with times of 54.71 and 5:04.78, respectively.
All state-qualifying swimmers will be in action again next weekend, Feb. 16-17 at the Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center for the 2024 OSAA 6A state championships. Events are set to begin at 9 a.m. Friday.
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