A very strong, combined girls and boys varsity squad cruised to an overall first place finish in a three way meet in the state of the art community swim center in Madras on Saturday, December 12.

 "Barely in their fifth week of training in their new practice facility at the Black Butte Ranch Glaze Meadow pool, many swimmers are already showing equal or better results than at the end of the 2008-09 season", coach Hedemark commented.

Setting the pace with a well swum medley relay, the foursome of Michelle Young (backstroke 30.7 sec.), Tia Berg (breaststroke 37.8), Katie Stewart (butterfly 31.4) and Courteney Satko (freestyle 26.6) left their competition from The Dalles well behind. The Outlaws' combined time of 2:06.7 is already 1.2 seconds faster than last year's time during the first of the season achieved by the "A" relay that included standout Fe Pledger.

The "B" team with Samantha Williamson , Clare Greaney , Cierra Tigard and Jessie Harris added valuable points to the team score. The boys followed suit in a highly contested race against the Eagles from The Dalles, who out-touched the Outlaws by a mere 0.8 seconds. Tyler Baldessari led the race (backstroke 29.2), followed by Billy Sampson (breaststroke 35.2), Justin Duvenick (butterfly 27.3) and anchor Holden Sellentin in a personal best freestyle leg (23.5). The relay's time of 1:55.2 was already 1.5 seconds faster than last year's second place finisher at Districts, Central.

The "B" relay with Conor Greaney , Jonathan Standen , Joey Schlatter and Tyler Berg finished 4th in a time of 2:24.10. Holden Sellentin was the only Outlaw to compete in the 200 yd freestyle and easily won the event with a PR of 2:12.6

Freshmen Katie Stewart gave everyone notice that she will be a force to be reckoned with when the season progresses. Stewart won the 200 yds Individual Medley in a personal best of 2:28.99 with Michelle Young a second and a half behind. Both girls' times would have put them in 4th place at Districts last year.

Tyler Baldessari won the same event in a personal best of 2:24.7 followed by Justin Duvenick who shaved off 18 seconds from his 2008-09 best. Hillary Johnson was second in the 50 yds freestyle. Jake Miller , Bryant Lasken and Easton Curtis finished 3rd, 4th and 6th respectively.

The girls had little competition in the 100 yds butterfly which went easily to freshman Katie Stewart , followed by Tia Berg in second place. Stewart's time was already better than last year's third place District finisher in the same event. Courteney Satko added another first place finish to the Outlaw effort when she won the 100 yds freestyle in a 1:00.3. By the end of the season, Satko should drop well below the minute mark and be a top contender for the district title in this event.

Seth Flanders finished second in the same event with a PR by almost three seconds, followed by Billy Sampson (4th place) and freshman Easton Curtis (6th place).

In the 500 yds freestyle, Tia Berg comfortably won the race ahead of Daggett and Miller from The Dalles. Tia's freshman brother, Tyler, led the threesome of Berg, Miller and Lasken to respectable second, third and fifth place finishes in the same event. Tyler's time of 6:12.8 was good enough to have put him into district consolation finals last year. The girls "A" team won another first place with their 200 yds freestyle relay. Satko (27.3), Berg (29.4), Stewart (28.3) and Young (26.7) swam excellent beginning of the season splits for a winning time of 1:51.7. In order to win Districts again in this event, the girls will each have to shave off a second plus. The "B" team with Johnson , Stein , Tigard and MacKenzie finished third.

On the boys' side, the "A" relay battled in another nail biter for first place, only to come a second short of catching the Eagles. Tyler Baldessari led the group with an explosive start (25.7), followed by Seth Flanders (26.9), Justin Duvenick (26.5)and anchor Holden Sellentin (23.7). Their combined time can be compared to 5th place at 2008-09 Districts. The "B" relay with Miller, Berg, Curtis and Lasken was third and the "C" relay with Greaney , Small , Bruce and Standen touched the wall in 6th place.

The Outlaws took the next event, the 100 yds backstroke in stride, when sophomore Michelle Young finished first in a good beginning of the season attempt. Hillary Johnson was second.

Coming off a rather delayed start, Holden Sellentin tried to make up lost time with focused, powerful technique in the 100 yds backstroke. However, this time it was not enough to catch either Nate Anderson from The Dalles or team mate Tyler Baldessari . Anderson won the event in 1:04.00 ahead of Baldessari (1:04.08) and Sellentin (1:05.8).

Courteney Satko added another first place to her two relays and the 100 yds freestyle race. Her final time of 1:20.8 needs to come down significantly in order to be in the top three in our district. Clare Greaney was 4th in the same event.

Top finishers in the boys' breaststroke event were Billy Sampson (1:21.1) and Seth Flanders (1:24.0).

The Outlaws travel to the Sweet Home Invitational on December 17.