West Salem’s Micah Masei (left) and Ryan Wetzel embrace after going 1-2 in the 50 freestyle at the Greater Valley Conference district swimming meet on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016.
MCMINNVILLE – Going into the final event, the 400 free relay, South Salem High School’s girls swimming team held a slim lead in the team standings against McMinnville.
The kind of slim lead that one bad leg could erase.
And the Saxons knew it.
“We tried not to put too much pressure on ourselves,” said junior Joanna Zuckerman. “We just wanted to have fun and go out there and compete to the best of our ability.”
But South Salem’s group of Victoria Privalova, Jamie Zuckerman, Joanna Zuckerman and Anna Despain placed second to McMinnville in the race by a margin of 3:45.39 to 3:47.00, but clinched the Greater Valley Conference district championship with the finish.
South Salem won the title with 351 points, beating out the 343 points of last year’s champion McMinnville.
It is the first time since 2009 that the Saxons won a district girls championship.
“It means so much,” Despain said. “It’s crazy and I’m so happy about it. I’m so proud of our team and what we’ve accomplished this year.”
South Salem took a big lead in the team race early in the meet thanks to big performances, and didn’t relinquish it.
The team of Despain, the Zuckerman sisters and Privalova won the 200 medley relay in 1:54.57 to open the meet and shortly after Despain won the team’s only individual race, the 200 IM, in 2:12.19.
“We set the tone early,” South Salem coach Eric Richey said. “We set the South Salem record in both the 200 medley relay and then the 200 IM with Anna, and she crushed the South Salem record by three seconds.
“That just sets a tone that all the rest of them want to follow. Even though she’s a sophomore, she just stepped into a great leadership role. Her personality is one that’s infectious. People want to be around her, want to swim with her. And even her 500, which was a second to an amazing swimmer from Forest Grove, it was a personal best ever.”
McNary sophomore Marissa Kuch set district meet record times in winning district championships in the 200 free (1:53.84) and 100 free (52.11).
South Salem’s Anna Despain (left) and West Salem’s Hannah Bodkin start the 200 individual medley, which Despain won, at the Greater Valley Conference district swimming meet at McMinnville Aquatic Center on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016.
In the boys half of the meet, McMinnville won the team championship for the second straight year with 477 points followed by South Salem (349) and West Salem (288).
South Salem junior Paul Lomax edged out teammate Daisuke Fitial to win the 100 butterfly in 52.82.
Then South Salem’s 400 free relay team of Lomax, Fitial, Bryan Kelly and Tyler Cook finished the meet strong by winning the event in 3:19.52.
“This is the second year in a row we’ve been (seeded) third going into districts and we’ve won it twice now,” Lomax said. “That’s a really good feeling.”
Though West Salem place third in the team standings, the group is set up well for the OSAA Class 6A state meet, which takes place Feb. 19-20 at Gresham’s Mt. Hood Community College by winning five events.
West Salem junior Micah Masei won the first two individual event district championships in his high school career.
He won the 50 free in 21.63, narrowly beating out teammate Ryan Wetzel’s 21.95.
“I was happy for Ryan because we got in the 21’s,” said Masei, who also won the 100 breaststroke in 57.53. “I really wanted to beat the record. That was my goal. It wasn’t beating Ryan.”
Senior Andrew Kauffman won the 200 freestyle by a margin of four seconds in 1:46.17 and Wetzel won the 100 free in 48.49.
The Titans’ team of Masei, Zac Carter, Victor Werner-Bustamante and Kauffman won the 200 free relay in 1:30.14.
Sprague sophomore Colby Evenson came on strong in the second half of the 500 freestyle to win in 4:49.96.
bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6701 or Twitter.com/bpoehler
Teammates cheer as South Salem’s Tyler Cook (right) and McMinnville’s Levi Burres make the final turn in the 400 free relay at the Greater Valley Conference district swimming meet on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016.