GRESHAM — Prior to the meet-concluding 400 free relay, Salem Academy coach Maria Robertson delivered a simple message that bypassed all the math, the emotion and the pressure.
“I basically told them you need to go swim your hearts out so we can get fourth,” Robertson said.
Salem Academy coaches and athletes pose with their fourth place state meet trophy.
The Crusaders did, and the boys won their first trophy.
The relay team of Wilson McLean, Davis McHugh, Joel Westby and Caleb Warde placed third in 3:29.07 – beating their seed by one place – to clinch a fourth place finish with 24 points.
“It feels amazing,” said Warde, a sophomore. “These guys have worked so hard to get here, and it feels so good to get a trophy.”
Warde placed third in the 200 free (1:49.68) and fourth in the 100 free (50.08) and McLean placed fifth in the 50 free.
But the Crusaders picked up most of their points in the relays.
Salem Academy competes in the 200 yard medley relay during the OSAA Class 4A/3A/2A/1A Swimming State Championships at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017.
The 200 medley relay team of McHugh, Westby, Elijah Leutwyler and Matthew Netland placed sixth and the 200 free relay team of Warde, Leutwyler, Nettland and McLean placed fourth.
When Salem Academy placed second in the district meet a week ago, it seemed like a letdown after the boys won the district championship a year prior.
“We got second at districts and we were really, really excited about that,” Robertson said. “A lot of people didn’t think we could get second at districts, and we got second by a long shot, so that was awesome.
“We came here and we thought, why stop at districts? Let’s keep going. Let’s do the absolute best we can do. They just didn’t want anything to stop them from doing their best, and that’s what they did is they went and did their best and it got them a trophy.”
In the girls side of the meet, Salem Academy sophomore Trinity Pierce placed sixth in the 100 back (1:04.54) and the Crusaders’ 400 relay team of Molly Gallagher, Lizeth Monroy, Sarah Kenyon and Pierce placed sixth (4:02.73).
Cascade junior Min Wei placed fourth in the 100 breaststroke (1:11.94) and Stayton sophomore Eric Seitz placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.38).
bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com or Twitter.com/bpoehler