PENDLETON – The John Day Swim Team completed the 2002 season in a successful way, competing at the Eastern Oregon District Championship meet at the Pendleton Aquatic Center on Aug. 9-11.

Although the team finished in sixth place overall with a total of 230.50 points, the team put up 252 points in the B meet to finish third.

“I was very pleased with the way the kids swam at this meet and with all the hard work they did all season long,” John Day coach Carl Anderson said.

The Pendleton Swim Association won the meet with a total of 1,433.50 points, followed by the La Grande Swim Club with 1,026.50.

The Dalles Swim Team was third with 866, the Cascade Aquatic Club was fourth with 401, and the Hood River Swim Team was fifth at 294.50.

“The way they ran the meet was they took the top 10 finishers in the preliminary round and they went to the A meet finals,” Anderson said. “From 11 on down, they all went into the B meet competition. Those kids who were eight-and-under all went right to the finals.”

In the A meet, Jake Waldner was the only individual winner for the John Day team taking the boys 9- to 10-year-old 50-meter butterfly in a time of 52.79 seconds.

He also finished seventh in the 50-meter backstroke at 57.46.

Other boys in the A meet who scored points included Tanner Wilson who finished third in the boys 8-and-under 50-meter backstroke in a time of 1:08.42, and swam 2:10.89 in the 100-meter freestyle to place seventh.

Tyler Webb placed in four events for 11- to 12-year-old boys, taking third in the 50-meter breaststroke (49.94), finishing seventh in the 50-meter freestyle (38.77), coming in eighth in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 1:28.52, and finishing in 10th place in the 50-meter backstroke at 54.51.

Chad Lauer placed in three events, finishing in eighth place in the 100-meter butterfly for boys 15 to 18 with a clocking of 1:29.81, 7.79 seconds better than his season’s best, taking ninth in the 100-meter backstroke (1:30.29) and finishing in 10th place in the 100-meter freestyle in a time of 1:11.91.

Nicolas Piazza scored in three events, finishing fourth in the 50-meter butterfly and 50-meter breaststroke events for boys 9 to 10 in times of 1:00.19 and 58.03 respectively, and finishing ninth in the 50-meter backstroke at 59.92.

Bret Lauer took seventh in the 200-meter freestyle for boys 11 to 12 with a time of 3:26.99, and Russell Clark was eighth in the 200-meter freestyle for boys 10-and-under in a clocking of 4:02.26.

J.T. Sohr took fifth in the 15- to 18-year-old 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:38.21, and Cole Hawkins rounded out the boys individual scoring in the A meet with a time of 1:17.52 good for seventh-place finish in the 50-meter butterfly for 9- to 10-year-old boys.

In boys relays, Cole Hawkins, Nicolas Piazza, Jake Waldner and Tanner Wilson teamed to finish third in the 10-and-under 200-meter medley relay with a time of 4:11.29, and Piazza, Hawkins and Waldner were joined by Russell Clark to finish fourth in the 200-meter freestyle relay in a time of 3:19.67.

In the 11- to 12-year-old division, the team of Bill Sevey, Tyler Webb, Lincoln Mosier and Bret Lauer came in third in the 200-meter medley with a clocking of 3:46.54, and the foursome also placed third in the 200-meter freestyle relay at 3:06.53.

In the girls half of the A meet, Natasha Holmstrom placed in four events with her best finish coming in the 100-meter freestyle for girls 13 to 14.

She swam the event in a time of 1:11.55 to finish second.

Holmstrom also placed third in the 200-meter freestyle (2:39.36), and had a pair of fourth-place finishes in the 200-meter individual medley (3:09.85) and the 50-meter freestyle (32.93).

Vanessa Holmstrom also scored points in four events, taking sixth in the 50-meter freestyle for 11- to 12-year-old girls in a clocking of 38.85.

She also had a seventh-place finish in the 100-meter freestyle (1:24.58) and a pair of 10th-place finishes in the 50-meter backstroke and 50-meter breaststroke events with times of 50.29 and 55.58 respectively.

Kaitlyn Webb was another point-scorer in four events, finishing fourth in the 50-meter breaststroke (58.77), fifth in the 50-meter backstroke (57.60), seventh in the 100-meter freestyle (1:46.58) and ninth in the 50-meter freestyle in the 9- to 10-year-old division.

In the 15- to 18-year-old age bracket, Bree Myers brought home points for John Day in four events.

She had a fifth-place finish in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:37.65) and came in seventh in the 100-meter backstroke at 1:29.69.

Myers also finished eighth in the 200-meter freestyle (2:53.13) and completed her day with a 10th-place finish in the 50-meter freestyle at 35.10.

Brenna Caughlin had a pair of sixth-place finishes in the 100-meter backstroke (1:35.96) and the 100-meter breaststroke (1:38.88) for girls 13 to 14, and also came in ninth in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 35.26.

Kiaya Wilson’s time of 4:35.43 was good enough for a fifth-place finish in the girls 10-and-under 200-meter freestyle, Savannah Kowing finished seventh in the 50-meter breaststroke for 11- to 12-year-old girls in a time of 52.91, and Cheyenne Valade completed the girls individual scoring with time of 38.07, good a fifth-place finish in the 11- to 12-year-old 50-meter freestyle and a 3:09.23 clocking in the 200-meter freestyle to place ninth.

The 13- to 14-year-old 200-meter freestyle relay team made up of Crista Waldner, Brenna Caughlin, Kiersten Kowing and Natasha Holmstrom swam a time of 2:27.58 to come in fourth.

In the B meet, Bill Sevey had a pair of first-place finishes in the 50-meter backstroke and 50-meter breaststroke events for 9- to 10-year-old boys, and Jake Waldner won the 50-meter freestyle.

J.T. Sohr won the 100-meter backstroke for 15- to 18-year-old boys, and Chad Lauer was the 50-meter freestyle winner.

Kattie Piazza captured the title in the girls 15- to 18-year-old 200-meter freestyle.

“This was a good season and all the kids had a lot of fun. That’s what’s most important,” Anderson said. “We learned a lot of things this year and the kids are looking forward to next year.”