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When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, the old adage goes, and the Canby swim team did just that with an “impromptu dual” last week after their regularly scheduled tilt with Tualatin was canceled due to that district’s Covid-related pause on athletics.
Instead, the Cougars welcomed the visiting Wilsonville Wildcats to the Canby Swim Center Thursday for the unplanned showdown. As a 5A school, Wilsonville is in neither Canby’s league or district, but that will change next year as the Cougs were officially moved down a class in the OSAA’s reclassification process.
Both teams were missing some swimmers due to illness and Covid protocols, head coach Eric Laitinen said, but Canby came out on top in the battle of attrition, winning the girls meet 128-33 and boys 97-63.
“It was a fun competition regardless of the scores, as the swimmers just want to race,” Laitinen explained.
The Canby girls kicked things off in fine fashion, finishing first and second in the 200-yard medley relay with Allison Yancey, Amanda Yancey, Avery Keinonen and Kali Mull taking the top slot and Ali Parsons, Karina Sawatsky, Katie Ball and Kathryn Taggart not far behind.
Mull also took first in the 200 freestyle, while Taggart finished third and Parsons fourth. Allison Yancey and Mikayla Knowles grabbed first and second, respectively, in the 200 individual medley and Megan Slater claimed fourth, while Amanda Yancey, Ashley Peterson and Ball grabbed the impressive 1-2-3 finish in the 50 free.
Keinonen nabbed first and Sawatsky second in the 100-yard butterfly. Mull, Ball and Elizabeth Johnson went 1-2-4 in the 100 free, while Taggart, Amy Smith and Mikayla Knowles did the same in the 500.
In the 200 free, the Canby relay team of Taggart, Knowles, Smith and Slater came in first, while Johnson, Ball, Kaitlyn Doman and Ava Kennedy finished 2nd. In the 100 backstroke, Keinonen, Ali Parsons and Smith finished 1-2-3. In the 100 breaststroke, Allison Yancey earned first place, Amanda Yancey finished second and Sawatsky was fourth.
Finishing up the girls’ races was the 400 free relay where Allison Yancey, Amanda Yancey, Keinonen and Mull finished what they started with another first-place finish. Knowles, Parsons, Johnson and Sawatsky placed second.
The boys also started strong, with Jack Hayhurst, Hunter DeRisio, Connor DeRisio and Isaac Beck winning the 200 medley relay and the team of Alyk House, Brandon Slater, Matthew Solem and Jamison Chard finishing in third.
Beck was also first in the 200 free with House coming in 2nd. In the 200 IM, Hayhurst swam to first place in a new personal best time with Peck finishing third. Connor DeRisio finished first in the 50 free and the 100 butterfly. Brandon Slater was third in the fly and Matthew Solem was fourth.
Hunter DeRiso won the 100 free with Jamison Chard in third place. Beck finished the 500 free in first and House claimed second. The Canby 200 free relay of Chard, Peck, House and Brandon Slater finished second.
In the 100-yard back, Hayhurst finished a close second place and Hunter DeRisio came in third. Brandon Slater, Peck and Solem finished 2-3-4 in the 100 breaststroke. Finishing off the meet were Connor DeRisio, Beck, Hayhurst and Hunter DeRisio, who won the 400 free relay. The team of Peck, Cole Reznicek, Darwin Enciso and Logan Peterson finished third.
The Canby Cougar swim team will host St. Mary’s Academy on Thursday, January 20, for their next meet.