Oregon high school swimming championships: Top highlights, memorable moments from 2024 state meet
The Oregon high school swimming championships took place Friday and Saturday at Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton.
Here's a look back at some of the best stories and memorable moments.
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BOYS
There must be something in the water in Albany.
In the fall, the West Albany boys water polo team won the 5A state championship, with state MVP Conner Dickerson scoring four goals in an 11-8 victory over Hood River Valley in the final.
Saturday, the senior capped his career in the pool by defending his OSAA Class 5A state titles in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle at the Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton and swimming on two championship relays to lead the Bulldogs to the program’s first team title.
“It really means a lot for me to get both swimming and water polo this year,” Dickerson said. “It says that we are like a very big family. We do stuff individually, but we all support each other and bring each other up to the highest level that we can.”
Dickerson hoped to break the school records in both of his events but came up short, winning the 50 free in 21.51 seconds and the 100 free in 47.14.
He couldn’t feel too sorry for himself.
“I mean, I won, so I can’t be super angry,” he said.
Mid-Willamette rival Crescent Valley finished second for the second year in a row, with Summit and Caldera joining the Bulldogs and Raiders on the podium.
Jesuit maintained its hold atop the 6A standings — but just barely, as the Crusaders held off Metro League rival Sunset by 1½ points (the closest margin of victory since Sheldon in 1991) to win their second consecutive title and eighth in the past nine state meets.
Jesuit’s winning total of 93½ points was the fewest by a 6A state champion since the 1960s but was good enough to secure the program’s 10th title. West Linn and Glencoe rounded out the podium finishes.
Newport ended Catlin Gabel’s two-year run atop the 4A/3A/2A/1A standings and won its first title since taking three in a row from 2018-20.
Olsen shows that state champions still come out of Parkrose
Parkrose senior Thomas Olsen returned to the Aquatic Center looking to build on his record performance of a year ago, when he set the 5A meet records in the 200 and 500 freestyles in winning his second title in each event.
While the USC commit entered the meet with his sights set on the OSAA meet records, he had to settle for becoming a three-time champion in his specialties.
Olsen three-peated in the 200 freestyle in an All-American consideration time of 1:39.65 — a half-second off his time from a year ago — holding off a spirited challenge from Summit junior Landon Egeland by 38-hundredths of a second.
He came back an hour later and defended his title in the 500 free in an All-American time of 4:28.21 that was two seconds off his meet record and 4½ seconds off his personal best he swam in December at a club meet.
“I’m not upset with the times,” Olsen said. “Obviously, state records sound nice, but I think just getting the win for myself — three-peating is obviously something I wanted to do. Also, just wanting to represent Parkrose and make Parkrose look good.”
That final goal is something Olsen definitely achieved during his time at the Northeast Portland school. As a sophomore, he won the school’s first swimming title in the past 45 years, and he helped the Broncos win fourth-place trophies in 2022 and 2023. The program’s previous podium finish was in 1976.
“It’s almost like a weight on my shoulders, wanting to do some good for Parkrose, show that state champions come out of Parkrose,” Olsen said.
Caldera’s McKean breaks two OSAA records
Olsen will be joined at Southern California in the fall of 2025 by Caldera junior Campbell McKean, who made history a year ago when he became the first Wolfpack boy to win a state swim title.
This weekend, McKean added two OSAA state meet records to his burgeoning resumé, winning a second title in the 200 individual medley and a first in the 100 breaststroke.
Both of his winning times — 1:44.54 in the 200 IM and 53.36 in the 100 breaststroke — shattered the old marks, although he came up short of his personal best in the IM by 0.31 of a second.
“The weekend went better than expected,” McKean said. “I surprised myself in the IM. And even in the relays, we got PRs, so it felt good.”
McKean has one more year to take aim at his marks, but while the IM is his specialty, he quipped that “maybe I’ll do something different.” After all, he won the 100 backstroke as a sophomore before switching to the breaststroke this season.
Nelson’s Hopper wins duel in 200 free, adds title in 100 before heading to Arizona
Nelson senior Mason Hopper has had quite the career at the Happy Valley school.
As a sophomore, he became the school’s first state swimming champion by winning the 100-yard butterfly. Last year, he added the 200 freestyle title to his resumé, and Saturday morning, the University of Arizona commit capped his tenure with two championships, repeating in the 200 free and adding the 100 free title.
Hopper came from behind to win the 100 free going away in an All-American consideration time of 45.32, but it was his duel with Sunset senior Andrew Ignatescu in the 200 free that jolted the crowd.
Hopper led by nearly a full second at the halfway point, but Ignatescu — a Boston University commit — closed the gap with a blazing third lap. The two swam side-by-side the final strokes before Hopper pulled out the win by six-hundredths of a second.
“I’m just going out there racing to have fun,” Hopper said. “I didn’t really have that many expectations coming into the meet. It’s my senior year, so I’m just trying to have some fun with my boys and have a good end to it.”
With sophomore teammate Drew Eubanks repeating as 100 breaststroke champion, the duo have set a standard that Hopper hopes carries forward with the Hawks program.
“It’s super cool to be a part of the new school,” Hopper said. “Putting them on the map has been a pleasure. It’s just been a lot of fun.”
Steiner helps Glencoe break meet record, take home first team trophy
Glencoe senior Nic Steiner successfully defended his 6A title in the 100 butterfly, but that wasn’t the moment that made the weekend for him.
That came in the meet’s opening event, when he teamed with freshman Nicolas Lee and classmates Mason Leach and Chris Lee to break the meet record in the 200 medley relay in an All-American consideration time of 1:33.14.
“I’m just so proud of them,” Steiner said. “Everybody improved, and I’m glad we got the record. Our names are in the record books now.”
Nicolas Lee also made the record books by winning his first individual title in the 500 freestyle in 4:36.52, and Leach won the 100 backstroke in an All-American consideration time of 49.23 to help the Crimson Tide earn their first team trophy in school history.
“We have a much bigger team this year,” Steiner said. “Last year, I think I was the only person who podiumed (he forgot Chris Lee finished seventh in the 500 free). This year, we have, I think, five people who are in contention to score points. Top three was the goal. And I’m really looking forward to the name dropping. Nico Lee, he’s going to be really fast in the next few years, so that’s something to watch for.”
Best of the 4A/3A/2A/1A meet
Newport senior Sam Postlewait repeated as 50 free champion and added the 100 title in addition to anchoring the 200 and 400 freestyle relays to victory, helping the Cubs dethrone two-time defending champion Catlin Gabel.
- Tillamook senior Jack Sappington won his program’s first individual title since 1987 by blowing away the field by 5½ seconds in the 100 breaststroke. His victory is the sixth for the boys team in school history.
- Valley Catholic senior Kieran Leatherwood defeated two returning state champions in La Grande’s Zane Ricker and Catlin Gabel’s Hodge Dauler to win the 200 freestyle. Dauler, who won the 200 free a year ago, did repeat in the 100 butterfly, and Ricker repeated in the 500 free. Catlin Gabel junior Adam Li defended his 200 IM title.
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GIRLS
It had been 20 years since a girls swim team in Oregon’s largest classification won a state championship without an individual event winner.
But Saturday morning at the Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton, Jesuit took home the Class 6A title not on the shoulders of one or two stellar individual performances but instead on the backs of its bevy of medal-winners.
The Crusaders did not win a single event yet got points from seven individuals and three relays to score 107 points, beating Lakeridge by 14 points for their second consecutive title, fourth in the past five seasons and 12th all-time.
The Pacers held off Jesuit by seven-hundredths of a second in the meet’s final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, and were runners-up in the team race for the third time. West Linn and Lincoln rounded out the trophy positions.
Bend romped to a second consecutive 5A title with a meet-record 119 points, with Canby a distant second with 48 points, followed by Redmond and West Albany.
“It’s amazing,” said Lava Bears junior Kamryn Meskill, who won a third state title in the 50 free and her first in the 100 free. “I love this team. I love my coaches. It’s an amazing environment. I know I was at Caldera my first year, but to have back-to-backs with Bend High is pretty awesome.”
Newport made it a clean sweep of the 4A/3A/2A/1A titles, with the Cubs edging La Grande by 11 points to win the program’s first girls crown.
Lake Oswego’s Vlaic defeats two state champions to win two state titles
AnneMarie Vlaic emerged from the pool and smiled after becoming the first Lake Oswego girl in the past 24 years to win twice at a state swim meet.
“I’m really tired,” the junior said after her dominant win in the 500 freestyle. “But I think it was a lot of fun.”
Vlaic, a Southern Methodist commit, earlier had successfully defended her title in the 100 butterfly, again winning a duel with Missouri-bound senior Maeve DeYoung of West Linn in an All-American consideration time of 54.85 seconds.
This year, however, Vlaic had enough in the tank to come back less than an hour later to defeat two-time defending champion Sydney Wilson of Jesuit in the 500 free. She led Wilson by just 0.07 of a second at the midway point but steadily stretched her lead to a winning margin of more than two seconds in 4:57.52 — three seconds off her personal best but an All-American consideration time.
“Last year was a really rocky year for me (in the 500 free),” Vlaic said. “I kind of stayed around 5 minutes, but this year, I started doing a lot of distance work, and I’m happy with the way I swam, and I plan to keep trying my best and dropping time.”
Vlaic was unfazed about winning a couple of duels against returning champions.
“I wasn’t thinking about whether they were champions or whether they were someone I didn’t know,” she said. “It’s really just about going in knowing that anyone in the race can go at any point. There were so many awesome races today that nobody could have expected.
“I mean, it’s all about how everyone’s feeling on that day, and I felt good. So, I just went for it, and whatever happened happened.”
East County revival as David Douglas, Barlow end title droughts
Two years ago, it was the PIL that had a breakthrough day at the state swimming championships. This weekend, it was East County’s turn to end long championship droughts at the 6A meet.
David Douglas was a girls swimming powerhouse from 1967 to 1981, winning or sharing every title during that span — 14 in all. The Northeast Portland school hadn’t had an individual champion since 2009 before freshman Ariya Abdullah defeated Emory University-bound senior Stephanie Lee of Westview to win the 50-yard freestyle in an All-American consideration time of 23.41.
“I was hoping for a good time, to drop a good amount of time, but getting first was really exciting for me,” Abdullah said.
Abdullah then talked about growing up with her teammates with the David Douglas Aquatic Club and how “it feels good representing that since our swim team is like a family club.”
Barlow’s title drought was a year longer than the Scots' title drought, and it came crashing down for the east Gresham school as senior Kaitlyn Logue overcame nearly a one-second deficit at the halfway point of the 200 freestyle, closing with a final lap of 28.64 seconds to surge past Jesuit sophomore Lisette Soto and win in 1:53.54.
“I usually go a little faster the last half of the race,” Logue said. “It was a close race toward the end. It was fun.”
West Linn brother-sister duo sweep 200 IM races
The Sexton siblings — sophomore Lauren and senior Mathew — swept the 6A titles in the 200 individual medleys, with Lauren going first by winning in 1.6 seconds in a season-best 2:04.83, followed by Mathew earning All-American consideration in a personal-best time of 1:49.66.
“We don’t really have competition between us,” Lauren said. “Obviously, we both want to place first, but we’re proud of each other no matter what. We have a really good bond together, so I’m proud of him for getting up there, and he got his best (time), so that’s great.”
Sexton’s victory, coupled with DeYoung’s repeat title in the 100 backstroke, helped the Lions secure third place in the team standings, matching their best finish since 2020.
Relay record ‘best moment I’ve had in high school’ for Bend’s Meskill
Meskill started her career at Caldera two years ago, becoming the school’s first state champion as a freshman by swimming the 50 freestyle in 23.80.
She transferred across town to Bend, where she helped the Lava Bears win a title in their first season back in 5A by lowering her time in the 50 free to 23.11 and winning the 100 butterfly.
This year, the University of North Carolina commit broke the meet record in the 50 free and earned All-America honors with a winning time of 22.89 and added the 100 free state title to her collection in an All-American consideration time of 50.75.
For all her individual honors, she proclaimed her swim in the 200 medley relay as “the best moment that I’ve had in high school over the last three years.”
Meskill put the finishing touch on an OSAA meet-record 1:41.91 performance with a 22.39-second freestyle leg, joining sophomores Maddie Thornton (backstroke) and Emma Bronson (butterfly) and junior Hadley Hayes (breaststroke) to break the seven-year-old mark.
“You feel incredibly accomplished when you do something as an individual,” Meskill said. “But when you work so hard with the same girls every single day, and I’ve been with these girls for so long, it’s our hard work that’s paid off.
“We knew we could go faster than we did in prelims, and we dropped almost a second and a half (1.12 seconds). To see that success come full circle is so exhilarating. It’s so much fun.”
Thornton (200 IM and 100 backstroke), Bronson (100 butterfly) and Hayes (100 breaststroke) also won state titles, and the Lava Bears swept the three relay events to surpass their previous record of 105 points amassed in 2018.
Best of the 4A/3A/2A/1A meet
Riverdale freshman Sam Borus became the first girl in program history (and first Maverick since 2013) to win a state swim title by pulling away to defeat Newport’s Layla Bretz by more than a second in the 100 butterfly with a winning time of 58.57.
- The Koza sisters — senior Sarah and sophomore Becca — combined for 26 points to win the fourth-place trophy for Cove-Union for the second consecutive year. Sarah defended her title in the 50 free and took second in the 100 breaststroke, and Becca added the 100 freestyle to the 200 free she won a year ago.
- Two other swimmers successfully defended their titles Saturday. Sweet Home junior Kirsten Sautel held off Sarah Koza to win the 100 breaststroke, and Molalla senior Marie Mason won a second 200 IM title and added the 500 freestyle after placing second each of the past two years.
