AHS swim team dominates meet
A flu bug that would have crippled the team a season or two ago was little more than a speed bump for the Ashland High swim team on Tuesday.
Equipped with one of the largest rosters in program history, the Grizzlies swept Crater and Klamath Union in a Southern Sky Conference three-way meet at the Southern Oregon University pool.
The Ashland girls defeated Klamath Union, 133-78, and Crater, 112-92. Crater took down Klamath Union 104-98. On the boys side, Ashland beat Klamath Union 144-72 and won against Crater 129-60. Klamath Union edged out Crater, 100-93.
"This would have been ordinarily a meet that we would have struggled with, but because of that depth we actually were able to pull off victories across the board," Ashland head coach Steve Mitzel said. "You look at some of those events, and even though we may not have taken first place, we've taken four or five out of the top six spots."
Robin Haase and Troy Robinson earned two victories each to lead the Ashland boys, while Kaylee Tracy and Brietta Powers were double winners for the Grizz girls.
Haase won the 50-meter freestyle against both Crater and KU in 23.41 seconds, while Robinson won the 200 IM, an event he usually doesn't compete in, in 2:27.87, and also placed second in the 100 backstroke against Crater.
Also for the Ashland boys, Lucas Opgenorth won the 100 freestyle against Crater, touching the wall in 52.68, and placed second against Crater in both the 100 freestyle and the 50 freestyle (23.62). Haase was second in the 100 free against Crater (53.31).
The Grizzlies also got second-place performances out of Wynn Michael (200 free), Alex Harris (100 butterfly), Jake Gavin (100 breaststroke) and Forrest Kollar (200 free).
"We're looking pretty good purely because of our numbers," Mitzel said.
Tracy dominated the 100 freestyle against both Klamath Union and Crater in 1:00.17. The second-place finisher didn't touch until nearly six seconds later.
Powers won the 50 freestyle over both KU and Crater in 29.76.
The Ashland girls also pocketed several second-place ribbons, including: Alison Claypool in the 200 freestyle (twice), Eliana Pool in the 50 freestyle, Livy Krevitz in the 100 freestyle (twice) and 100 breaststroke, Ami Jacobsen in the 500 freestyle (twice), Sarah McLain in the 100 backstroke and Deborah Silbowitz in the 100 breaststroke.
Anya Martinez snagged four first place finishes for the Crater girls. Martinez won the 200 individual medley, the 100 breaststroke, and was part of both the medley and 200 freestyle relay teams.
