McNary’s Tyshin Nguyen swims the butterfly leg of the 200-yard individual medley (KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings).
The McNary swim team wasn’t at full strength, and it showed on the scoreboard on Thursday, Dec. 19 as the Celtic girls fell to West Salem 115-54 while the boys team was just edged out by the Titans, losing by a score of 87-83.
“We weren’t at full strength and still managed to compete and get some good times. I really thought that our boys were going to be able to sneak out the win, but we were just short,” McNary head coach Casey Lewin said.
In his first varsity dual meet, McNary freshman Zach Kilby was the Celtics top performer. Kilby was victorious in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.56 seconds. He also won the 100-free with a time of 56.20 — finishing more than four seconds ahead of the next closest finisher.
Additionally, Kilby helped the 200-medley relay team and the 200-free relay team pick up wins on the night.
“Zach will be a huge addition to the boys team. He is young and has a lot of raw talent. I’m excited to see how he develops throughout the season,” Lewin said. “I thought that boys 200 medley and free relays stepped up and swam great.”
Kyle Hooper got his first individual victory of the season by crushing the competition in the 200-free (2:02.43). Brennan Whalen took home a win in the 100-breaststroke (1:13.63) to round out the event wins for the Celtic boys.
The McNary girls were missing one of their top swimmers in Bella Beard, which greatly affected their overall competitiveness in this dual. The Celtics weren’t able to get a single relay win, which is usually one of the strengths of the team.
Alyssa Garvey and Eloisa Moreno were the only ones who won races for the McNary girls. Garvey just edged out teammate Paris Boyd to win the 50-free (27.11) while Moreno won the 100-butterfly (1:11.58).
McNary’s next meet will take place on Thursday, Jan. 9 against Sprague at 7 p.m.