Springfield Thurston Colts Capture First 5A State Swim Title, Set Records

The Thurston Colts from Springfield captured their first OSAA Class 5A team championship at the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 5A championships at Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton, scoring 67 points and winning six events across Friday prelims and Saturday finals. Osaa reported Thurston set 5A meet records in the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay during Friday prelims.

Thurston’s 200 freestyle relay broke the meet mark with a time of 1:27.72, powered by senior Quinn Devenport, sophomores Wayko Sanders and Griffin Hagemeyer, and junior Brody Wyatt, Osaa listed. The medley-relay meet record was also set in Friday prelims, Osaa reported, though the medley time was not supplied in the summary excerpt.

Individual champions from Thurston included senior Quinn Devenport, who won the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle, junior Brody Wyatt, who won the 100 butterfly, and sophomore Wayko Sanders, who took the 100 backstroke. Osaa summarized Thurston as having won six events total, a performance that produced the 67-point team total that topped Crescent Valley with 55 points, Bend with 46, and Silverton with 37.

Thurston coach Sarah Keim reflected on the team’s ascent after last year’s finish, saying, “Last year they were shocked when they took third, so this year they were really locked in and focused and fighting for that title,” according to Osaa. Devenport arrived at state with a University of the Pacific signing and prior state finishes of second in the 50 free and third in the 100 free, Register-Guard pre-state reporting noted.

Local context from pre-state coverage highlighted the Del Castillo sisters as contributors for Thurston before the meet. Madelyn Del Castillo, a sophomore and the defending 5A champion in the 200 freestyle, qualified from districts with a 200 free of 1:57.35 and a 100 breast of 1:07.33, while freshman Torryn Del Castillo entered with a 100 fly of 1:04.29 and a 500 free of 5:38.90, the Register-Guard reported.

OSAAtoday coverage of the finals highlighted additional standouts across classifications at Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center. West Linn senior Lauren Sexton completed a three-peat in the 200 individual medley and added the 100 butterfly to her state titles, telling reporters, “That was one of my goals going into my senior year. This is the first year I've done the 100 fly in high school. I normally do the 100 breaststroke. So this was just a fun race to see what I can do and what time I can put up.” OSAAtoday also reported Newberg senior Sydney McDonald won the 50 freestyle and South Medford junior Eleanor Geraghty won the 100 freestyle.

An OSAAtoday photo caption credited Bend senior Maddie Thornton with setting two OSAA meet records Saturday and said she led her team to the 5A title, with the photo credited to Chris Burkhardt. That caption appeared alongside Osaa’s team standings that list Thurston at 67 points atop the scoreboard; both items were part of OSAA-related coverage of the Feb. 20-21 championships.

Thurston returns to Springfield with its first 5A state trophy, multiple meet records from the relays, and a slate of underclass contributors - including sophomores Sanders and Hagemeyer - who figure into the Colts’ program depth after the championships at Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center.