La Grande girls win 4A district title; Cove sends swimmers to state

La Grande High School’s girls swimming team clinched the Class 4A district title at Veteran’s Memorial Pool, securing berths to the OSAA state championships at Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton beginning Friday, February 20, La Grande Aquatics Superintendent Mark Tanner confirmed. The district meet for 1A through 4A schools was held Saturday, February 14, at the Veteran’s Memorial Pool in La Grande.

La Grande’s winning relay on Saturday was the girls 200 yard medley relay, recorded at 1:58.78 for first place. Senior Rinnah Lynch powered two individual victories, taking first in the girls 200 yard individual medley and first in the girls 100 yard backstroke. Isabel Fenley finished second in the girls 200 yard IM, and a Zamora listed as Hanna or Hannah took second in both the girls 100 yard freestyle and the girls 100 yard backstroke; the district entries show the name with both spellings and roster confirmation is pending. Aspen Roe finished ninth in the girls 100 yard freestyle.

Cove High School will also send qualifiers to state. Becca M. Koza won the girls 200 yard freestyle at districts, and Amelia E. Koza placed third in the girls 200 yard IM, both performances listed among district qualifiers. Superintendent Tanner identified both La Grande and Cove as schools that will dispatch swimmers and relays to the state meet starting Feb. 20.

A separate published set of event results circulating after the meet contains differing placements and times for several events. That listing shows Catlin Gabel first in the girls 200 yard medley relay at 1:59.86 with La Grande second at 2:05.94, and includes detailed times for La Grande competitors such as Kruse McKinley, Lynch Chloe, and Lynch Shiloh across events. The separate results also list a Cove swimmer named Sarah Koza winning the 50 yard freestyle in 25.08 and the 100 yard breaststroke in 1:10.43. Those entries conflict with the district-place listings that name Becca M. Koza and Amelia E. Koza; the district coverage referenced a downloadable full-results file titled "Swim results saturday" for the meet.

For local context, La Grande’s program has prior district success: in the 2021 Greater Oregon League district meet La Grande girls scored 91 points to outscore Baker (81) and Cove (14), with individual district titles and state placings noted for past Tigers swimmers. The school district also marked past state success with a ring presentation on Sept. 26, 2023 for 2022 state champions in swimming and cross country.

La Grande and Cove athletes now turn to the OSAA state championships at Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton starting Feb. 20, where official entry and seed lists will confirm event assignments and heat times for the qualifiers from Union County.