Vote: Who should be the Statesman Journal's girls swimmer of the year?
Silverton's Breeza Rodriguez competes in the 100-yard freestyle at the state meet. Rodriguez is a nominee for Statesman Journal girls swimmer of the year.
There were plenty of strong performances from Salem-Keizer swimmers through the 2024-25 season, with a handful of local athletes nabbing podium spots at last month's state championships.
Now we want you to vote for the girls swimmer of the year. Vote at statesmanjournal.com/sports. The poll will be open until 11 a.m. Sunday, March 30.
Here are the nominees for the top Salem-area girls swimmer for the 2024-25 season.
Sophia Buswell, South Salem
Buswell took sixth place in the 100-yard butterfly (59.52 seconds) at the Class 6A state championships.
Leah Ellerbee, Stayton
Ellerbee took third place in the 500 freestyle (5:33.47) at the Class 4A/3A/2A/1A state championships.
Abby Evans, West Salem
Evans took ninth place in the 100 freestyle (54.82) and 200 freestyle (2:01.53) at the Class 6A state championships.
Ellie Gladow, Salem Academy
Gladow took sixth place (58.29) in the 100 freestyle at the Class 4A/3A/2A/1A state championships.
Gentry Hagedorn, Central
Hagedorn took fifth place in the 50 freestyle (25.56) at the Class 5A state championships.
Odelya Laroya, West Salem
Laroya took third place in the 50 freestyle (24.32) at the Class 6A state championships.
Breeza Rodriguez, Silverton
Rodriguez took fifth place in the 100 freestyle (57.43) and sixth place in the 100 backstroke (1:05.54) at the Class 5A state championships.
Advertisement
Jarrid Denney covers high school sports and Oregon State for the Statesman Journal. He can be reached at JDenney@salem.gannett.com or on X @jarrid_denney
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Vote: Who should be the Statesman Journal's girls swimmer of the year?
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indianapolis Star
4 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
Indiana high school boys soccer rankings: Coaches poll updated after opening weekend. Where is your team?
The IHSAA boys soccer season kicked off Aug. 16. After one weekend of games the Indiana Soccer Coaches Association released their updated rankings. Here are the full rankings: As of Aug. 18. IHSAA boys soccer: 10 Indy-area players who will be game-changers in 2025 IHSAA boys soccer Fab 15: Ranking Indy-area's best teams as season kicks off
Indianapolis Star
10 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
Indiana high school football predictions: Picking 2025 state champions as IHSAA season begins
OK, time for predictions. I reserve the right to revisit these picks around midseason (or after), or just fully forget this endeavor entirely. It is worth pointing out, I did hit on a few last year. I correctly picked the finalists and result in Class 5A (Decatur Central over Warsaw) and picked the winners in Class 4A (New Palestine) and Class 3A (Heritage Hills). I picked Westfield (6A) and North Judson (A) to reach the finals and they both did. Not bad. So, here goes nothing. Here are all of the predicted sectional, regional, semistate and state championship winners in the six classes: IHSAA football preview: What you need to know for 2025 season IndyStar preseason Super Team: Meet Central Indiana's top 47 players Sectional champions These are seven of the eight picks I had last year. The one I missed, Brownsburg, ended up winning the state championship (I had Ben Davis). The only other one I missed was Fishers over Hamilton Southeastern. I think we will see a Westfield-Crown Point semistate for the third consecutive year. I will take Westfield to advance again. In the south, I will take Brownsburg to beat Lawrence North and Center Grove over Warren Central. ∎ Championship game: It's hard to win back-to-back in 6A. I'll take Center Grove in a classic over Brownsburg. Indy-area Class 6A preview: Predictions, top players, what coaches said about their teams Sectional champions These were all of picks from a year ago with the notable of exception of Decatur Central, which is in 6A. Taking the Hawks' place is last year's 4A state champion, New Palestine. In the regional matchups, I will take Merrillville over Valpo and Lafayette Jeff over Warsaw. In the south regional games, New Palestine over East Central and Bloomington South over Castle. In the semistate games, Lafayette Jeff beats Merrillville and New Pal over Bloomington South. ∎ Championship game: New Palestine over Lafayette Jeff. Indy-area Class 5A preview: Predictions, top players, what coaches said about their teams Sectional champions I'll take Mishawaka over New Prairie in a rematch of last year (a 21-7 Mishawaka win) and East Noble over Culver Academy. I'll take Mishawaka to avenge last year's 18-13 semistate loss to East Noble. In the south, I'll take Bishop Chatard over Greenfield-Central and Evansville Reitz over Martinsville. ∎ Championship game: Bishop Chatard over Mishawaka. Indy-area Class 4A preview: Predictions, top players, what coaches said about their teams Sectional champions I'll take Knox over West Noble and Maconaquah over Bishop Luers in the north regional games and Maconaquah to advance to the state finals. In the south, give me Cascade over Lawrenceburg in one regional and Gibson Southern over Scottsburg in the other. I'll take Gibson Southern to win the semistate. ∎ Championship game: Gibson Southern over Maconaquah. Indy-area Class 3A preview: Predictions, top players, what coaches said about their teams Sectional champions Give me Andrean over Lafayette Central Catholic in one north regional and Adams Central over Rochester. I'll take Andrean to advance to the state finals. In the south, Lutheran over Lapel in one regional and Linton-Stockton over Brownstown Central in the other. I'll take Lutheran to advance to Thanksgiving weekend. ∎ Championship game: Andrean over Lutheran. Indy-area Class 2A preview: Predictions, top players, what coaches said about teams Sectional champions I'll take North Judson and South Adams in the north regional games and South Putnam and North Decatur in the south. Give me South Adams and North Decatur to advance to the state finals. ∎ Championship game: South Adams over North Decatur.
NBC Sports
a day ago
- NBC Sports
A new generation learns Rich Rodriguez's demanding coaching style at West Virginia
Rich Rodriguez won four Big East championships in seven seasons during his first stint at West Virginia, coming one haunting loss short of reaching college football's national championship game. Fans who endured mediocrity for the past six seasons under previous coach Neal Brown are counting on Rodriguez to resurrect the magic that produced double-digit wins in his final three seasons with the Mountaineers from 2005-07. That could take some time. If nothing else since Rodriguez was hired from Jacksonville State last December, they've had Sept. 13 circled, when West Virginia hosts archrival Pittsburgh, whose 13-9 win as a heavy underdog in Rodriguez's final game at WVU still stings. Two weeks later, Rodriguez left for Michigan. A huge roster turnover will make it challenging for Rodriguez to compete right away for a Big 12 championship. West Virginia hasn't won a title since joining the league in 2012 and hasn't been ranked since 2018, the last time it had back-to-back winning seasons. Soft play not tolerated So far, Rodriguez isn't happy about the depth at any position. 'I like my team, I just don't feel better about where we're at,' he said. 'We've got time.' Rodriguez has always used a no-huddle, up-tempo offense and is no less demanding now than when he first arrived at his alma mater in 2001. He has no tolerance for a lack of hard, physical play. Angered by such at a preseason practice, he stopped the drills and made his players run as punishment. 'Way too many moments of softness,' Rodriguez said. 'It can't ever be allowed. Up front, the O-line and D-line sometimes look like they're tango dancing instead of playing football. People say, 'You like to yell.' No, I like to win.' Offense potential Among the few returning players are the heart of the offense. Running back Jahiem White ran for 845 yards and seven scores as a sophomore in Brown's platoon system and could see his carries balloon behind a new offensive line in Rodriguez's run-based attack. The starting quarterback won't be revealed until the Aug. 30 season opener against Robert Morris. Nicco Marchiol won both of his 2024 starts and has played in 19 career games. He's competing with Texas A&M transfer Jaylen Henderson, who did not play last season, and Charlotte transfer Max Brown. 'We want to be the fastest team in America,' Marchiol said. 'This offense, I feel, fits me so well.' There are no returning receivers who had more than 300 yards a year ago. Sophomore Cam Vaughn had 48 catches for 803 yards and five TDs for Rodriguez at Jacksonville State. Legends return Rodriguez brought a pair of his most accomplished players back as assistant coaches. Pat White, who went 35-8 as a starting quarterback and won four bowl games from 2005-09, is an assistant under Rodriguez's son, quarterbacks coach Rhett Rodriguez. Noel Devine, second in school history with 5,761 all-purpose yards, is an offensive analyst and assistant running backs coach. Defense needs help West Virginia was among the Big 12's worst defenses last season. Defensive coordinator Zac Alley, who arrived from Oklahoma, has one returning player with limited starting experience: linebacker Reid Carrico. The schedule The Pitt game will be the last in the series until 2029. The Panthers have won two of three meetings since the rivalry resumed in 2022. West Virginia's league opener is Sept. 20 at Kansas. Among ranked teams, West Virginia plays No. 11 Arizona State and No. 23 Texas Tech to end the regular season but does not face No. 17 Kansas State or No. 22 Iowa State.
