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NORTH BEND — On many swim teams, Sarah Brown might be the undisputed star.

Through her high school career, she’s qualified for state in individual events every year and consistently performed well.

But she also has come through North Bend at the same time as three multi-time individual state champions — Kim Jasmer, Denise Green and Rachel Heaney — who have taken up most of the spotlight.

That’s just fine with Brown, who competes in her final state meet Friday and Saturday at Mount Hood Community College.

“They deserve what they’ve been getting,” Brown said, adding that swimming side by side with the group has made her better.

“It made me have higher expectations for myself,” she said.

With various combinations of the other girls, Brown has been on four state champion relay teams, including one that set a school record. Individually, she was third in the 100 butterfly and sixth in the 200 individual medley last winter, her best individual finishes at state.

Her contributions are clear to North Bend coach Chris Richmond.

“She’s been steady,” he said. “She’s been one of the main cogs of the team since she’s been here.”

When Brown was a freshman, North Bend finished second in the state meet. Last year, the Bulldogs won the team title — the school’s first in the sport.

She counts that as the biggest highlight of her swimming career.

Her first big accomplishment as an individual came long before high school, when she won the state title in the 50 breaststroke in the 8-and-under age group a decade ago.

“That was pretty cool,” Brown said.

She started swimming with the South Coast Aquatic Team when she was 6, and stuck with it.

“It’s fun,” she said. “You get to meet a lot of people, and at the same time, it’s good exercise. And Chris is a great coach, too. That makes it easier.”

Brown has focused on swimming, dabbling only a little bit in other sports.

Her sophomore year, she tried softball. During the softball class a week before the district swim meet, she was pounded in the shoulder by a line drive hit by teammate Cheyenna Ohlrich, who was well-known for her powerful stroke.

Brown fought through the pain of the injury to qualify for state in the individual medley, placing eighth. She also helped North Bend’s 200 freestyle relay team to third place.

Healthy last year, Brown had a strong state meet. In addition to her individual efforts, she helped North Bend to titles in the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay.

Richmond expects a similar performance this week.

“It’s her last year,” he said. “I think she’s feeling that she could do something special.”

Brown is seeded eighth in the butterfly, though she had a big race in that at state last year. She also is seeded sixth in the 200 freestyle, a new event this year.

“I didn’t want to do the IM,” she said of the individual medley. “I’ve done it every year, and it hasn’t been going so well. I wanted to try something different.”

Richmond said Brown is versatile and could do well wherever he put her in the lineup.

“She’s been an IMer for quite a while,” he said. “When you’re an IMer, you can swim anything.”

Brown also will compete on the relay with a pair of North Bend teams that are seeded second and fourth and could move up.

As good as she is in the pool, the senior plays an equally big role for the team as its captain.

“She’s a really good captain,” said Heaney, a sophomore. “She really motivates everyone. She cares about how everyone does. She’s a team leader.”

“The thing I like about Sarah is she’s always happy,” said Richmond. “It’s been nice to have her around. I think she’s a pretty good leader.”

With her bright blue eyes and contagious smile, Brown brings her happiness to others.

Brown doesn’t plan on continuing swimming after this year. She’s aiming to go to beauty school in Newport.

But she’ll always look back at her career fondly, and said everything has been rewarding.

“I like racing. I like all the people,” she said. “Everything together makes it what it is.”