Marysville-Pilchuck swims to North title

Published 11:20 pm Thursday, January 29, 2009

MARYSVILLE — Back-to-back records; back-to-back Wesco North titles.

That’s how Marysville-Pilchuck senior Trevor LeValley closed out his league swimming career on Thursday afternoon as the Tommies defeated Oak Harbor 107-76 at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.

Both teams entered the season’s final league meet undefeated and tied atop the Wesco North standings at 6-0, making for a winner-take-all atmosphere.

“As far as meets go, this was our best of the season,” Tommies head coach Scott Knowles said. “Since it was our last, it was the best time to swim fast.”

LeValley won the 100-yard backstroke in a school-record time of 54.94 seconds — which is also a Class 4A state qualifying time — breaking the mark of 55.27 he set last year.

“It was good — I’m happy with that. … It was a good race, really close,” LeValley said. “I actually set that record in the last meet last year, so I guess it’s symmetry.”

LeValley just edged John Hu of Oak Harbor, who finished second with a state time of 55.03.

“I thought John had him,” said Deb LeValley, Trevor’s mother and a volunteer assistant at school swim meets. “I couldn’t breathe the whole 100 yards.”

Trevor LeValley also won the 100 butterfly with a state time, and he was part of the winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams — both of which finished with state times.

“I think the medley relay got us off to a strong start,” Knowles said. “That was our best time of the season and it let us take control of the meet early on.”

Hu also recorded state times in winning the 200 individual medley and as a member of the winning 200 freestyle relay team and the runner-up 200 medley relay team.

“We’ve been trying to get (the 200 medley relay) state time for awhile so that was pretty good,” Wildcats head coach Amy Nurvic said. “The 200 free relay was a nice surprise — they came a lot closer to a state time than they’ve been all season.”

The Tommies’ Oliver Durand and Gabe Lopez were also multiple winners.

Lopez won the 50 and 100 freestyle events, and was on the winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams.

Durand posted state times in winning the 200 and 500 freestyle events, and he was on the winning 400 freestyle team and swam the anchor leg of the second-place 200 freestyle team.

With the 500 freestyle and the 200 freestyle relay competitions run back-to-back, Durand, a junior, had little time to recover between the two.

“Oliver Durand had just a great meet,” Knowles said. “He’s tired, but he earned his pizza tonight.”

Tommies sophomore Spencer Girard clinched the Wesco North title with a win in the 100 breaststroke, the 11th of 12 events. Girard’s victory, which was a state qualifying time, gave Marysville-Pilchuck 97 points — three more than the 94 needed to ensure a win.

One advantage the Tommies had was in diving. Because Oak Harbor does not have a regular diving program, the points available for that portion of the meet went to Marysville-Pilchuck.

“It’s difficult not to have a strong diving program,” Nurvic said. “That put us 13 points behind right there. That’s something for us to think about for next year, to try to build that up.”

Zach Russell of Marysville-Pilchuck won the diving with a score of 183.65.

The Wildcats’ Tyler Schell came away with three state qualifying times. He was a member of the winning 200 freestyle and runner-up 200 medley relay teams, and recorded a state time while finishing second in the 500 freestyle.

“We’ve had some fast times,” Nurvic said. “I’m not disappointed with the swims we’ve had today.”

With league competition over, both teams head into the district meet in two weeks, with the state tournament after that.

At Marysville-Pilchuck H.S.

200 medley relay—1. Marysville-Pilchuck (Gabe Lopez, Spencer Girard, Trevor LeValley, Brandon Caldwell) 1:41.52,* 2. Oak Harbor (John Hu, Yale Rosen, Price Hu, Tyler Schell) 1:43.14*; 200 freestyle­—Oliver Durand (MP) 1:47.37*; 200 individual medley—John Hu (OH) 1:59.19*; 50 freestyle—Gabe Lopez (MP) 23.21; Diving—Zach Russell (MP) 183.65; 100 butterfly—Trevor LeValley (MP) 53.34*; 100 freestyle—Gabe Lopez (MP) 50.23; 500 freestyle—1. Oliver Durand (MP) 4:47.64*, 2. Tyler Schell (OH) 4.56.17*; 200 freestyle relay­—Oak Harbor (Tyler Schell, Yale Rosen, Jacob Jepsen, John Hu) 1:34.25; 100 backstroke­­—1. Trevor LeValley (MP) 54.95*, 2. John Hu (OH) 55.03*; 100 breaststroke—Spencer Girard (MP) 1:03.73*; 400 freestyle relay—Marysville-Pilchuck (Gabe Lopez, Brody Coleman, Oliver Durand, Trevor LeValley) 3:21.67*. Records—Oak Harbor 6-1 league, 13-1-0 overall. Marysville-Pilchuck 7-0, 9-0-1.

*Class 4A state meet qualifying time.