Kamiak boys swimming team’s win streak hits 101

Published 8:14 pm Tuesday, January 13, 2015

LYNNWOOD — It’s been so long since the Kamiak boys swimming team lost a regular-season meet, the coach can barely remember when it was.

Head coach Chris Erickson said he believes the last time the Knights lost was to Snohomish in January of 2008. After that loss the they started a streak that hit a new milestone on Tuesday, when the Knights recorded their 100th and 101st straight victories with a 108-59 win over Meadowdale and a 129-20 win over Lynnwood at the Lynnwood pool.

“A lot of kids have gone through and been a part of (the streak),” Erickson said. “A lot of hard work and a lot of great efforts.”

The first full season of the streak started with the Knights doing something they never had before — finishing a season undefeated. Then they did it again…and again.

“After about three years we went back and looked and we kind of started keeping track after that,” Erickson said.

Kamiak defeated Shorecrest 119-66 last Thursday to set up Tuesday’s opportunity to extend the streak into triple digits. In between, the team competed at the Kentridge Invite, where it finished second behind Mercer Island.

“We had (the) Kentridge (Invite) on Saturday and they really went after it and did really well there,” Erickson said. “Today, I stuck them in other events and mixed up the relays and tried to challenge them in other ways.”

Despite the large margins of victory on Tuesday, Erickson said his team didn’t race their best times. He cited fatigue as a possible reason, but added that his swimmers effort was where it should have been.

A winning streak that extends into triple digits doesn’t come without some close calls and a little luck. The Knights have had both. Erickson recalls a victory over Shorewood two years ago that came down to the final race.

Even more exciting, he recalled a win over Shorecrest that almost wasn’t a win.

“Shorecrest we actually tied for a minute,” Erickson said. “When the races are that close, we’ll keep score on the side of the pool and we thought we were ahead. When they announced the tie we thought something was up.”

Erickson was right.

After the coaching staffs from the two teams did a little math, Kamiak had narrowly defeated the Scots.

If the Knights make it out of the season with the streak in tact, they will have to get past two very challenging opponents in the upcoming weeks.

“Jackson is going to be, hopefully, tooth and nail, right down to the wire,” Erickson said. “It may not, but they’re strong enough to beat us and we have to be ready. And then Lake Stevens on the third of February. Those two meets are where we’re going to be challenged.

“You kind of know going in, there’s a lot of times involved and you can kind of project and predict, to lose anywhere else, we would have to have a lot of disqualifications for that to happen.”

The Knights has several swimmers that have recorded times in the top two or three in their classification this season including seniors Eben Schumann and Shelby Lee. Led by them and others, Erickson is hopeful his team can have another impressive showing at the 4A state meet in February.

“I think we should be top 10 again — and hopefully top five — that would be nice,” Erickson said. “If things really go our way we could get a trophy, which is top four, but it’s still too early to tell.”

Erickson acknowledged that Tuesday was a special moment for the program, but admitted his team didn’t get too excited about it. The swimmers are more excited about their upcoming meet against Jackson on January 22.

“I think it was just another day at the office type of thing,” Erickson said of his team’s reaction to its 100th and 101st straight regular-season wins. “It’s going to be Jackson. That’s when we’re either going to be elated, or we’re going to be like, ‘oh dang, it’s over.’”

Kamiak 108, Meadowdale 59

At Lynnwood Pool

200 medley relay—Kamiak (Eben Schumann, Shelby Lee, Joon Lee, Ryan Price) 1:50.54; 200 freestyle—Carson VanFarowe (M) 2:00.95; 200 individual medley—Paul Shkurinskiy (K) 2:23.13; 50 freestyle—Dovinh (K) 24.79; Diving—not reported. 100 butterfly—S. Lee (K) 56.19; 100 freestyle—Jack Busby (M) 54.19; 500 freestyle—Schumann (K) 5:16.14; 200 freestyle relay—Kamiak (S. Lee, Dovinh, Lee, Shkurinskiy) 1:39.64; 100 backstroke—Henry Limm (K) 59.98; 100 breaststroke—Chris Thomsen (K) 1:07.40; 400 freestyle relay—Kamiak (Price, Dovinh, Tristen Hansen, S. Lee) 3:36.95.

Kamiak 129, Lynnwood 20

At Lynnwood Pool

200 medley relay—Kamiak (Eben Schumann, Shelby Lee, Joon Lee, Ryan Price) 1:50.54; 200 freestyle—Ben Dovinh (K) 2:01.41; 200 individual medley—Paul Shkurinskiy (K) 2:23.13; 50 freestyle—Dovinh (K) 24.79; Diving—not reported. 100 butterfly—S. Lee (K) 56.19; 100 freestyle—Ian Carpenter (K) 55.66; 500 freestyle—Schumann (K) 5:16.14; 200 freestyle relay—Kamiak (S. Lee, Dovinh, Lee, Shkurinskiy) 1:39.64; 100 backstroke—Henry Limm (K) 59.98; 100 breaststroke—Chris Thomsen (K) 1:07.40; 400 freestyle relay—Kamiak (Price, Dovinh, Tristen Hansen, S. Lee) 3:36.95.

Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.