Third-straight state title for Snohomish Kamiak finishes second, 60 points behind

Published 11:49 pm Saturday, February 16, 2008

FEDERAL WAY — This was one sweet, sweet, three-peat.

Led by “Swimmer of the Meet” Garren Riechel, relay supremacy and clutch performances galore, the Snohomish Panthers earned a third consecutive team title at the Class 4A state swimming and diving championship at the King County Aquatic Center Saturday night.

The individual efforts of Riechel (first place in the 100-yard breaststroke and second in the 200 individual medley) and Eric Pedack (fourth in 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke) and a pair of relay victories helped Snohomish amass 247 points.

That was enough to outlast a familiar foe, the Kamiak Knights, who placed second with 187 points. Richland (147) edged Shorewood (143) for third and Marysville-Pilchuck (98) rounded out the four Western Conference teams in the top eight.

“This feels good every year, but this one feels the best,” said Snohomish coach Rob Serviss. “We had to fight through some adversity to get here. I’m so proud of how the team performed today … it’s fantastic.”

“Priceless, this is the best one,” said Pedack, a senior tri-captain. “Nothing’s better … it’s awesome.”

In the breaststroke, Central Kitsap’s Seth Parker swam an All-American automatic time (57.02), but settled for second behind Riechel, who set a Class 4A state meet record with a stunning 56.06. The old mark of 56.50 had stood since 1990.

Chris Lynch and Gus Brunner of Kamiak and Cory Coxen of Snohomish were fourth, seventh and eighth, respectively.

“When (Riechel) sets his mind to something he does it,” Serviss said of the 6-foot-2 sophomore sensation. “He came in and said ‘I’m going to get that meet record (in the 100 breaststroke)’ and smashes it by half a second. There’s a lot left to see from Garren Riechel.”

Riechel credited the raucous red-clad Snohomish fans for the team’s success.

“The crowd helped so much,” Riechel said, noting he could hear the fans while swimming. “It’s muffled, but it’s a roar and you know they’re there.”

The “Swimmer of the Meet” award, given to the athlete who amasses the most power points in two individual events, as determined by the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association, was a bonus.

“That blew my mind,” Riechel said. “I was not expecting that … but, the (team title) means so much because our seniors have been here for all three and they are really great leaders.”

Shorewood just missed giving Wesco a trifecta at the top of the standings, but the one-two punch of Snohomish and Kamiak at the top was sweetened all the more by another exacta.

In addition to Riechel earning “Swimmer of the Meet” honors, Kamiak coach Chris Erickson was selected by his peers as “Coach of the Year.”

“Anytime you get an award like that it’s a reflection on the whole team,” Erickson said. “We would have had to do something really incredible to get first … but, we’ll be telling stories for a long time about today.”

Kamiak finished third in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays and knocked 1.42 seconds off its prelim time to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:28.19 with a contingent that included Tyler Carriker, Patrick Hunziker, Daniel Schmidt and Rayan Carter.

“That felt great,” Erickson said. “We really wanted to get that AAC (All-American Consideration) time.”

Snohomish, second in the 200 freestyle relay, opened and closed the meet with victories in the 200-yard medley and 400 freestyle relays.

The Panthers’ contingent of Pedack, Riechel, Bryan Harvey and Nick Hryciuk went right to work in the 200 medley relay, streaking to victory with an automatic All-American time of 1:36.84.

Hryciuk — also a senior tri-captain — swam a searing 22.35 in the freestyle anchor leg that was six-tenths of a second off his previous best split.

Wesco was all over the medley relay with Kamiak (Hunziker, Lynch, Carter and Schmidt) placing third (1:40.54), Marysville-Pilchuck (Gabe Lopez, Spencer Girard, Trevor LeValley, Aaron Goff) sixth (1:43.41) and Shorewood seventh.

The Panthers (Logan Goodman, Hryciuk, Pedack, Riechel) wrapped up the meet by winning the 400 freestyle in 3:13.38.

In the 200 individual medley John Hu’s stirring 1:54.64 was enough for the Oak Harbor senior to hold off the hard-charging Riechel (1:54.88) and LeValley who was third in 1:56.75.

Seeded sixth after the prelims, Kamiak’s Carriker moved up to third with a 22.13 in the 50 freestyle.

Schmidt’s winning effort in the consoles in 21.95 would have been good enough for second place had he qualified for finals.

“Outstanding swims for both,” Erickson said of the pair. “Hopefully next year they’ll be side by side in the same (championship) heat.”

Cascade’s Sean Nesheim won the 200 freestyle in an automatic All-American time of 1:41.17 with Shorewood’s Bryan Michaels second and Goodman of Snohomish seventh.

“It was really tiring,” Nesheim panted afterwards. “But, it was a solid swim.”

Bothell’s Ben Nicholas defended his state title in the one-meter diving with a score of 413.70. Kamiak’s Andrew Wells (337.25) placed sixth, just ahead of M-P’s Taylor Gibson (335.90).

3A meet: Tyler Hayden of Shorecrest placed first in the 100 butterfly (50.86) and second in the 200 freestyle (1:41.58) to lead the Scots to twelfth place.

Other Wesco placers included: Alex Tarr (Everett, sixteenth, 200 freestyle); Michael Keane (Meadowdale, tenth, 100 breaststroke, fourteenth, 200 individual medley,) and Sam Atkinson (Meadowdale, eleventh, 100 backstroke). The Mavericks’ Atkinson, Keane, Darren Howell and Allen Wong earned thirteenth in the 200 medley relay.