SNOHOMISH — After falling just 13.5 points short of a district title last season, the Edmonds-Woodway boys swim team had plenty of extra motivation this time around.
But with Mother Nature leaving the status of this year’s Class 3A Northwest District swim and dive championships in limbo, the Warriors were nervous they wouldn’t get a shot at redemption.
“We originally thought we weren’t going to have scored finals today because of the weather,” Edmonds-Woodway senior Daniel Eno said, “and we were all really bummed about it because we felt like we had the best chance of winning.
“When we learned that we were having scored finals, (our coach) pulled all of us aside and we had a talk about it. We decided we were going to swim our hearts out, and it paid off.”
The Warriors ended Shorewood’s lengthy reign and claimed the 3A district team title with 435 points Friday afternoon at Snohomish Aquatic Center.
Edmonds-Woodway finished 34 points ahead of second-place Shorecrest and 88 points in front of third-place Shorewood, which saw a streak of at least six consecutive district titles come to an end. The Warriors won two of the meet’s three relay races and placed two individuals atop the podium.
“It’s a big deal for us,” Edmonds-Woodway coach Nolan Welfringer said. “Last year was a bit of a heartbreaker. I know a lot of my guys were hoping we’d get it last year, and sadly it wasn’t meant to be.
“(This) means a lot,” he added. “These guys have worked their tails off … to try and get us here.”
The 3A district swimming preliminary rounds originally were scheduled for Friday, with the finals slated for Saturday. But with considerable snow in the forecast, timed finals were held Friday in place of the preliminaries.
The meet’s closest race came in the 200-yard freestyle relay, where the Edmonds-Woodway team of Niko Inadomi, Eno, Andrew Rutz and Lukas Mraz edged Shorewood for first place by a mere 0.02 seconds.
“That was intense,” Eno said. “Seeing Lukas take the end of that relay, close it up and pretty much win us the meet, in my opinion, was really awesome to watch.”
The Warriors also broke a district-meet record in the 200 medley relay, with the team of Jeff Plum, Eno, Yuteng Wang and Anton Teplouhov finishing in a winning time of 1 minute, 37.95 seconds.
“That medley relay has gone faster and faster and faster every single point this season,” Welfringer said. “I told them today (that) I thought we could go 1:38.5, and they just smashed that.”
Wang and Eno also captured individual titles for Edmonds-Woodway. Wang, a junior, won the 100 butterfly. Eno took first place in the 100 breaststroke, finishing 0.32 seconds ahead of Shorewood junior Cole Nouwens.
“He’s so powerful in his stroke,” Welfringer said of Eno. “He’s that kind of guy you’ll have a lead on early in a race, and he’ll just grind you out to the finish and out-touch (you). He’s just really, really strong and is a fantastic finisher.”
Shorecrest had a pair of two-event individual champions in seniors Spencer Thurman and Aric Prieve.
Thurman claimed titles in both the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle, while Prieve won the 100 backstroke and 100 freestyle. Both also contributed to the Scots’ 400 freestyle relay victory, with Prieve swimming a come-from-behind anchor leg to help Shorecrest beat second-place Edmonds-Woodway by 0.64 seconds.
“Finishing off (the meet) with a come-from-behind win in the 400 free relay was pretty awesome,” Shorecrest coach Scott Kelley said.
Shorewood junior diver Isaac Poole, last year’s 3A state runner-up, dominated Wednesday’s diving competition with a winning score of 498.35 points. He finished nearly 119 points ahead of the next-closest competitor and came within 0.9 points of the district-meet record, which has stood since 1991.
“Talk about a hard worker,” Thunderbirds coach Jeremy Hunter said. “He had such a great performance at state (last year), and then recommitted himself in the offseason and has come through this season with just tremendous growth. He lit it up on Wednesday. … We’re really excited to see what he does next weekend (at state).”
Nouwens also claimed a title for Shorewood, winning the 200 individual medley.
Snohomish sophomore James Boggeri sprinted to victory in the 50 freestyle.
Snohomish’s James Boggeri celebrates his first place in the Boys 50 Yard Freestyle during the NW District 1 3A Boys Swim and Dive Friday afternoon at the Snohomish Aquatic Center on February 8, 2019. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
Kamiak rolls to 4A district crown
Kamiak cruised to its second consecutive outright 4A Northwest District team title Thursday with 586 points.
The Knights won two of the three relay races and four of the nine individual events to finish 144.5 points ahead of second-place Jackson. Including a shared district team title with the Timberwolves in 2017, it marked the third straight district crown for Kamiak.
The 4A district swimming preliminaries originally were scheduled for Thursday, with the finals slated for Saturday. But with inclement weather forecast for the weekend, timed finals were held Thursday in place of the preliminaries.
The Kamiak 200 freestyle relay team of Alex Kirby, Maxwell Fang and sophomore twins Vlad and Slava Gilszmer set a district-meet record with a winning time of 1:28.12.
The Knights also cruised to victory in the 400 freestyle relay, with the team of Brian Park, the Gilszmer twins and Fang posting a time of 3:13.77 that was more than 10 seconds faster than the next-closest squad.
In addition to helping Kamiak to a pair of relay victories, Vlad Gilszmer captured individual titles in both the 200 and 500 freestyle. In both races, he beat his twin, Slava, to finish atop the podium.
Kamiak senior Jonathan Ke also won an individual title, claiming the 100 butterfly crown. Fang, a junior, added to the Knights’ title haul by winning the 100 freestyle.
Jackson junior Justin Limberg cruised to victory in a pair of events, winning both the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke. He also teamed with Tony Kim, Pryce Umemoto and Jensen Elsemore to help the Timberwolves to victory in the 200 medley relay.
Kim, a sophomore, added a 100 backstroke title for Jackson.
Cascade senior diver Joseph Hofman, last year’s 4A state runner-up, took first place in Wednesday’s talent-laden diving competition with a winning score of 463.80 points.
2A meet canceled
The 2A Northwest District meet, scheduled for Friday and Saturday in Anacortes, was canceled due to inclement weather.
As a result, “psych sheets for districts will determine who wild-cards to state,” Archbishop Murphy coach Erin Edmondson said.
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