MUKILTEO — The streak is over.
The Kamiak Knights, who hadn’t defeated Shorewood since a two-point victory in 2001, defeated the Thunderbirds 109-77 to win the Wesco South championship Thursday at the Kamiak Pool.
“It was the best meet of my life,” said Kamiak senior Andrew Wells, who set a school record in the 1-meter dive with a score of 286.35. “It’s one of the biggest meets I’ve ever been in. It’s been amazing.”
The victory also marks the first time Shorewood has not won or shared the Wesco South championship since the 2001 season.
“Every streak has to end at some point,” Shorewood coach Scott Kelley said. “Things had to go our way for us to win and we swam well enough to win, but they just swam a little better.
“Our seniors really wanted it, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Our seniors are pretty upset about it, it’s the first time they’ve experienced not winning Wesco.”
Tyler Carriker’s victory in the 50-yard freestyle with a state-qualifying time of 22.57 seconds gave the Knights the early lead and Kamiak used solid performances from Carriker and Patrick Hunziker to clinch the victory before the final event — the 400 freestyle relay — was even contested.
Carriker added a victory in the 100 freestyle in a state-qualifying 49.58 and swam a leg on Kamiak’s victorious 400 freestyle team, which also qualified for state with a mark of 3:23.29.
“I think (Kamiak) is feeling really good about (this victory). They swam well,” Kamiak coach Chris Erickson said of the victory. “(However), our focus is still on February, and everything we do is a test to see how we’re going to do when we get there.”
Hunziker swam a state-qualifying time of 56.51 in winning the 100 backstroke, but the real surprise came when he dropped nearly five seconds off his time in the 200 individual medley, which he won in a state-qualifying 2:03.37.
“The coaches were like, ‘You should think about the IM — seriously, because you could do really well at it,’ ” said Hunziker, who had little experience in the event heading into Thursday’s meet. “So I did.”
Hunziker also swam legs on the winning 400 freestyle and 200 medley relay teams, capping a meet which not only decided the Wesco South title, but also saw 15 relay teams or individuals record state-qualifying times.
Shorewood’s Bryan Michaels recorded state-qualifying times in winning the 200 freestyle (1:51.09) and the 500 freestyle (4:53.88) and Tim Tan swam a state-qualifying time in winning the 100 butterfly, with a 54.88.
Kamiak’s Chris Lynch won the 100 breaststroke with a state-qualifying 1:02.61 and both Shorewood and Kamiak had state-qualifying relay teams in all three relay races.
Erickson noted that his team may have benefited from their tough Christmas-break conditioning regimen. The team attempted to swim 50 miles over 12 days.
“We had 13 kids survive that and we had probably another five that just missed,” Erickson said. “Everybody is just feeding off each other. They’re supporting each other and they’re working their tails off.”
Shorewood’s Maxwell Vincent also qualified for state in the 50 freestyle, finishing second with a time of 22.65.
At Kamiak H.S.
200 medley relay—Kamiak (Hunziker, Lynch, Carter, Schmidt) 1:42.38; 200 freestyle—Michaels (S) 1:51.09; 200 individual medley—Hunziker (K) 2:03.37; 50 freestyle—Carriker (K) 22.57; Diving—Wells (K) 286.35; 100 butterfly—Tan (S) 54.88; 100 freestyle—Carriker (K) 49.58; 500 freestyle—Michaels (S) 4:53.88; 200 freestyle relay—Shorewood (Hopen, DeMerritt, Tan, Vincent) 1:32.46; 100 backstroke—Hunziker (K) 56.51; 100 breaststroke—Lynch (K) 1:02.61; 400 freestyle relay—Kamiak (Carter, Carriker, Hunziker, Lynch), 3:23.29. Records—Shorewood 7-1 league, 7-2 overall. Kamiak 8-0, 10-1.
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