MUKILTEO — The Marysville-Pilchuck boys swimming team secured its top spot in the Western Conference North Division with a convincing 112-71 win over Oak Harbor in a tri-team meet Friday afternoon at Kamiak High School.
Host Kamiak, the front-runner for the 4A District 1 title, beat Marysville-Pilchuck 118-68 and Oak Harbor 131-52 to remain unbeaten this season.
The Tomahawks (7-0 league, 11-1 overall) had firmly set their sights on defeating Oak Harbor (6-1, 12-2).
“Our focus was on the Oak Harbor end of it,” Marysville-Pilchuck head coach Scott Knowles said. “Even if we’d lined up to do our best against Kamiak it wouldn’t have mattered … it probably wouldn’t have been that different.”
In Friday’s showdown of Wesco’s top three swim teams, Kamiak’s strength in numbers set the Knights (15-0 overall) apart. Marysville-Pilchuck’s performance in relays and wins by Oliver Durand and Spencer Girard helped the Tomahawks prevail against the previously unbeaten Wildcats and claim the Wesco North title.
“It’s the meet that counted the most for us,” Knowles said. “You only have one shot at winning the league.”
The Tomahawks opened strong, winning the 200-yard medley relay in 1 minute, 42.67 seconds. Girard followed that with a first-place finish in the 200 freestyle (1:49.68, state qualifying time). Thanks to a late push in the final 15 yards, Girard was able to finish strong and outstretch Kamiak’s Trent Roberts by .09 seconds.
“Spencer (Girard) had a great meet,” Knowles said. “He had over a 2 second drop in the 200 freestyle (from his previous best time).”
Oliver Durand won the 200 individual medley in 1:59.33 and Brandon Caldwell finished first in the 50 freestyle (23.33 seconds) to make start the Tomahawks with four straight wins.
But even after M-P’s strong start, Kamiak, with its depth, still had a 32-30 lead heading into the diving portion of the meet.
“You watch the Kamiak kids, they were really attacking the races,” M-P’s Knowles said. “Our kids swam hard, but racing is a whole other thing.”
Kamiak’s Roberts (50.68 seconds) and Kris Bratvold (51.37) finished 1-2 in the 100 freestyle to help the Knights start to pull away.
Oak Harbor’s Price Hu won the 100 butterfly in a time of 54.96 seconds.
A top time for Tyler Cheung in the 500 freestyle (5:09.09), a 200 freestyle relay win and freshman Liam Sosinsky’s strong final 25 yards in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.87) cemented the Knights’ victory.
Sosinsky avenged Roberts’ loss in the 200 freestyle by outstretching Girard in the 100 breaststroke to win by .09 seconds.
“He’s gotta work on his turns more. That wasn’t his fastest time,” Kamiak head coach Chris Erickson said of Sosinsky’s breaststroke event. “He’s a very hard worker, very talented.”
Erickson added that Sosinsky is possibly around the same level as Snohomish High star Garren Riechel was during his freshman season.
With Marysville-Pilchuck focusing on its Wesco North title hopes against Oak Harbor, Kamiak’s Erickson utilized his depth for the win.
“We just put our best lineup forward that we could,” Erickson said when asked what the Knights were focusing on during the meet. “… We knew we were going to get close races.”
The Tomahawks claimed their top spot in the North, but it’ll be an uphill battle against Kamiak and Shorewood in the 4A District 1 tournament in a couple weeks.
Especially since there’s seemingly no way around Kamiak’s depth.
“It’s pretty hard to hide it in the last meet of the season,” Erickson said of his bevy of talented swimmers.
Marysville-Pilchuck 112, Oak Harbor 71
Kamiak 118, M-P 68
Kamiak 132, Oak Harbor 52
At Kamiak High School
200 medley relay—Marysville-Pilchuck (Oliver Durand, Josh Estella, Spencer Girard, Brandon Caldwell) 1:42.67*; 200 freestyle—Spencer Girard (M-P) 1:49.68*; 200 individual medley—Oliver Durand (M-P) 1:59.33*; 50 freestyle—Brandon Caldwell (M-P) 23.33; Diving—Mitchell Wright (K) 218.40; 100 butterfly—Price Hu (OH) 54.96*; 100 freestyle—Trent Roberts (K) 50.68; 500 freestyle—Tyler Cheung 5:09.09; 200 freestyle relay—Kamiak (Kris Bratvold, Brian Burns, Tyler Cheung, Trent Roberts) 1:32.76*; 100 backstroke—Oliver Durand (M-P) 56.09*; 100 breaststroke—Liam Sosinsky (K) 1:01.87*; 400 freestyle relay—Kamiak (Trent Roberts, Chris Choi, Tyler Cheung, Kyle Kusuda) 3:27.09*. Records—Marysville-Pilchuck 7-0 league, 11-1 overall. Oak Harbor 6-1, 12-2. Kamiak 15-0 overall.
*Class 4A state meet qualifying time.
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