MARYSVILLE — If you wanted to know how hot it was, all one needed to do was stop by the concession stand where the cool beverages had sold out before the meet reached the mid-point.
Not surprisingly, there remained on-hand an ample supply of snug Marysville-Pilchuck beanies.
The intense heat carried over to the pool where the Snohomish Panthers rode a relay sweep, twin triumphs by Melissa Randolf and Emily Ferreria and unmatched depth to its eleventh consecutive title in the 4A Northwest District girls swimming and diving championships at Marysville-Pilchuck High School Saturday.
“I don’t think we’re peaking yet,” Snohomish coach Rob Serviss said. “But, we’ve been working hard towards our goal and took another good step today.”
After winning last year’s district title without recording a victory in an individual event, the Panthers got four victories from Randolf and Ferreria combined, ran up 506 points and served notice they expect to be in the hunt at next week’s state championship meet at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.
Jackson enjoyed a record-setting performance by double-winner Alana Pazevic and scored 421 points to edge Shorewood (401) for second place.
“Top to bottom we had a great meet,” Jackson coach Drew Whorley said.
Versatile Marysville-Pilchuck was fourth (394.5), followed by Kamiak (295) and Edmonds-Woodway (254).
Snohomish stormed into the lead right from the start by earning 44 points with a convincing victory by Sarah Shawback, Ferreira, Tessa McCurdy and Amy Ruiz in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1 minute, 52.38 seconds.
Snohomish stretched its lead with early triumphs by Ferreria (200 individual medley) and Randolf (50 freestyle).
Even when Snohomish wasn’t winning races it relied on depth to pile up points, including 43 earned when Jasmine Labitze led a group of four Panthers who placed in the consolation final of the 200 freestyle.
“We have our stars,” Serviss said. “But, in a meet like this it’s those second heat performances that make all the difference.”
Just when folks probably thought it couldn’t get any hotter, Randolf and Jackson’s Pazevic cranked up the heat a couple more notches.
Randolf set a new district meet record in winning the 100 butterfly with a time of 57.98. The previous mark of 58.56 was set by Kamiak’s Shala Van Gerpen in 2002.
Pazevic, a sophomore, followed Randolf’s record-setting effort with one of her own in the 100 freestyle. She swam a 51.90 to better the meet record set by Eric Chandler of Snohomish in 2001 and equal the Western Conference mark set by Chandler in that same year.
“That’s definitely my best race ever,” Pazevic said of matching Chandler who won seven individual titles for the Panthers from 1998-2001 and went on to have a standout career at Purdue. “I’m feeling really good lately … I don’t know if I can wait a whole week for state.”
Well, at least Pazevic didn’t have to wait long to set another meet record when she posted a 58.56 in winning the 100 backstroke and nudging aside the previous mark set by Kamiak’s Rikka Brunner (58.59) in 2004.
Ferreira (2:10.96) relied on her strength in the breaststroke — she placed third in the 100 breaststroke at the 2006 state meet — to overtake Jackson’s Stephanie Ha in the third leg and hold on to earn a victory in the 200 individual medley.
“My focus and determination were good today,” said Ferreira who sheared more than five seconds off her prelim time to outlast Ha (2:12.91) for the first time in three head-to-head meetings this season.
Ferreira later cruised to victory in the 100 breaststroke with an All-American consideration time of 1:06.04.
Snohomish (Meghan Blue, Amanda Yelle, Labitzke and Randolf) swam 1:44.77 to top the 1:46.72 of Kamiak (Hannah Kohagen, Louise Moores, Amanda Gorlick, Nathalie Klein) in the 200 freestyle relay.
The Panthers capped their dominant performance with a victory over Jackson in the 400 freestyle relay with both teams shattering the meet record. Snohomish (Ferreira, Shawback, Blue and Randolf) came in at 3:39.32 with Jackson (Ha, Erin Holladay, Marina Pomar-Enders and Pazevic) close in 3:39.89.
Shorewood teammates Tara McIntyre and Laurin Williams battled for the lead in the 200 freestyle before Jackson’s Pomar-Enders overtook the pair on the final lap to win in 1:57.10.
“They gave me a good race,” Pomar-Enders said. “Something in my head said ‘Beat them’ and I really wanted to touch the wall first.”
At Marysville-Pilchuck H.S.
Team scores — 1. Snohomish 506, 2. Jackson 421, 3. Shorewood 401, 4. Marysville-Pilchuck 394.5, 5. Kamiak 295, 6. Edmonds-Woodway 254, 7. Oak Harbor 189.5, 8. Lake Stevens 162, 9. Stanwood 142, 10. Mariner 81, 11. Mountlake Terrace 44, 12. Cascade 40.
Top 3 and other state qualifiers:
200 medley relay — 1. Snohomish 1:52.38 (Shawback, Ferreria, McCurdy, Ruiz), 2. Jackson 1:54.65 (Pazevic, Ramos, Ha, Pomar-Enders), 3. Marysville-Pilchuck 1:57.07 (Girard, Blomberg, Renslo, Caldwell), 4. Shorewood 1:57.61 (Gentling, Gehrke, Wilkinson, McIntyre); 200 freestyle — 1. Pomar-Enders (J) 1:57, 2. Williams (Sh) 1:57.89, 3. McIntyre (Sh) 1:57.96, 4. Jay (E-W) 2:00.91; 200 individual medley — 1. Ferreira (Sn) 2:10.96, 2. Ha (J) 2:12.91, 3. Klein (K) 2:16.06; 50 freestyle – 1. Randolf (Sn) 24.52, 2. Moores (K) 25.75, 3. Blue (Sn) 25.91; 1 meter diving — 1. Clark (M-P) 271.50, 2. Weeks (K) 253.25, 3. McClung (K) 231.85; 100 butterfly — 1. Randolf (Sn) 57.98, 2. Ha (J) 59.90, 3. McCurdy (Sn) 1:00.93, 4. Shawback (Sn) 1:01.83; 100 freestyle — 1. Pazevic (J) 51.90, 2. Blue (Sn) 55.93, 3. Moores (K) 56.33; 500 freestyle — 1. Williams (Sh) 5:07.22, 2. Pomar-Enders (J) 5:12.56, 3. McIntyre (Sh) 5:17.77, 4. Jay (E-W) 5:19.22, 5. Holstein (E-W) 5:19.46, 6. Gehrke (Sh) 5:21.02; 200 freestyle relay — 1. Snohomish (Blue, Yelle, Labitzke, Randolf) 1:44.77, 2. Kamiak (Kohagen, Moores, Gorlick, Klein) 1:46.72, 3. Shorewood (Jenne, Wilkinson, Williams, McIntyre) 1:46.73; 100 backstroke — 1. Pazevic (J) 58.56, 2. Shawback (Sn) 1:01.46, 3. Girard (M-P) 1:02.81, 4. Gentling (Sh) 1:02.97; 100 breaststroke — 1. Ferreira (Sn) 1:06.04, 2. Klein (K) 1:09.44, 3. Lim (E-W) 1:10.56; 400 freestyle relay — 1. Snohomish (Ferreira, Shawback, Blue, Randolf) 3:39.32, 2. Jackson (Ha, Holladay, Pomar-Enders, Pazevic) 3:39.89, 3. Shorewood (Williams, Allen, Gentling, Gehrke) 3:53.98.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
