FEDERAL WAY – They call it the preliminaries, but, truth be told, it’s nothing less than a fight for survival inside a tantalizingly blue-hued pressure cooker.
Battle-tested Western Conference athletes advanced to the championship finals in all 13 events at Friday’s opening day of the Class 4A State Swim and Dive Championships at the King County Aquatic Center.
Four swimmers – Kelly Conrad of Lake Stevens, Lara Sreibers of Kamiak and Stephanie Ha and Alana Pazevic of Jackson – each qualified for today’s finals in two events.
It was a banner day for Conrad (No. 2 seed in the 50-yard freestyle and No. 4 in the 100 freestyle) and for Lake Stevens, which has climbed up in the team standings each of the past three seasons.
After placing 12th in 2005, the Vikings are poised to crack the top 10 after Brittany Wolcott, Cassie White, Sam Purnell and Conrad secured the No. 1 spot in the 200 freestyle relay finals with a prelim time of 1 minute, 41.76 seconds.
“They’re so excited,” Lake Stevens coach Sarah Summers said. “It was a total team effort. All four had unbelievable splits.”
The Vikings (Wolcott, White, McKenzie Sutton and Conrad) qualified No. 6 in the 400 freestyle relay. Purnell, Tarryn Simmons, Sutton and Wolcott made the consolation finals in the 200 medley relay.
“They wanted to set themselves up to try to sneak into the top 10,” Summers said. “We’ve got great relay swimmers who swim their best when it’s on the line for a teammate.”
In today’s 50 freestyle, Conrad, a senior, gets a final chance to overcome her nemesis, Madison Rousell, a senior from South Kitsap.
Rousell – the defending state champion – qualified No. 1 in a flashy 24.05.
Conrad, second to Rousell in the 2005 state meet, is No. 2 (24.41).
“Kelly has trained really hard and loves to race,” Summers said. “You put that all together and you never know. You just come tomorrow and do the best you can.”
For all its physical demands, swimming is deviously mentally taxing and Jackson’s Ha showed her mettle. In the 200 individual medley, Ha came to state with the third-fastest time, but slipped to No. 7 for the finals.
The junior stormed back in the 100 butterfly with a school record 58.44 and grabbed the No. 2 seed in the finals behind Garfield’s Gabby Guieb (57.85).
“Stephanie really got it together for the ‘fly,” Jackson coach Drew Whorley said. “A school record … that’s fantastic.”
Powered by Ha and by Pazevic’s No. 2 seed in the 100 freestyle and No. 3 seed in the 100 backstroke, Jackson is poised for a high finish.
“Alana’s (Pazevic) one of those kids who really performs well on the back half of races,” Whorley said of the freshman. “She’s gonna be tough.”
The Timberwolves’ Pazevic, Allie Litz, Ha and Jessica Samples earned the No. 3 seed in the 200 medley relay (1:54.50).
“I’m really happy with where we are,” Whorley said.
Kamiak flexed its muscles in the grueling 500 yard freestyle.
Sreibers is seeded No. 3 (5:05.30) and Taryn Van Gerpen shaved three seconds off her qualifying time and qualified No. 6 (5:09.91). Claire Jordan is No. 13 (5:24.52).
Sreibers, Jordan, Van Gerpen and Allison Stafford – all seniors – qualified No. 8 in the 400 freestyle relay. Sreibers and Jordan are No. 8 and No. 10 qualifiers in the 200 freestyle.
“It’s all about getting ready for Saturday,” Kamiak coach Chris Erickson said.
Snohomish was led by freshman Emily Ferreira’s 1:07.64 effort in the 100 breaststroke, good enough for the No. 3 seed. Bothell’s Lia Santini is No. 6 (1:08.64).
Due to a miscommunication Snohomish nearly missed the opening event, the 200 medley relay. Sarah Shawback alertly hopped into the pool moments before the starter’s gun sounded and the Panthers (Shawback, Ferreira, Kelsey Randolph, Anne Bilbro) qualified No. 5 (1:55.36).
“That was my fault,” Snohomish coach John Pringle said. “I’m just glad it didn’t hurt us.”
Snohomish is No. 9 in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. Randolph (100 butterfly) and Shawback (100 backstroke) qualified for consolation.
Shorewood’s Tara McIntyre (100 freestyle), Laurin Williams (500 freestyle) and Julia Gentling (100 backstroke) are consolation qualifiers.
Marysville-Pilchuck freshman Sarah Clark and Trang Vu, a junior, are seeded No. 5 and 10, respectively, for the diving finals. Bothell’s Kailey Creek is No. 8.
M-P’s Kamille Girard is the eighth seed in the 100 backstroke at 1:01.99.
In the 3A prelims, Meadowdale’s Lisa Keane qualified third in the 100 butterfly at 58.69, just under a second behind top qualifier Isabel Williams of Bainbridge Island.
Keane made the consolation final in the 100 breaststroke, finishing 11th in 1:09.25 just ahead of Everett’s Martha Pohl.
Shorecrest’s Aydan Sarikaya made the championship final in the 200 and 500 freestyle races, qualifying eighth in the former and fifth in the latter.
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