Depth lifts Edmonds-Woodway to victory

LYNNWOOD

Meadowdale collected the most first-place ribbons, but Edmonds-Woodway sailed away with the team title at the Edmonds District boys swim invitational.

Superior depth enabled the Warriors, who only won one event, to finish well ahead of second-place Burlington-Edison in the seven-team meet Jan. 26 at Lynnwood Pool. The Warriors scored 321 points, while the Tigers finished with 241.5. Meadowdale (221) took third and was followed by Sedro-Woolley (120), Mount Vernon (111), Lynnwood (89) and Mountlake Terrace (66).

Edmonds-Woodway also was missing its top swimmer, state returner Nate Stoll, and another key individual in Roy Hanson, both of whom were on vacation with their families, said Warriors head coach Kate Trettevik. Friday was an in-service day for teachers.

“I kind of switched them around to make up for the people that were gone,” Trettevik said.

For instance, sophomore Ali Abadi normally swims the 100-yard butterfly, but Trettevik slotted him in the 100 backstroke, where he finished a strong third.

“We got one first. Our depth really helped us out,” Trettevik said.

Edmonds-Woodway might have saved the best for last as its 400 freestyle relay team of Michael Lesaca, Thomas Ernst, Ryan Warren and Abadi pulled out the Warriors’ lone victory of the night, finishing in three minutes, 39.56 seconds.

“We put it all together and we finally won,” Abadi said of the final relay race. “We had a good lead on the relay, so that gave me a little more room to work with. I tried my best to bring it home and I did, thanks to the team.”

The Warriors stayed together as a team and were able to cope with not having Stoll and Hanson around, Abadi added.

Abadi already has a state cut in the 100 butterfly, while Stoll has them in the 50 freestyle and the 100 backstroke. Abadi has a good shot at a state time in the 200 individual medley, Trettevik said.

“At districts with the atmosphere there, that will help push him,” she said.

Junior Michael Keane led a strong Meadowdale effort as the Mavericks walked away with six first-place ribbons. Keane won the 200 individual medley in 2:04.22 and cruised to an easy win in the 100 breaststroke, finishing in 1:04.72, almost nine seconds ahead of Lynnwood’s Kyle Eddy.

Though his times in both events were slower than his best times this season, Keane wasn’t too disappointed.

“It could have been better, but it still was pretty good,” he said. “I won both of my events, so I’m happy about that. I’m still three weeks away from state. … I still have some time to get my times down and back where they should be. Hopefully, I’ll do a lot better at districts.”

Keane also swam on the winning 200 medley relay team along with Sam Atkinson, Darren Howell and Allen Wong, and the same four won the 200 freestyle relay. Meadowdale led from start to finish in both races.

“We took a lot of firsts in this meet,” Keane said. “I’m really proud of my team and of how well they performed. This has actually been one of the best meets we’ve had.”

Keane, who finished 11th in the 100 breaststroke and came in 12th in the 200 individual medley at the Class 3A state championships, is aiming to bring his time in the 200 individual medley down to a 2:01 by districts and then cut it to 1:59 by state, where he hopes to place in the top eight.

The Mavericks already have a state time in the 200 medley relay and they are very close in the 200 freestyle relay. Other winners for Meadowdale included Atkinson in the 200 freestyle (1:59.39) and Wong in the 50 freestyle (23.64). Meadowdale coach Kati Girard was pleased with the Mavericks’ overall performance.

“They did a good job,” said Girard, who got a cold shower of water from a cooler after the meet by her swimmers. “We have some room for growth before districts and state.”

Atkinson finished second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 58.28 seconds, .28 seconds off a state cut. Burlington-Edison’s Kris Hunter was the other individual standout, with first-place finishes in the 100 butterfly (56.66) and the 100 backstroke (57.29, a state time). Burlington-Edison’s Isaac Ekblad won the 100 freestyle in 52:04 and teammate Arden Hunter captured the 500 freestyle (5:35.08). Eddy also finished second in the 100 butterfly.