LYNNWOOD — Depth was the difference in last week’s Edmonds District girls swim championships.
Edmonds-Woodway finished first in only five of the 11 events but still coasted to an easy victory over its three district counterparts Oct. 23 at Lynnwood Pool.
The Warriors, who were crowned champions for the 13th straight year, were led by junior Mary Beth Spillman, who won the 50- and 500-yard freestyles and swam on the winning 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams.
Edmonds-Woodway scored 371 points to Meadowdale’s 289. Mountlake Terrace was a surprisingly close third with 252 and Lynnwood was fourth with 109.
The Warriors’ victory was even more impressive because of some adjustments coach Kate Trettevik had to make due to an injury to one of the team’s top swimmers.
“The team all pulled together real well,” she said. “We had to change a lot of the lineup and the girls … improved their times.”
Edmonds-Woodway’s 400 freestyle relay team (Rachelle Ryarlay, Caitlyn Melillo, Maddie Collier, Spillman) clocked in with a 4:07.54, which was more than seven seconds faster than its previous fastest time.
The 200 freestyle relay team (Melillo, Ryarlay, Lizzy Teitzel, Spillman) also bettered its best time of the year by almost two seconds (1:52.77).
“A lot of the girls … beat their personal times by two seconds,” Trettevik said. “I’m amazed how well the girls have done. They have pulled together so well.”
Spillman, who already has qualified for state in the 50 freestyle, was pleased with her efforts in the 50 freestyle (25.96) and 500 freestyle (5:31.66).
“(It) actually was better than I thought,” she said.
Edmonds-Woodway’s Clara Smart finished first in the 100 backstroke.
The only other individual to post two individual victories was Meadowdale sophomore Lisa Keane, who won the 200 individual medley (2:20.12) and the 100 butterfly (1:02.22).
While not pleased with her times at Saturday’s meet, Keane heads into the district meet with confidence. She already has state times in both events.
“I’ve already had faster times in both events than what I swam at state (last year),” Keane said. “Both events I’m feeling really good.
“Districts will be fun … I think I’m going to swim really strong there.”
The district meet will be a step up for Keane. This year Meadowdale has made the jump from 3A to the 4A classification.
“My expectations for her (Keane) are to just keep dropping time,” said Mavericks coach Megan Ackerman. “She’s been doing a phenomenal job. At the beginning of the season, she got her state times … I hope that she keeps up that great work.”
The race for second was significantly closer than Meadowdale had anticipated.
Mountlake Terrace shocked everyone by winning the first event of the meet — the 200 individual medley relay (Rebecca Lance, Lola Johnson, Kristina Andrews, Danelle Yost).
The time of 2:10.40 smashed the relay’s previous best effort by more than six seconds.
“The 200 medley relay was a big win for us,” said Mountlake Terrace coach Dory Pearce. “The girls were really excited about that. We dropped a lot of time on that relay … the girls just had an amazing swim.”
Meadowdale and Mountlake Terrace were tied for second place after the seventh event (500 freestyle) and the Mavericks held a 2-point advantage through the next two events (200 freestyle relay, 100 backstroke) before pulling away in events 10 and 11 (100 breaststroke, 400 freestyle).
“The fact that we had so many great swims and then were able to score so many points and come so close to Meadowdale is something we’re really happy about,” Pearce said.
The challenge for second place from the Hawks definitely caught the Mavericks’ attention, especially the members of the 400 freestyle relay team, which finished a close second to Edmonds-Woodway.
“We got really pumped at the end,” Keane said. “We thought it was going to be closer between Edmonds-Woodway and us because we only lost by two points at our dual meet against them. But when it came down to it, everyone on the relays got really excited … everyone gave it their all.
“Mountlake Terrace surprised us, definitely.”
The Hawks had three individual winners. Megan Zalud took first in the 200 freestyle (2:09.42), Danelle Yost won the 100 freestyle (1:00.79) and Lola Johnson was first in the 100 breaststroke (1:20.22).
“Most of the team got PRs (personal records),” Pearce said. “That’s really what I’m excited about.”
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