FEDERAL WAY — The Class 4A state swimming championships ended on an upbeat note for both Edmonds-Woodway’s Mary Beth Spillman and Meadowdale’s Lisa Keane.
This was Spillman’s third trip to state and unlike last year when she failed to make it to the second day of competition, this time the Edmonds-Woodway junior had strong performances during the preliminaries.
Spillman advanced to the finals of the 500-yard freestyle, where she placed eighth, and also competed in the 50 freestyle consolation finals, where she ended up second in her heat and 10th overall.
Competing in a swim suit borrowed from a friend on the Garfield High School team, Spillman dropped 2/10 of a second from her 50 freestyle prelim time with a 25.29. Her time would have placed her sixth overall had she advanced to the finals.
“I’m definitely happy about that,” Spillman said. “I got back down to my freshman year time, which was good … I even placed higher than my freshman year.”
Spillman was 16th in the 50 freestyle in 2002.
While a little disappointed with her time in the 500 freestyle (5:22.18), Spillman was pleased about making it to the finals and placing eighth overall. Spillman was the only swimmer to compete in the shortest (50 freestyle) and longest (500 freestyle) events.
“I wasn’t happy with it (time in 500 freestyle), but I’m happy where I placed,” Spillman said. “I definitely would have liked to have gone under a 5:20 but it was pretty good.”
As a freshman, Spillman placed 14th in the 100 freestyle.
“I’m happy to be where I was my freshman year (in the 50 freestyle) and swimming a new event, the 500, and doing so well in that,” Spillman said. “I’m taking a lot from this meet. I’ve done better than I thought I was going to do.”
Keane overcame a bit of a rocky start during her second appearance at the state meet.
The Meadowdale sophomore, who hasn’t been feeling well, struggled during the preliminaries and advanced to the consolation finals of the 100 butterfly.
But Keane refocused and came out blazing in the event, finishing first in the heat with a 59.25 and ninth overall, a time that would have placed her fourth in the event had she advanced to the finals.
“That race I felt good about,” Keane said. “I dropped 5/10th from my district swim, which is really good. I was excited. I wanted to win that heat.”
In 2003, Keane finished 13th in the 100 butterfly and 12th in the 200 individual medley at the Class 3A/2A meet.
Keane came in seeded 15th in the latter event but fell out of contention when she clocked in more than two seconds slower than expected. Keane was seeded fifth in the 100 butterfly but again lost ground during the prelims.
“I had two bad swims in my prelims,” Keane said. “If I had my (prelim) time in the (100 butterfly), I would have been in the finals. That’s just how it goes … I’ve been sick for a while. I just had a bad meet.”
Keane’s time of 59.25 in the 100 butterfly was significant because it qualified her for senior sectionals, a high level meet next March.
“I’m really excited about that because it was my first senior cut,” Keane said.
She dropped more than two seconds from her prelim time.
“I really wanted to win that heat and I wanted to get down to a 58.5 but 59.2 is good for me,” Keane said.
Inglemoor edged Gig Harbor for the team championship and Oak Harbor’s Missy McIntyre, who won the 100 breaststroke and 50 freestyle, was named the swimmer of the meet.
Kamiak finished third and Jackson placed seventh in the team competition. Wolfpack junior Amber Pleasant finished third in both the 50 and 100 freestyles.
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