Thunderbirds set school record at 4A state swim meet

FEDERAL WAY — Even at less than 100 percent, Jackie Benson ranks up there with the state’s fastest swimmers.

Though she was still feeling the effects of a flu virus that kept her out of school most of the week, Benson competed vigorously during the Nov. 15 finals of the Class 4A state championships at King County Aquatic Center.

The Shorewood senior won the 100-yard breaststroke consolation final, took third in the 200 individual medley consolation race and swam on a pair of relays.

“She rallied,” Shorewood coach Susie McDowell said. “Her goal was to bust the 200 IM (school) record and she came very close with tough circumstances this week. I’m really proud of her.

“Based on her week, she’s done really well and there’s nothing we can do about it. She did very well based on what she was dealt.”

Benson was still running a fever a day before state and her times were a tad off her usual pace during the preliminaries.

“It was just a bad case of the flu. I was out all week,” Benson said. “I had a fever, I had the chills, I had a sore throat, a cough. I had the works.”

By the finals, Benson’s symptoms had subsided. But she was nowhere near full strength.

Despite her weakened condition, Benson led the breaststroke consolation heat from start to finish. Her winning time of 1:08.43 would have placed her seventh in the championship heat, but Benson had to settle for ninth — four spots lower than last season.

Teammate Laura Hill sliced just over a second off her personal-best time in the breaststroke to place 12th in 1:09.59.

“She said it wasn’t a flawless race, but it looked pretty good to me,” McDowell said.

Benson moved up from sixth place to take over the lead during the middle two legs of the 200 individual medley before dropping to third.

Her 11th-place overall showing was two spots higher than her finish in the event last year. Benson’s time of 2:12.39 was a career-best mark by more than a second, but left her a hair short of the school record she was gunning for.

“I swam my best time, but I missed the record by half a second,” Benson said.

“She decided she really wanted that record and she was going to go after it from the beginning,” added McDowell. “She pushed it a little harder on the butterfly and backstroke (legs) than she normally does.”

The highlight of the evening for Benson and the Thunderbirds came at the start of the meet in the 200 medley relay.

Leanne Dull, Benson, Hill and Hannah DeMeritt took fifth in a school-record time of 1:54.11. For Dull, Benson and Hill, it was the second straight fifth-place finish at state.

Dull was the only sophomore to reach the 100 backstroke finals. She finished eighth behind five seniors and a pair of juniors in 1:02.53.

“She swam on our (state) relays last year, but this was her first time (competing) as an individual,” McDowell said. “Getting to the finals is pretty amazing. She wasn’t intimidated when she got here. She just went for it.”

Hill, Dull, DeMeritt and Benson were edged out at the wall for 10th in the 400 freestyle relay, but still posted a season-best time of 3:48.89.

The Thunderbirds tied Gig Harbor for 12th in the team standings with 71 points, three points behind Western Conference South Division rival Jackson.

Defending champion Rogers of Puyallup captured the team championship for the second year in a row with 218 points, followed by Kentwood (187.5) and Kamiak (182).

McDowell came away pleased with Shorewood’s results, but couldn’t help but feel sorry for Benson.

“Overall we had a very good meet. Breaking that (medley relay) school record is great. I’m just disappointed for Jackie,” McDowell said.

“She could have gotten on the blocks yesterday (during the prelims) and given up. To see her fight through it … she can take something else away from this, that she persevered.”

Shrugging off her frustration, Benson was also able to put a positive spin on her fourth and final state appearance.

“In some events I was really disappointed and I was satisfied in others,” she said. “But I did my best and that’s all I can do.”