Turns out the first relay of the meet could have been a predictor of the top five at the West Central District girls swim championship meet Friday and Saturday at Rogers High School in Puyallup.
Mount Rainier, which easily won the championship with 215 points, 200 yard medley relay ahead of Kentlake which finished second in the meet as well with 169 points.
Sarah Dougherty led off the medley relay for the Falcons, followed by Laura Williams, Emily Tanasse and Abigail Swanson.Meanwhile, Kentridge came in fifth in the opening relay and also finished fifth overall.
Chargers senior Emily Mohr paced the field again in the 50 free, stopping the clock first with a state-qualifying time of 23.72 seconds. She finished second in the 100 free and punched her second individual event ticket to state.
Emily Shonka led off the second-place 200 free relay team, with Bella Chilczuk, Flannery Allen behind her and the relay anchored by Mohr. The Chargers swam the race in 1:42.52 and will be at state.
Kent-Meridian senior Joanna Wu continued her stellar career in the water for the Royals with a win in the 500 free, getting to end of the 20 lap race in 5:05.66. She added a third place finish in the 200 freestyle with a state-qualifying time of 1 minute, 54.77 seconds.The top seven times in each event qualified a swimmer for the state meet at the King County Aquatic Center.
Tahoma senior Allanah Miller was right behind Wu with a fourth place and state-qualifying swim in the 200 free with a time of 1:59.16.
Bears freshman sensation Alex Stein made her presence known in the 50 free with a fifth place finish that sends her on to state after she swam the race in 25.20 seconds.Tahoma’s 200 free relay won the consolation final and earned a spot a state with Anna Pierre, Stein, Jessica Miller and anchored by Allanah Miller, finishing in 1:44.51.
Kentlake’s Kyndal Phillips continued a strong sophomore season with a third place finish in the 200 IM, touching the wall in 2:14.24, good enough to send her on to state. Fellow Falcon Williams finished fifth in the medley and also qualified for state.
Tanasse finished third and Phillips fifth in the 100 butterfly, both swimming fast enough to qualify for that race at state. Tanasse had a fourth-place in the 100 backstroke and will swim at state for her second individual event.
Dougherty earned a spot in the 100 free with her fourth place finish, touching the wall in 54.89 seconds, as well as with a second place finish in the consolation final of the 100 backstroke that was more than fast enough to get to state clocking in at 1:01.64.
Meanwhile, Kentlake freshman Jennifer Stefenascu had a fifth place finish in the 500 free, touching the wall at 5:29.82.
For the Falcons, Williams added a second individual event qualification with her fourth place finish in the 100 breaststroke.Kentlake finished the event with another second place relay swim, coming in behind Mount Rainier again in the 400 free relay, swum by Phillips, Swanson, Dougherty and Tanasse in 3:41.72.
