Plateau swimmers qualify for district, state meets
February 9, 2009
By Christopher Huber
Eastlake’s Zach Alleva swims the breaststroke leg of the 200-yard individual medley Feb. 7 at Mary Wayte Pool on Mercer Island. He finished in 2:14.53 to place 11th. Photo by Chrisopher Huber
Skyline High School freshman Ashton Powell had a great swim Feb. 7.
Though he placed 16th overall in the 500-yard freestyle race at the KingCo Class 3A/4A league swim meet at Mary Wayte Pool, he shaved 14 seconds off of his previous best time. He swam it in 5 minutes, 35.86 seconds, qualifying for districts this week at Juanita.“He just rocked that event,” Skyline coach Susan Simpkins said after the meet. “He did great.”
So did much of the Spartans’ team.
Junior Alex Palumbo qualified for the 4A state meet with a strong performance in the 500-free, as well, cutting about four seconds from his season best. He finished the race in third place with a time of 4:58.72, behind Mercer Island’s Murray Longbotham (4:40.18) and Roosevelt’s Cameron Johnson (4:57.51).
Despite finishing the meet 10th out of 19 teams, Skyline will send a total of 15 swimmers to the district meet this week, Simpkins said, including junior John Gerlach, who placed second in the 200-free (2:03.54) and David Jett, who swam the 100 free in 51.12 seconds.
“Everybody swam really, really well,” Simpkins said. “It was so fun to watch.”
Skyline’s relays performed well, too. The Spartans’ 200-yard medley relay team finished ninth overall, with a time just three seconds shy of qualifying for state — 1:48.87.
Skyline placed seventh in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:35.75. The state-qualifying mark is 1:33.90.
“It was a good day,” Simpkins said. “Peter (Wicklund) and I could not have been happier with them.”
Eastlake steady for districts
The Eastlake Wolves finished strong in the relay department Feb. 7. The team finished ninth overall at the meet, but both the 200- yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay teams set state-qualifying marks.
The Wolves finished seventh in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:48.15.
It finished seventh, behind Liberty and ahead of Issaquah in the 400 freestyle relay, with a time of 3:35.99.
“I feel good about our 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay making it to state,” said Eastlake coach Andy Hay. “We’re right in the mix of it.”
Eastlake will send 15 swimmers to districts this week.
Senior Will Baker cut just over a second from his time in the 200-yard individual medley, finishing in 2:08.26, good enough for fifth place.
Freshman Zach Alleva finished 11th in the event, finishing in 2:14.53.
But he placed fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke, swimming it in 1:05.03.
Alleva was the only freshman to finish in the top 14 in the event. Skyline’s Alex Marber, another freshman, finished 15th.
Eastlake freshman Henry O’Neil also cut significant time in the 200-yard individual medley.
He finished in 2:23.75, dropping four seconds from his preliminary time.
“I’m encouraged by the way we placed against teams we’ll see at districts,” Hay said. “We’re going to get more guys to state than I originally thought.
He said Eastlake could have had a few more swimmers in the finals Feb. 7, but, “the guys who did make it performed better than I expected.”
Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com. Comment on this story at www.SammamishReview.com.
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