SHS GIRLS SWIM AND DIVE: Spartans race to state times
Published 2:30 pm Monday, October 26, 2009
By Brenda Sexton
The Courier-Herald
In an incredibly close finish, Sumner High’s Taylor Ditty and Sami Hendricks raced to state-qualifying times in the 100-yard freestyle relay with impressive personal-best times in the final heat at the South Puget Sound League 3A meet Saturday night at the Enumclaw Aquatic Center.
Ditty finished first in 55.21 seconds, nudging out Hendricks, who touched in 55.87.
Friday during preliminaries, Ditty set a Sumner High record in the 100 backstroke with a first-place finish of 1:00.88. The previous record, 1:01.89, was set by Tami Canhan in 1990. Easily a state-qualifying time, Ditty swam slightly slower than Friday, still winning the event in a 1.01.46.
“I expect she will drop down to a .58 by state,” coach Dana Powers said.
The Spartans placed third in the 11-team meet.
The meet was the last opportunity for swimmers to qualify for the West Central District championships Nov. 6 and 7 at Hazen High in Renton. Only those who met district time standards advance. The district meet is the final chance for swimmers to qualify for the state meet Nov. 16 and 17 at the King County Aquatic Center. Swimmers like Ditty and Hendricks who have already posted state times automatically earn a lane at that meet.
That also applies to relays like the Spartans’ 200 medley relay of Ditty, Hendricks, Ashley Huynh and Emma Thompson which raced to a personal-best and state-qualifying time with its first-place finish of 1.56.06.
The Spartans 200 medley relay of Jaime Morey, Katie Eske, Lizzie Kressler and Kallan Gustafson dropped five seconds to post an eight-place finish in Saturday’s final for a personal best 2.14.12.
Ditty, Huynh, Thompson and Hendricks also won the 200 freestyle relay with a state qualifying time of 1.45.12.
In the 200 freestyle, Hendricks raced Casey Penrose from Peninsula a second-place finish. Hendricks’ personal best of 2.02.33 was .43 from qualifying for state. Morey swam a tough race to post a 2.36.94, just missing district qualifying.
Gustafson sprinted to a personal best in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2.33.05 –.05 away from making districts. She also swam a tough 500 freestyle race in a district-qualifying time of 6.02.64
It was Spartan versus Spartan in the 50 freestyle with Kressler out touching Huynh, 28.45 to 28.54.
In the 200 breaststroke Huynh dropped to an all-time best swim with a 1.15.69 for a lane at districts.
Kressler, Morey, Ekse and Gustafson swam a district-qualifying time in the 400 freestyle relay, dropping eight seconds to finish with a 4.25.73.
