Bellingham junior Grace Sorenson won four events, lifting the Bayhawks to the 2A District 1 championship, and local swimmers locked up state berths Saturday, Nov. 9 at Fidalgo Pool in Anacortes.
The top 12 swimmers or relay teams competed and the top three in each event earned automatic bids to the state meet. Bellingham won the team title with 302 points, Anacortes finished second with 241, Sehome was third with 220.5, Lynden claimed fourth with 103.5 and Marysville-Pilchuck came in fifth with 99 points.
The district meet began with the 200-yard medley relay and Bellingham’s Sorenson, Addy Hayes, Peyton Acord and June Wilson won in 1 minute, 58.54 seconds. Sehome’s Parnia Gharaei, Priyanka Costanzo, Ayla VanJaarsveld and Taylor Tellefson finished second in 2:07.83, and Anacortes’ Felix Duez, Siliva Ellis, Alli Claridge and MJ Anderson placed third in 2:08.78.
Sorensen followed up with a victory in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:54.15. Sehome’s Elsa Ethelbah finished second in 2:03.96 and Bellingham’s Annika Holland was third in 2:07.81.
In the 200-yard individual medley, Blaine’s Hailey Ferrell won in 2:17.98 and Duez finished third in 2:34.33. Archbishop Murphy’s Laura McVickar was second. Squalicum’s relay team earned a wildcard to state.
Bellingham nearly swept the 50-yard freestyle as Jasmine Garcia won in 26.33, Wilson finished second in 27.62 and Squalicum’s Mars Molina was third in 28.26.
Anacortes’ Joy Evans placed third with 239 points, over 120 points behind the Archbishop Murphy diver who won. Sehome’s Laura Webb and Cora Burns and Bellingham’s Aviva Weinstein and Madeline Fredette earned wildcards to state.
Sorensen won her third event of the day in the 100-yard butterfly in 56.14. In the 100-yard freestyle, Garcia won in 58.21 seconds, VanJaarsveld finished second in 59.93 and Wilson came in third in 1:02.25.
Ferrell returned to the pool and won the 500-yard freestyle in 5:24.01, while Ethelbah finished second in 5:26.93 and Acord finished third in 5:33.55. Holland and Costanzo also earned allocations to state.
Garcia, Holland, Hayes and Wilson won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:49.37, Ethelbah, Tellefson, VanJaarsveld and Sage Maden finished second in 1:53.21, and Anderson, Ellis, Amelia and Cora Myers finished third in 1:54.12.
In the 100 backstroke, Claridge won in 1:04.34 and Gharaei came in third in 1:08.59. In the 100 breaststroke, Acord won in 1:14.83, Costanzon placed second in 1:17.48 and Anderson finished third in 1:18.85.
In the final event, Garcia, Sorensen, Acord and Holland won the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:53.13. Maden, Costanzo, Ethelbah and Brielle Hicks finished second in 4:11.97. Cora Myers, Amelia Myers, Duez and Claridge placed third in 4:14.21. Lynden earned the final wildcard to state.
Nick Zeller-Singh is CDN's sports reporter; reach him at nickzellersingh@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
