Sports - Sports News

POSTED: Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

PREP GIRLS' SWIMMING: Mid-pack swimmers take spotlight at district meet

It's not so much about who wins or finishes second this week. Next week - yes, but not this weekend.

The place to watch on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 6-7, during the Class 2A Northwest District Girls' Swimming Meet at Anacortes' Fidalgo Pool will be the race for fifth, sixth and seventh places.

Those spots are not only most likely to produce the most new state qualifiers, but they also could decide which team takes home the championship trophy this year.

"With 12 places getting points in each race, the points aren't going to be determined by who wins," Sehome coach Don Helling said in a phone interview. "It's going to be those mid-pack swims that are going to score a lot of points for you. Team depth is going to be most important."

Action starts with the preliminaries at 2:45 p.m. Friday. The top 12 swimmers in each event qualify for Saturday, with the top six locking into the finals. Final swims will be held on Saturday, starting at 5:15 p.m.

The Class 3A Northwest District Meet will be held the same days, with the preliminaries starting at 10:30 a.m. Friday and the finals at 12:45 p.m. Saturday.

In the 2A meet, any one of four teams could emerge as the team champion. Sehome won the Northwest Conference title this fall, and Anacortes is the defending district champion. But Squalicum has plenty of top-end swimmers and good depth, and Archbishop Murphy beat Sehome and Anacortes in regular-season dual meets this year.

"I think it's too close to call a favorite at this time," Helling said. "It could be any of the top four teams - Sehome, Squalicum, Archbishop Murphy and Anacortes. If any of them have a real strong day, they could be the ones taking home the trophy."

While the district title would be nice, most coaches will say the most important thing this week is to get swimmers and divers qualified for next week's state championships in Federal Way.

To do so, swimmers or divers need to finish in the top two of their event in 2A or the top three in 3A or post a time or point total that beats the state-qualifying mark. After all the final state-qualifying meets around the state have been held, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association will fill out the field in each event by extending wild-card invitations to swimmers or divers with the lowest non-qualifying marks.

"This is everybody's last chance to lower their time to go to state, so I think you're going to see everybody swimming as fast as they can," Helling said.

In the 2A Northwest District field, at least two individuals or relays in every event have already locked up trips to state by posting state-qualifying marks. In two events there are five swimmers or relays that have already qualified for state, and the 100 freestyle has six.

"Far and away, I think this is the strongest district in the state," Helling said. "Just look at the 100 freestyle, where we have six swimmers well under the qualifying time. That's definitely a strong one there. It's going to be a really interesting meet."

With so many swimmers already qualified and battling each other for bragging rights as the district's fastest, swimmers like Sehome's Julie Maurer have an excellent opportunity to add their name to the list of state qualifiers. Maurer is only 0.44 seconds shy of the qualifying standard in the 200 freestyle.

Other swimmers who might punch their ticket to state this weekend include: Bellingham's Lindsey Seefried, who is 0.14 seconds shy in the 50 freestyle; Squalicum's Marissa Abbott, who is less than a second short of the 50 freestyle qualifying mark and a little more than two seconds off in the 100 freestyle; the Bellingham and Lynden 200 freestyle relay teams, which are less than four seconds away from making it to state; and the Bellingham 400 freestyle relay team, which needs to knock less than 31/2 seconds off its time.

"This is going to be another fun meet," Helling said. "I know our kids are excited about it. All the hard work is done. Now we're just doing some skill sharpening to get ready so that everyone can have their best swims these next two weeks."

Reach David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or 715-2271.

DISTRICT SWIMMING

CLASS 3A NORTHWEST DISTRICT MEET

Preliminaries: 10:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 6

Finals: 12:45 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7

Site: Fidalgo Pool, Anacortes

What's at stake: The top three finishers in each event and any other swimmers or divers who meet or beat the state-qualifying mark advance to next week's state meet in Federal Way.

CLASS 2A NORTHWEST DISTRICT MEET

Preliminaries: 2:45 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6

Finals: 5:15 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7

Site: Fidalgo Pool, Anacortes

What's at stake: The top two finishers in each event and any other swimmers or divers who meet or beat the state-qualifying mark advance to next week's state meet in Federal Way.