Squalicum wins Class 2A Northwest District swim meet

Squalicum girls’ swimming came out on top with 310 points at the Class 2A Northwest District finals on Saturday, Nov. 6, at the Fidalgo Pool in Anacortes.

Squalicum came in first in the 200 medley relay, the 200 individual relay, 100 butterfly, 100 breaststroke and the 400 freestyle relay.

Yanran Le won the 100 breaststroke for Squalicum and swam even a second faster the day before competition, Squalicum coach Randy Elsner said in a phone interview. She also won the 200 individual medley.

“If we are doing these times not papered, I’m really excited to see what they will look like at state,” he said.

Squalicum’s 400 freestyle relay team of Serena Allendorfer, Sophie Booth, Olivia Neisen and Tiana Varang not only won but finished with a new district record, Elsner said.

The 200 medley relay, completed by Allendorfer, Le, Neilsen and Varang, broke school and district records by another second or more, he said.

Neilsen won in the 100 butterfly and broke a district record on Friday in the same event, according to her coach.

Neilsen also placed second in the 200 individual medley and was in the winning 200 medley relay team.

Allendorfer came in third in the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle.

“We had really good performances in everything except the backstroke,” Elsner said.

The top three competitors in each category will go on to state.

Anacortes came in second overall in points with Sehome coming in third.

Lynden’s Sarah Hollander won the 500 freestyle and the 100 backstroke, the only swimmer from her school to make it to the top three.

“Lynden had a great meet,” coach Steve Gibbs said in a phone interview. “Hollander has won five or six records this year. We are looking forward to state and thankful we get the chance to go down there.”

Sehome girls’ swimming was able to drop time in nearly every event, coach Don Helling said in a phone interview.

“We were very happy with our times,” he said.

Alia Melella placed second in the 500 freestyle and the 100 backstroke. Grace Kim placed third in the 100 breaststroke for Sehome.

Many Sehome swimmers placed in the consoles, giving them a good chance at a wild-card slot at state, Helling said.

In the 200 freestyle relay Sehome took second with a significant time drop for the group in that event, he said. The team of Hannah Holmgren, Sophie Gambo, Leah Day and McKenna Sakamoto are looking to set themselves up for a solid place at state as well.

Sehome’s Grambo, Wanling Kratzman, Malella and Holmgren also came in third in the 400 freestyle relay, placing them in the top six teams in the state, he said. Sehome took second in the 200 medley relay as well.

“This is one of the hardest districts to get out of,” Helling said. “I’m really proud of how the girls did, the team accomplished what we wanted to do coming in.”

The state preliminaries begin at noon on No. 13 at the King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way. The state finals will begin at the same time and place on Friday, Nov. 13.

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 8:59 PM with the headline "Squalicum wins Class 2A Northwest District swim meet."