Despite another virtuoso performance from Central Kitsap’s Brendan Weiner last week, the Gig Harbor Tides picked up another Narrows League victory.
Weiner, who swam to a pair of individual medals last season and already has five automatic qualifying times for this year’s Class 4A state championships, recorded another milestone in Thursday’s dual meet with Gig Harbor when he broke the school record in the 500-yard freestyle (4 minutes, 45.69 seconds).
The Cougars star also swam to victory against Gig Harbor in the 50 free (22.98 seconds), but the host Tides earned a 116-69 win.
Gig Harbor dominated the relays, starting with a victory in the 200 medley event. Evan Indahl, Matthew Collins, Jeffrey Hale and Erik Nielsen swam to a winning time of 1:48.08.
In the 200 free relay, Gig Harbor’s foursome of Thomas Liu, Collins, Baylor Stearnes and Noah Long placed first in 1:40.85.
The Tides closed out the meet with a win in the 400 free relay. Indahl, Stearnes, Liu and Nielsen took the top spot in 3:32.11.
Gig Harbor also earned victories in four individual events. Indahl, a returning state medalist, claimed first in the 200 individual medley, and he easily broke the state-qualifying mark with his time of 2:01.30.
Collins, a senior, won the 100 breaststroke (1:08.44), and sophomores Kellen Furrer (2:02.05 in the 200 free) and Bastian Weyn (155.15 points in diving) also placed first.
On Saturday, the Tides swam to a first-place finish at the 36th annual Foss Falcon Relays in Tacoma. They scored 61 points to edge Wilson (53) and Port Angeles (48).
Indahl earned his second state time of the week in the 500 free, winning in 4:54.47. With only a five-minute recovery, coach Mike Kelly said, he also went on to win the 100 IM in 57.50, only a second off the meet record.
Other winners included Hale in the 100 butterfly (1:01.50), Liu in the 50 free (25.18), Nielsen in the 100 free (51.91) and Andrew Van Camp in the 50 backstroke (30.79).
Gig Harbor hosted Mount Tahoma on Tuesday after press time, its final meet of 2011. The Tides’ next competition will be at home Jan. 5 against Olympia.
Riggs, Wenman, Burkey dominate for Seahawks
Peninsula’s Matt Burkey, Caleb Riggs and Alex Wenman each won a pair of individual events on Thursday as the Seahawks coasted to a 119-64 win over the visiting Lakes Lancers in a South Puget Sound League dual.
Wenman was first in the 200-meter freestyle (2:09.56) and 400-meter freestyle (4:33.75). Riggs won the 200 individual medley (2:21.33) and 100 backstroke (1:08.50).
Burkey nearly qualified for the Class 3A state championships in both freestyle sprints. His 50 free time of 25.69 seconds was 12 one-hundredths short of the state standard, and he came up only 1.01 seconds short in the 100 free (56.78).
Other first-place finishers for Peninsula were Joel Ratcliffe in the 100 butterfly (1:11.44), Ethan Carlson in the 100 breaststroke (1:13.69) and returning state diver Jaden Stevens (206.45 points).
The Seahawks also captured a pair of relays. In the 200 medley event, Burkey, Riggs, Ratcliffe and Wenman finished in 2:02.39. The same group won the 400 free relay as well, and their time of 3:52.25 was less than a second shy of a state berth.
Peninsula will travel to Enumclaw at 3:30 p.m. Thursday for its final meet of 2011, and it won’t swim at home again until Jan. 5 against Sumner.
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