FEDERAL WAY -- Caleb Riggs has been there before. Ethan Carlson hasn’t. When they step up to the starting blocks Saturday morning for the championship heat in the 100-yard breaststroke, they’ll give the Peninsula Seahawks a double punch in the event.

They’re both encouraged following Friday’s preliminary heats at the King County Aquatic Center, because they both think they can perform at a higher level. They’ll have a chance to prove themselves about noon. The top eight finishers in each preliminary heat advance to Saturday’s championship final, and the second eight will compete in the consolation final. 

The 3A finals will begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by the 4A finals at 2:15 p.m. and the 2A finals at 6:45 p.m.

Carlson, a senior, set a personal best in 1 minute, 0.25 seconds, and Riggs won his heat in 1:01.95. Two swimmers from other schools broke the one-minute mark Friday, but Carlson was right behind them with the third-fastest time of the day.

“Everything was good except for the finish,” Carlson said. “I glided a little bit didn’t surge to the wall. I could have had another stroke.”

Riggs, who won the consolation heat as a freshman last year with a time that would have been good enough for sixth, simplified his goal a little bit this time around.

“The guy beside me was seeded higher, so I thought when I beat him I was doing really good,” he said. “But I wasn’t.”

Riggs wasn’t happy with his time, which was 0.13 seconds slower than what he entered with. He was happy, though, that he’ll be in the top eight on Saturday.

“I know exactly what I did wrong,” he said, noting his turns and the underwater portion of the start of the race, which he termed the “pullout.”

Peninsula coach Craig Brown said both swimmers are on track to accomplish their goals, and there’s an outside chance they could break the long-standing school record in the event. Byron Dodge swam 59.30 seconds in 1980.

Brown said he met up with Dodge at last year’s swim meet and told him his record might fall. Dodge’s response: “It’s about time.”

“I wish Ethan had another year,” Brown said. “But the nice thing about it is, we’ll have Caleb here for another two years.”

Peninsula junior Matt Burkey will swim in the consolation final in the 100 freestyle on Saturday, and he’ll be the first alternate for the 50 free. Burkey dropped almost a half-second in the former and finished in 49.31, a personal best. His 50-free time was 22.68.

“The best swimmers in the state are here,” Burkey said.

Burkey participated on Peninsula’s lone state-bound relay team last year and worked hard during the offseason to get into an individual event.

“It’s the atmosphere,” he said.

Burkey referenced seeing other competitors like Zach Wagner of Lakeside High in Seattle, the top qualifier in the both the 50 free and the 100 free events.

“I see them and I say, ‘I want to keep up, I want to keep up,’ ” Burkey said.

Peninsula’s 200-yard medley relay team has reached Saturday’s consolation final after it finished in 1:44.14. Burkey, Carlson, Alex Chandler and Donavan Cummings finished sixth in their heat and 15th overall.

The Seahawks will send two divers to Saturday's finals. Freshman Paul Friedman qualified eighth during Friday's preliminary dives with 217.55 points, and junior Jaden Stevens was 12th at 207.50. The top 16 of the 24 competitors advance to perform their final three dives as part of the regular portion of Saturday's meet. 

Riggs finished 19th in the 200 IM in 2:03.76, and sophomore Alex Wenman finished 23rd in the 500 free in 5:16.59, about six seconds slower than his seed time.

Meanwhile, Peninsula’s 400 free relay team qualified for the consolation final in 3:27.60. Senior Joel Ratcliffe, Wenman, Burkey and Riggs turned in the 14th-fastest prelim time. 

Editor Brian McLean can be reached at brian.mclean@gateline.com. Follow him on Twitter, @gateway_brian.