Girls swimming state championships primer

Friday-Saturday, King County Aquatic Center, Federal Way

Schedule: Friday preliminaries — 4A at 9:45-11:45 a.m.; 2A at 2-4 p.m.; 3A at 6:30-8:30 p.m. Saturday finals — 4A at 9:30-noon; 2A at 2:15-4:45 p.m.; 3A at 7-9:30 p.m.

Tickets: Single-day passes are $10 for adults, $8 for students and senior citizens. Tournament passes are $16 for adults, $11 for students and senior citizens.

4A — Skyline. 3A — Lakeside of Seattle. 2A — Liberty of Issaquah.

4A — Yulia Groysman, Newport of Bellevue, so. (200 free, 500 free); Nicole Limburg, Jackson, sr. (200 IM, 100 breaststroke); Emma Carlton, Mount Vernon, jr. (50 free); Jessica Wierzbicki, Wenatchee, sr. (100 butterfly); Willow Lopez-Silvers, Curtis, sr. (100 free); Emma Frey, Mount Vernon, jr. (100 backstroke).

3A — Cameron Smith, Seattle Prep, sr. (200 free, 500 free); Amber Chong, Lakeside of Seattle, sr. (diving); Mandolin Nguyen, Franklin, so. (100 breaststroke).

2A — Krista Wilson, Ellensburg, jr. (200 free); Taylor McCoy, Pullman, sr. (200 IM, 100 backstroke); Makenzie Norman, Cheney, sr. (50 free, 100 free); Yanran Le, Squalicum, jr. (100 breaststroke; Squalicum now at 3A level).

4A — When in doubt, bet on a Sea-King District school to emerge with a state title in 4A or 3A. In this case, Newport of Bellevue and defending 4A state champion Skyline are the favorites. A week ago at their district meet, the Knights edged Skyline, 309-253. Yulia Groysman was the 4A swimmer of the meet last year as a ninth-grader, but she figures to be heavily challenged in the 200 free by Skyline’s Sarah DiMeco. … If Willow Lopez-Silvers wants to repeat in the 100 free for Curtis, she likely will need something faster than her state-winning time of 52.39 a year ago. Inglemoor’s Gabrielle Dang comes in with the top time of 50:83.

3A — This could be an interesting title chase among Sea-King powerhouses Lakeside of Seattle, the defending state winner; Bellevue; and Squalicum, which is up to 3A this season. Lakeside and Bellevue have plenty of talented underclassmen while the Storm has senior Sydney Wong, the top seed in the 100 and 200 free, and Yanran Le leading the charge. … Cameron Smith, who signed with Arizona State University, is going for a fourth consecutive 500 free title.

2A — All eyes will be on Taylor McCoy, who is vying to become the fifth girl to win eight career state individual titles. Her 56.10 in the 100 backstroke is the fastest time in the state. The last girl to accomplish that feat was Hockinson’s Julia Sanders in 2012.

This story was originally published November 11, 2016 at 8:32 AM with the headline "Girls swimming state championships primer."