Curtis takes 2nd in Class 4A swimming championships

After he watched his junior sprinter Sam Abbott hold off Newport’s Dave Makhervaks for second place in the 400-yard freestyle relay at the Class 4A boys swimming state championships in Federal Way, Curtis coach Dennis Piccolotto’s face morphed into a cocktail of emotions.

There was awe. Maybe a hint of disbelief. And excitement — there definitely was excitement.

Curtis’ second-place finish in the 400 free relay clinched a second-place team finish for the Vikings at the King County Aquatic Center, the team’s first state trophy since the 2000-01 season.

“Very excited — I’m just having fun,” Piccolotto said. “This group’s worked so hard, and to come down to that and have the swims we had today was unbelievable.”

The Curtis coach walked right to the team area and issued what could be the Vikings’ new mantra.

“Every point mattered,” he said seriously. “Every swim mattered.”

And it did.

In a meet that saw Newport run away to win its third straight title, Curtis took second place by two points over Issaquah.

The Vikings did it with little flash — Abbott was the team’s only swimmer with a top-eight individual finish, placing fifth in the 50 freestyle and third in the 100 freestyle.

Curtis also got a fourth-place finish from diver Jaron Spoja.

But apart from that, the Vikings had to depend on making the most of the consolation finals. Matthew Patterson won the consolation finals in the 500 free, and Dan Melin did the same in the 100 backstroke.

The Vikings also maximized their points from the relays with a fourth in the medley relay and second-place finishes in the 200 free relay and 400 free relay.

It added up to just enough points.

“I kind of look at this group as junkyard dogs,” Piccolotto said. “We were just hungry.”

After qualifying first in the 100 free on Friday, Abbott had to settle for third place in the finals. Third place and a bit of motivation for next season.

Newport’s Makhervaks won with 46.70, followed by Camas’ Tom Utas in 47.11.

“I swam fast, I thought I did everything I could,” said Abbott, who finished in 47.42 seconds. “I really have no regrets about it. I just got beat. It happens.”

But he admitted it will bother him until next season.

“Oh, it will,” he said. “I hate getting beat. It will definitely keep me motivated.”

As it was, Abbott had to settle for the third, as well as fifth in the 50 free (21.88). Stadium’s Josh Maclurg took seventh in the 50 freestyle in 22.03 seconds.

Curtis’ Spoja also had a big day in the diving competition, taking fourth place with 363.0 points. South Kitsap’s Jason Gleason placed seventh with 328.35 to get on the podium.

Gig Harbor’s Ryan Grady placed sixth in the 200 freestyle in 1:45.73 and placed fifth in the 500 freestyle in 4:48.38.

CLASS 3A

After qualifying first in the 50-yard freestyle on Friday, Owen Lempert sent much of the evening trying not to think about it. So he turned on Netflix and binged on “The League.”

Now, the Auburn Mountainview senior is in a league of his own.

Lempert won the 50-yard freestyle in 21.14, completing a weekend where he became his school’s first top qualifier and finished by becoming its second swimming state champion. He beat Bellevue’s Zach Rossman, who finished in 21.31 seconds.

“It means the world to me,” Lempert said. “It’s something to put on my swimming résumé. It’s pretty unbelievable.”

On the podium, Lempert noticeably tried to hold back smiles until he accepted his goal medal — when a grin took over his whole face.

“I was in shock,” said Lempert, who also placed sixth in the 100 breaststroke. “I had no idea this would ever happen.”

It was a small setback for Bellevue, which otherwise dominated. The Wolverines won their second straight team title with 349.5 points, ahead of Bainbridge (288). Lempert’s Auburn Mountainview team took 12th.

Bellevue had two individual winners in AJ Rossman (200 individual medley) and Nathan Shao (500 freestyle). The Wolverines also won the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay.

Franklin’s Dean Nguyen had a big day, sweeping the 200 freestyle (1:39.60) and 100 freestyle (45.56).

Wilson was led by Evan Chard on the way to a 16th place team finish with 47 points. Chard took seventh in the 200 individual medley in 2:04.82. Rossman won in 1:55.19.

CLASS 2A

Steilacoom took fifth with 167 points, trailing defending champion Anacortes, Shorecrest, Sehome and Kingston. It was the fourth consecutive season the Sentinels have had a top-five team finish at state.

The Sentinels were paced by a pair of top-five finishes in the 200-yard medley relay and the 200 free relay. Steilacoom placed fourth in the free relay with Connor Barr, William Taylor, Seth Koivisto and Stephen Froehle finishing in 1 minute, 32.71 seconds.

Koivisto and Barr teamed with Noah Burlingame and Vaughn Christensen to place fifth in the medley relay in 1:44.13.

Koivisto also took sixth in the 100 breaststroke, finishing in 1:02.78. Froehle placed seventh in the 100 freestyle (49.85), while Christensen took eighth in the 100 butterfly (56.66).

Anacortes repeated as state champs with 231.5 points, ahead of Shorecrest’s 207.

This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 9:44 PM with the headline "Curtis takes 2nd in Class 4A swimming championships."