Sports Roundup - Swimmers send relays, diver to state/Tumblers head back to state/Three Sparts off to Tacoma

Hallett, Clark just miss district titles, Sparts take sixth at meet.

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON – Austin Hallett couldn’t think of another way to say it.

“That 100 freestyle – I think I’m almost cursed in that event,” he said.

It was an event he was leading for 99 of those yards before Eastside Catholic’s Ethan Hallowell closed the gap for the win at the 3A Sea-King District 2 swim meet Friday at the Hec Ed Pool on the University of Washington campus.

The senior co-captain took second with a time of 48.45 – just 17 hundredths of a second behind Hallowell’s 48.25.

“My walls (turns) were kinda sloppy,” Hallett said. “For that final touch, I should have just plowed in there.

“I kinda felt I had it,” he continued. “I didn’t see him (Hallowell), I thought (Mercer’s) Murray (Longbotham) was going to be the problem.

“But it was a good learning race. I know I can go faster. I know it’s there. I just have to tap into it and not think so seriously about it.”

Hallett wasn’t the only one who came up just short of a district title.

Cheyne Clark took second to Mercer Island’s Beau Riebe as Clark scored 360.50 to Riebe’s 430.05.

Clark said he had some problems with some dives here and there.

“It’s still higher than any scores I had last year,” he said. “If I can change some dives up here and there and be more consistent, that’s really all I need.”

Ian Layton was 11th with 230.20.

The senior co-captain took sixth in the consolation final of the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:07.19.

Also just missing out on a title was David Ortyn, who took third in the 100 butterfly with a time of 55.48.

On the relay side, the 200 medley relay team of Hallett, Clark, Ortyn and Kevin Brooks took fourth with a time of 1:42.75, but would have had first had Brooks not slipped on the wall coming out of his turn.

“They were kinda beating themselves up and I said if you guys swam perfectly and these are the times you came up with, then we’d be concerned,” head coach Kaycee Taylor said.

“It’s not a great pool for swimming fast, we had a mixup on the wall and David chokes on the fly – literally, swallowed water – but we’re done with that. Now we can practice the next couple of days and head to state.”

The 200 freestyle relay of Ortyn, Cooper Ashley, Brooks and Hallett were fourth with a time of 1:33.03 but the 400 relay team of Ortyn, Ashley, Brooks and Hallett took third with a time of 3:23.50.

Teamwise, the Spartans placed sixth with 109 points, beating out teams like Lakeside and O’Dea.

The 3A state swim and dive meet is Friday and Saturday at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

Tumblers head back to state

SAMMAMISH – The Bainbridge gymnastics team had no one in the top ten.

They lost another gymnast to injury when Adrienne Palay went down with an ankle sprain after her vault pass.

But when the names were read off, it was Bainbridge taking third at the 3A District 1-2 meet at Sammamish High School in Bellevue Saturday.

The Spartans scored 161.325 points, just 2.125 more than Mercer Island’s 159.2 to beat them out for the final spot to state.

“It feels really great,” head coach Cindy Guy said. “I really feel like as coaches, we worked really hard to overcome all these injuries.

“It feels like we really accomplished (something),” she continued. “I’m just delighted. I thought the girls did so well. We knew that Mercer was gunning for us.”

Despite the loss of Palay, Guy put Talia Weiss in her spot on bars and Kathleen Callahan on the beam, with both turning in solid performances at the last minute.

“Our depth paid off,” Guy said.

Sophie Wenzlau was the top finisher in every event save for the floor, where Katie Mathews scored the highest.

Wenzlau took 14th overall in the all-around with a 33.125.

Annie Zuckerman was 20th.

Despite the close finish, the senior co-captain said they weren’t worried about trying to compete with Newport and Issaquah, who went 1-2 in the standings.

“We didn’t come in with the mindset of being super competitive,” she said. “Everyone was pretty relaxed.

“Newport and Issaquah, they’re so far ahead that it’s not something we’re trying to attain,” Wenzlau continued. “It was more of a battle of two meets between Newport and Issaquah and Mercer and Bainbridge.”

The 3A state meet is Friday and Saturday at the Tacoma Dome.

Three Sparts off to Tacoma

Facing an uphill battle in a difficult region, the Bainbridge wrestling team had its work cut out for them – and that was before it had to wrestle against some of the toughest competition in the state.

“We got in about 2 a.m.,” head coach Dan Pippinger said of their 10-hour trip thanks to a snowstorm that kept Snoqualmie, Stevens and White Passes closed for most of the weekend and even forced one Metro team to compete in another regional tournament.

Despite the nasty weather, three Spartan wrestlers made it out of the Region IV district meet at Eastmont High School in East Wenatchee Saturday.

Mathew Ritualo, Eli Narte and Keith Robert all took fourth in their respective weight categories.

Mason Remy qualified as an alternate with his fifth place finish.

Pippinger said that they’ll be ready to go come Friday – even Ritualo, who was injured in his Metro title bout last week and injury defaulted the third/fourth match to save him further wear.

“I don’t think it’ll be a problem at all,” he said. “It’s the state tournament. Who’s not fired up to wrestle in the state tournament?”

Mat Classic XX is Friday and Saturday in the Tacoma Dome.

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