Bainbridge relay teams set new race records

September 26, 2019 8:30 am
The Spartans gather for a group cheer before the start of the 34th annual Spartan Relays. (Brian Kelly | Bainbridge Island Review)
The Spartans gather for a group cheer before the start of the 34th annual Spartan Relays. (Brian Kelly | Bainbridge Island Review)

Bainbridge place first in last Saturday’s Spartan Relays.

But more importantly, the Spartan swimmers won the most anticipated race of the season: the 150-yard inner-tube relay.

The wacky race, a popular hallmark of the annual relays, gives teams of swimmers an overinflated opportunity to dash and splash their way to glory.

Bainbridge easily placed first, once again, during the 34th annual Spartan Relays at the Bainbridge Aquatic Center. The Spartans (Grace Pratt, Milena Broom, Jillian Webb and Faith Kerrigan) took first with a time of 2:11.84, well in front of second-place finisher Holy Names Academy (2:20.17).

Bainbridge won the relay meet with a total score of 63.

HNA was second (45), followed by North Kitsap (31), Port Angeles (26), and North Thurston and Sehome (19).

The Spartans dominated the first race of the meet, winning the 200-yard medley relay with a state time of 1:54.69. Bainbridge’s relay team was made up of Margaret Hayes, Amelia Kimball, Siena Levan and Sydney Sorenson.

The Spartan junior varsity foursome of Alessandra Fiore, Linda Lincoln, Lorelei Dean and Vivian Morrow was first in the JV 200-yard butterfly relay, finishing in 2:14.86.

BHS also won the 200-yard breaststroke relay. Kimball, Annalisia Tuinukaufe , Kylie Jones and Emma Solseng placed first in 2:12.33.

Bainbridge also broke the 200-yard freestyle relay record set in 1996 with a big win that saw the Spartans set a pool record and finish in a state-qualifying time. The new record is 1:39.43, made possible by the foursome of Xaveria Rodriguez, Solseng, Sorenson and Hayes.

The Spartan team of Kimball, Zeya Korytko, Naomi Howard and Tuinukaufe won the 400-yard individual medley relay in 4:27.37.

Another Spartan Relay record was set in the 400-yard medley relay, with Hayes, Solseng, Levan and Rodriguez placing first in 4:05.88.

Bainbridge rounded out the meet with wins in the final two relays; the inner-tube race and the 200-yard backstroke relay.

The team of Howard, Sorenson, Jacqueline Hall and Hayes placed first in the 200-yard backstroke relay with a time of 1:59.76.