Spartans punch early ticket to State

That was fast.

By the time the first race of the season was over, members of the Bainbridge High girls swimming & diving team could already begin making travel plans to the state championships in Federal Way.

Bainbridge finished first in the 200-yard medley relay in their home meet against Ballard last week, with the foursome of Margaret Hayes, Hannah Tonsmann, Moorea Eldon-Everts and Hannah Lee racing to a state championship qualifying time of 1:53.81.

Talk about a quick start out of the gate. The Spartans shredded the state qualifying time by more than 2 seconds in their season-opening race.

The speedy start set the tone for the meet last Friday, and Bainbridge beat Ballard 149-36.

The Spartans won every race, and also the diving competition, in convincing fashion.

In the 200-yard freestyle, three Spartans claimed first, second and third: Zeya Korytko (2:07.85), Lucy King (2:11.58) and Naomi Howard (2:13.92).

Bainbridge also went one, two, three in the 200-yard individual medley, with Tonsmann in first (2:20.59), Eldon-Everts in second (2:24.20) and Eden Michael in third (2:24.46).

The Spartans had the top three finishers in six other events; the 50-yard freestyle, 1-meter diving, 100-yard butterfly, 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke, and 100-yard breaststroke.

Another highlight of the meet came in the 100-yard butterfly, with Hayes, a freshman on the Spartan team, placing first in 58.39. The time surpassed the mark to advance to the state championships (1:00.60).

The Spartans returned to the pool on the following day to host the 33rd Annual Spartan Relays.

Bainbridge hosted Port Angeles, Holy Names Academy, Marysville-Getchell, Marysville-Pilchuck, Port Angeles and Sehome.

Once again, the Spartans emerged as the winning team.

Bainbridge won seven varsity events, including the 800-yard freestyle relay, the 200-yard butterfly relay, 1-meter diving, the 200-yard freestyle relay, the 400-yard IM, the 400-yard medley relay and the 200-yard backstroke relay.

The Spartans finished first with a team total of 52, followed by Holy Names with 40.

Port Angeles had 37, followed by Sehome (32), Marysville-Getchell (12) and Marysville-Pilchuck (10).

The Spartans easily handled all comers in the relays’ signature event — the 150-yard inner-tube relay.

Tonsmann, Kate Tlapa, Jillian Webb and Milena Broom finished the splashy dash in 2:05.28, more than 10 seconds ahead of second-place Port Angeles (2:15.65).