Meet honors seniors, showcases future

Published 4:50 pm Friday, October 31, 2008

Bainbridge High girls’ swim team’s 101-79 victory over Holy Names Academy at Ray Williamson Pool in the season’s final dual meet was also the occasion for the annual Senior Salute.

Coach Greg Colby honored 12 girls who have helped maintain the Spartans’ status as one of the area’s premier programs: Kalise Ball, Becca Ferguson, Lisa Heinlein, Margaret Huisinga, Mary Kirk, Alicia Konkel, Kate McKenzie, Julie Pendleton, Shannon Stahl, Kristine Valdez, India Wade and Anna Wood.

Nearly all of them played a role in a meet that Colby termed, “closer than I had expected.”

The meet also showcased part of the team’s future, as freshmen Tess Harpur and Cameo Hlebasko turned in state qualifying times.

The victory gave Bainbridge a 7-3 record in dual meets. Coupled with a victory in the Spartan Relays earlier in the season and a third place in the Mukilteo Invitational – a notch higher than last year – the results give Colby reason for optimism as he looks forward to the state meet at the King County Aquatic Center on Nov. 14-15.

“We’ve been 2, 3 or 4 every year since 2000,” he said. “We’d love to be in the top four again, but it might be tight.”

He noted that Mercer Island will likely be the favorite. Other contenders will include last year’s titlist Kennedy, Bellevue and Glacier Park, a first-year school located in Snohomish.

And while perennial power Newport moved up to 4A, Juanita – another consistently strong team – dropped down from 4A.

Holy Names took the first three events – the 200 medley relay, 200 free and 200 IM – in building a 26-20 lead.

Though the Spartans were second in the relay, the team of Hlebasko, Pendleton, Harpur and Valdez posted a state qualifying time of one minute, 58.77 seconds.

Wade’s second place 2:18.11 in the IM was also a state mark.

Valdez (26.31) and Huisinga (27.60) went one-three in the 50 free before the swimmers took a break for the ceremonies honoring the seniors.

Customarily the break would include a six-dive competition, however, divers from several Metro League schools were at the Nakata Pool for a state-qualifying, 11-dive format.

With Holy Names not bringing any divers, McKenzie (who placed second overall with 304 points in the qualifying competition) and Ball (181) scored 10 dual-meet points and put the Spartans into the lead.

“I’m glad we won by more than 10 points,” Colby said. “Without the divers it would have been a lot closer.”

When swimming resumed, Pendleton swam a state-qualifying 1:01.16 in the 100 fly. Harpur knocked more than two and a half seconds off her seed time of 59.99 in the 100 free to lead a 1-3-4 Spartan finish.

In the 500 free, Hlebasko rocketed out to a 100 clocking of 1:00.63, a time that would have placed fourth in the open event.

She continued on to record a 5:27.97, yet another state time. Colby feels she has an excellent chance of placing high at state, which would end a five-year scoring drought in the event for the Spartans.

Holy Names took first in the next two events – the 200 free relay and 100 breast – to narrow the score to 79-71. But Pendleton (1:12.76) and Harpur (1:14.67) went one-two in the 100-yard breast and Spartan teams took the top two places in the concluding 400 free relay, clocking 3:59.06 and 4:12.48.

“It looked like they really ran out of personnel in the 400 relay,” Colby said, noting that Holy Names may have had up to 80 swimmers in their program but brought considerably fewer. One reason could have been that the other Metro schools don’t begin practice until early October, as swimming for them is a winter coed sport.

“It looked like they only came with their potential district and state qualifiers,” he added.

The girls competed yesterday in the Metro qualifying meet, which provided some girls with another opportunity to qualify for the district and state meets.”

“We also use it as a championship meet for those who won’t be going on,” Colby said.

The district meet is Nov. 7-8, and Colby’s goal is to have state qualifiers in every event. He feels that the relays are especially important, and hopes to place in the top five in all three.

The diving competition will be held at Juanita High School while the swimmers will race at the University of Washington.

“We are going to try to score in all 12 events,” he said. “That’s one key to doing well.”