Before every meet Issaquah assistant swim coach John Skroch evaluates each event, providing his best guess as to where the Eagles will finish as a team.
“He figured (Garfield) to beat us by one point,” head coach Laura Halter said. “But, he said ‘If we do better in this and we do better in that …’”
Issaquah answered its coaches’ calls on Tuesday afternoon, rising up to beat Garfield 99-87 at Julius Boehm Pool.
“That’s about as close as you can get in a swim meet,” Halter said, smiling.
Issaquah assured its team victory by winning the final event, the 400 yard freestyle relay, in a time of 4 minutes, 3.15 seconds. The team of Helen Liu, Molly Herman, Stacy Maier and Michaela Eckel edged out Issaquah’s B team (4:06.01), and finished a full 25 yards ahead of Garfield (4:17.25).
While the final relay victory sealed the team victory, Halter was quick to credit her divers, who gained key points.
“The one thing we definitely did better than we expected was in diving,” she said. “The divers really came through today.”
Junior Jamie Elderkin won the 1-meter diving event with a score of 168.10, while sophomore teammate Kaley Rohring grabbed third place with a 112.90.
Issaquah received several other key victories on Tuesday. Liu topped her season best in the 50 freestyle with a 24.63. She also took first in the 100 butterfly in 1:00.19.
Herman beat her personal best in the 500 freestyle, with a district-qualifying time of 5:44.60. Freshman Kayla Flaten won the 200 freestyle with a district mark of 2:01.88. She also finished second in the 100 breaststroke, earning Issaquah’s 10th state-qualifying mark of the season at 1:10.07. The Eagles now have three individuals qualified for state in eight different events, along with two relays.
“I’m expecting a couple more, two or three more,” Halter said, of state times. “Just to give us more choices at state of where to place people.”
Tuesday’s victory improved Issaquah to 4-1 on the season.
“That’s the best we’ve ever been sitting at this point,” Halter said. “I think this will be one of our best seasons in KingCo in a while.”
Eastlake blows past Redmond
Eastlake defeated rival Redmond 119-66 on Tuesday afternoon, behind nine victories.
Sophomore standout Katie Kinnear won the longest and shortest events, claiming the 50 free in 25.27 seconds and earning a state mark of 5:16.37 in the 500 free. She was also on the winning 200 medley and 400 free relays. Laurel Schy won the 200 IM in 2:27.91 and the 100 fly in 1:05.98. Renee Schy won the 200 free in 2:14.27 and Mackenzie Rands won the 1-meter dive with 201.15 points.
All three of Eastlake’s relay teams won. On each of the relay results, the Wolves listed the name of Marin Morrison, a teammate who passed away in January after a long battle with brain cancer. She will be listed as the honorary anchor on all relays throughout the season.
