Skyline edged rival Issaquah 95-90 in a KingCo 4A swim meet Tuesday afternoon at Boehm Pool.
“The Skyline kids came ready to swim, and they came with a lot of heart,” Issaquah head coach Laura Halter said.
The Spartans earned four individual wins and two relay victories. Alex Palumbo took the 200 freesytle (1 minute 57.67 seconds) and 500 freestyle (5:09.38) — both district qualifying times. Alex Marber won the 100 butterfly (1:04.17), and David Jett won the 200 IM (2:17.01).
The 200 medley relay of Mitchel Corson, Marber, Jett and Mitch Kim won in 1:50.27, and the 200 free relay of Marcus Atherly, John Gerlach, Matt Matches and Kim won in 1:44.36.
While the first place finishes were significant, the Spartans also claimed seven second-place finishes. Perhaps, the most surprising came in the 200 freestyle relay where the Skyline B team edged Issaquah’s A team, and finished three-hundreths of a second behind the Skyline A team.
“That was not done on purpose, our first relay was tired,” Skyline coach Susan Simpkins said. “But it worked out great for us.”
Issaquah also won six events Tuesday, led by Jack Taylor’s victories in the 100 freestyle (52.74) and 100 backstroke (58.80). Riley Goodman won the 50 free (24.77), Kyle Stratiner won 1-meter diving (182.20), and Nathan Balkman took the 100 breaststroke (1:11.53) in the closest race of the afternoon, edging Marber by just over a tenth of a second.
The 400 freestyle relay of Skyler Kersten, Gentry Gevers, Ben Halter and Taylor won in 3:42.89.
Fans packed the upper deck of Tuesday’s meet to watch the Issaquah School District rivals square off. Halter noted, however, that the bonds tend to run deeper with the swimmers, several of whom have swam together on the Issaquah Swim Team.
“In fact, when we get to the upper level meets we will cheer for each others’ teams,” Halter said. “It’s not quite like football.”
The Spartans now have 10 district qualifying times, while the Eagles have nine.
Skyline improved to 3-3 in dual meet competition with the victory. Issaquah fell to 2-3-1.
