Dana Kirk Stars at Washington Girls High School Champs

FEDERAL WAY, WA.. DANA , Nov. 11 — DANA Kirk saved her best for the last here this evening.

Swimming in her final high school state championship meet, the Stanford-bound Kirk, who is the younger sister of Stanford star Tara Kirk, the defending NCAA
champ in the 100 breaststroke, made it a memorable one as she raced to a Washington record 53.99 100 fly title — second fastest nationally for the 2001-02 prep season.

She also won the 200 free (pr 1:49.46) but her heroics weren't enough as her school, Bremerton, finished 20th overall.

Kirk, a member of the United States Natioanl "B" team who competed in last summer's Goodwill Games, has a 100 fly pr of 52.92 from last March's Speedo/PN Swimming Challenge here.

Capital won the state championship, held at the King County Aquatics Center, built for the 1990 Goodwill Games and site of last year's USS Spring Nationals.

The pool was also the site of Holland's triple Sydney Olympic gold medalist Inge deBruijn's three U.S. Open record-setting performance in the 50-100 frees and 100 fly during the 2000 Region XII Championships in early August. "Inky" was then training with Coach Paul Bergen's Tualatin Hills (OR) team prior to heading Down Under.

The Washington girls' meet was a quick affair, with several nation-leading times in addition to Kirk's.

Rogers womn the 200 medley relay in an All-America auto time of 1:47.99, less than a second off the state-record of 1:47.04 by Henry Foss from nearly two decades ago (1984).

Kirk's 200 free win (1:49.46) was also an All-America auto cut, and less than a second off the state standard of 1:48.52 by Megan Oesting in 1989. Second was Snohomish senior Erica Chandler (1:50.23).

The top two finishers in the 200 IM (Rogers' Megan Rains, 2:02.04; Auburn's Emily Kukors, 2:02.24) also made All-America auto, with Rains' winning time
fastest nationally. She led throughout but Kukors closed on the final 50 and actually got home a bit quicker (28.93-29.15).

Both girls clocked prs with Rains' time just missing the state-record of 2:01.10 by Kari Edwards from 1994 — which she never bettered.

Roosevelt junior Jill Kripps won the 50 free (23.99) and was second in the 100. Individual medley runner-up Kukors won the 100 free (50.96, All-America auto) and her time is only six-tenths off the state-standard
50.33 by Sara Platzer from the 1999 Championships.

These days Platzer is a sophomore on Coach Cindy Gallagher's defending Pac-10 Champion UCLA Bruins' squad, and she splashed to a school-record (and pr) 49.33 during last weekend's University of Washington Husky Open here.

The 500 free was won by Juanita senior Jamie Tannhauser in 4:55.10, yet another All-America auto cut. The state record belongs to Corrie Murphy
(4:49.56 from 1996) and Murphy subsequently achieved All-America status as a member of Coach Mark Schubert's Lady Trojan squad.

Capital added 40 points to its winning total with a 1:39.80 victory in the 200 free relay and Oak Harbor's Missy McIntyre won the 100 breast (1:04.49).

The state record for is 1:02.96 by Kathy Smith from 20 yars ago, and Smith subsequently attended Stanford, where she was a member of the Cardinal's inaugural NCAA Championship team (coached by George Haines) in 1983. Her pr ended up at 1:02.25 from the 1985 NCAAs.

Capital "capped" its championship season with a win in the meet's final event, the 400 free relay (3:35.32) with Rogers (state runners-up) second (3:36.40). Both times are good for All-Amewrica consideration.

Full results are available on the Washington prep website, www.wiaa.com/athletics.

— Bill Bell

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use