Four State Records Fall as Newport Wins Washington Girls 4A Championships

Photo Courtesy: WIAA Twitter

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The 2018 Washington Girls 4A State Swimming & Diving Championships took place on Nov. 10 at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

A total of four Washington State records fell at this meet, including a pair of relay marks from two-time defending team champions Newport who dominated with 356 points. Skyline was the runner-up with 231.5 points and Curtis took third with a score of 168.5

Click here for full results.

Top 5 Team Scores:

1. Newport – 356
2. Skyline – 231.5
3. Curtis – 168.5
4. Wenatchee – 160.5
5. Tahoma – 143

The meet began with a bang as Skyline’s Christina Bradley, Danika Himes, Sarah DiMeco and Lauren Sayles combined to win the 4×50 medley relay in 1:44.00, taking down the previous State record of 1:44.58 set in 2017. Newport (Bellevue) swam to second in 1:46.28 while Tahoma finished third in 1:46.72.

Shortly after DiMeco led the charge in the 200 free, stopping the clock in 1:46.98 for a three-second win. Also getting under the 1:50 barrier was Kamiak’s Elli Straume who touched the wall second in 1:49.24 and Newport’s Yulia Groysman who wound up third in 1:49.48.

Northcreek’s Gabrielle Dang won the 50 free by nearly a full second, splashing and dashing her way to the title in a quick 22.91. Curtis’ Molly Hickey powered home to 23.69 for second and Northcreek’s Jaclyn Pak ended up third in 23.79.

Newport’s Samantha Baron led from start to finish to guide herself to the wall first in the 200 IM for the second-straight year with a winning time of 2:00.86. Mt. Rainer’s Grace Felner was two seconds behind in 2:02.36 for second as Bradley finished in a close third with a time of 2:02.54.

Heather Hopkins of Rogers Puyallup dove to first on the 1-meter board with a final score of 407.00. Kentridge’s Elizabeth McKnight took second with 388.25 points while Todd Beamer’s Stephanie Gunn posted a score of 329.70 for third place.

Dang’s second individual gold medal of the night came in the 100 fly, where she cruised home to a swift 52.58 to match her 50 free title. Baron was the runner-up in 53.99 for silver and Kamiak’s Ava Collinge earned the bronze in 55.33. Dang’s time crushed the previous Washington State record of 53.10 set by Katie Kinnear back in 2009.

Not too long after a third-place showing in the 200 IM, Bradley was back in the water to grab an individual win in the 100 free with a time of 49.81 as the only swimmer in the field under the 50-second mark. Her time eclipsed the previous meet record by .01. She held off Newport’s Jaime Chen who took second in 51.00 while Hickey finished third in 51.90.

DiMeco dominated the 500 free, winning by just over seven seconds with a final time of 4:48.08. Second place went to Groysman who also got under the five-minute barrier in 4:55.48 and third place belonged to Straume in 5:00.40.

Another Newport victory came in the 4×50 free relay as the quartet of Baron, Rachel Nguyen, Gracie Wang and Chen posted a convincing three-second victory in 1:34.96 to break the three-year-old State record of 1:35.23. Kamiak took second in 1:37.58 while Northcreek rounded out the top three in 1:37.76.

Tahoma freshman Hannah Weissman led the way in the 100 back, earning the State accolade in 55.54. Nguyen (55.90) and Jackson’s Mia Chang (56.55) finished second and third, respectively.

Felner got her hands to the wall first a half-second ahead of the rest of the field in the 100 breast with a time of 1:02.64. Issaquah’s Kira Grebinsky raced to second in 1:03.10 while Redmond’s Catherine Yu took the third-place spot with a time of 1:03.12.

The meet concluded as the Newport 4×100 free relay squad of Baron, J. Chen, Amelia Girotto and Groysman won in 3:26.33 to demolish the previous State record of 3:27.47. They were over four seconds faster than runner-up Skyline’s 3:30.67 followed by Curtis’ 3:31.05.

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