The Prep Beat

The National Federation of State High School Associations streamlined rules in regard to dolphin kicks in the breaststroke for high school swimming.

The NFHS approved rule changes at its meeting in March, clarifying on paper what has been in practice in the pool for years.

High school swimmers are allowed to use a butterfly kick (dolphin kick) at the start or a turn before moving into a breaststroke kick.

Also, competitors will no longer be asked to step off the starting blocks if an illegal suit is spotted. They will finish the race and then be disqualified at the end of the heat.

The 2A boys session is underway at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way. Klahowya finished eighth in the 200-yard medley relay while Thor Breitbarth, a freshman from North Kitsap won the consolation finals (ninth) of the 200 freestyle in one minute, 57.05 seconds.

For the first time in the 2A class, medals will be given to the top eight finishers.

Kellen Meyers finished third in the 50 freestyle, posting a personal-best time of 22.33 seconds. Meyers was also sixth in the 100 free. Teammate Quaid Williams finished seventh in the 100 with the 100 backstroke coming up.

Also, Austin Clement of Sequim, the defending state diving champ, finished a disappointing ninth.

In the consolation finals of 200 free relay, North Kitsap battled hard with Selah all four legs. The Vikings led by a small margin for three legs before Selah came from behind to out-touch NK at the wall. NK finished 10th. Great swim in 1:37.57. Selah was 1:36.98.

In the backstroke, Williams finished fifth with a best time of 56.85. It was a very fast race with the top three swimmers going 54 seconds or better.

The 2A session is over and Archbishop Murphy won the team title. Klahowya finished just out of the top 10 in 11th, its best finish.

UPDATE: The 3A session has started the Bainbridge 200 medley relay finished fifth in 1:39.73. Spencer Alpaugh, who has dropped an incredible amount of time from yesterday’s prelims and his entry time will be up next in the 200 IM.

Alpaugh finished fifth in 1:56.38 in the IM. He also placed seventh in the 500 free in 4:47.59.

The Spartans’ 200 free relay won the consolation finals in 1:31.08. CJ Waite also won the consol finals of the 100 breast in 1:00.93.

Bainbridge finished eighth in the team standings. Lakeside of Seattle beat Mercer Island 274-271 to end the Islanders six-year stranglehold on the championship.

The 4A session starts at 6:30 p.m.

UPDATE: In the 4A, South Kitsap’s Damien DeRego finished eighth in 22.57 in the 50 free.

In the 100 free, DeRego placed seventh in 49.22.

That’s it from Federal Way. Swimming is done for the year.

Klahowya’s Kellen Meyers is in the running for his first championship at the Class 2A boys state swimming and diving championships.

Meyers posted the third-fastest qualifying time in the 50-yard freestyle in 22.56 seconds Friday in the morning preliminaries at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way. Top seed Alec Banard of Arbhbishop Murphy touched the wall in 21.92, ahead of Will Burgett of Prosser in 22.23.

Meyers is also seeded seventh in the 100 free.

Saturday’s finals begin at 10 a.m.

Quaid Williams of Klahowya is fifth in the 100 backstroke. He’s also seeded sixth in the 100 free.

Klahowya’s 200 medley relay also qualified for the finals.

UPDATE:

Bainbridge’s Spencer Alpaugh is seeded fourth in the 200 individual medley in the 3A session.

Also, former islander Todd McCarthy, who now swims for Bellevue, is the top seed in the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke. The 3A finals are at 2:30 p.m.

The Class 3A SeaKing District swim meet was delayed an hour because of a chlorine problem in the pool. The meet, which was supposed to start at 4:15 p.m., will start at 5:15 p.m. It’s at Mary Wayte pool on Mercer Island.

The peninsula will be well represented at the Class 2A West Central District boys swimming and diving championships at Hazen High (Renton) Friday and Saturday. Saturday’s finals are at 11 a.m.

Olympic’s Craig Boekenoogen (200-yard individual medley), Klahowya’s Kellen Meyers (50 free) and North Kitsap’s Yorick Aban (100 butterfly) are all seeded first in their respective events.

Klahowya’s Quaid Williams is seeded second in the 100 free and 100 backstroke. Among other top three seeds, NK’s Ian Christen and Thor Breitbarth are second and third in the 500 free; Breitbarth is seeded seed in the 200 free; Meyers is also seeded third in the 100 free; and Sequim’s Austin Clement, the defending 2A diving champion, is the top seed. Klahowya’s 200 free relay and NK’s 400 free relay are seeded first and second, respectively.

The top six placers advance to the state meet Feb. 15-16 in Federal Way.

Bainbridge will be at the 3A SeaKing District meet Friday and Saturday as well. The swim meet is at Mary Wayte (Mercer Island) and the diving is at Juanita (Kirkland).

The top six also qualify for state.

NOTE: The post was updated to reflect a change in the venues for 2A and 3A due to a reporting error.

The Narrows League boys swimming championships will be Friday at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma at 4:15 p.m.

The diving takes place Thursday at Foss High School in Tacoma. There is no admission fee for diving, but there is for swimming — $6 for adults, students without ASB, seniors and students with ASB $4, and children under five are free.

Both South Kitsap and Central Kitsap will be well represented. Among those participating are Central Kitsap’s Carson Sprecher, a freshman, who is the top seed in the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 6:55.28.

South Kitsap’s Colby Sharp is seeded second in the 100-yard freestyle in 1:00.28, behind Stadium’s Nicholas Stauffer in 1:00.02.

Here’s a list of the local boys state swimming qualifiers as of Wednesday.

The list is comprised of swimmers whose times have been reported to the Washington Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (WISCA).

Class 4A

50-yard freestyle

Damien DeRego, SK 22.66

100 freestyle

Damien DeRego, SK 49.84

Class 3A

100 butterfly

Spencer Alpaugh, Bain 55.32

100 breaststroke

C.J. Waite, Bain 1:02.11

Class 2A

200 Individual Medley

Quaid Williams, Kla 2:10.13

Avery Koehler, PA 2:11.89

50 freestyle

Kellen Meyers, Kla 22.82

100 freestyle

Quaid Williams, Kla 50.41

Kellen Meyers, Kla 50.88

100 backstroke

Quaid Wililams, Kla 58.39

100 breaststroke

Kellen Meyers, Kla 1:06.03

The Klahowya Eagles hung on to beat North Kitsap 89-81 in an Olympic League boys swimming meet in Poulsbo Thursday.

With the win, Klahowya clinched at least a share of the league championship, a first for the 2A school.

Klahowya and North Kitsap have been vying for the top spot all season, with perennial power Port Angeles right behind. Klahowya (5-0) remains No. 1, thanks to its win over NK (3-1) and a 94-86 win over Port Angeles (2-2) last month.

“That’s pretty exciting after four years of the program,” said Klahowya coach Diana Peterson, adding she was especially pleased for her seniors.

The meet was close throughout, with Klahowya taking a 41-37 lead through five events. The Eagles pulled ahead to 61-49 after going 1-2 in the 500-yard freestyle.

NK coach Greg Braun said there was a lot of enthusiasm and close swims.

“I know our guys were pretty fired up,” he said.

The Vikings pushed Klahowya to the end.

“We just couldn’t quite bring it back,” he said.

The Eagles have a bye next Thursday then finish the regular season at Bremerton. North Kitsap takes on Central Kitsap in a non-league meet, then is at Bremerton next Thursday and hosts Kingston Jan. 24 to finish the season.

“It’s been a really fun season to coach,” Braun said, “certainly more strategy involved in a meet like this (and) every place counts.”

The league invitational is Tuesday, Jan. 29 at Port Angeles.

The email that delivered the following swimming results finally found its way in to The Sun’s in box. Where it’s been is a mighty mystery. Cyberspace can be a funny place.

CK coach Mike Thorniley sent it Dec. 4, the night of the meet.

And he sent it again … and again.

Finally, it popped in this morning (Dec. 11, 8:06 a.m. to be exact)

Results from a Double Duel Meet.  Olympic @ Central Kitsap and Klahowya

@ Central Kitsap

Central Kitsap 108, Olympic 63
1st place finishers:
200 Medley Relay – CK – 1:53.94
200 Freestyle – CK – Alex Clithero – 2:02.56
200 IM – OHS – Craig Boekenogen – 2:13.86
50 Freestyle – CK – Kevin Smiley – 24.39
1 Meter Diving – CK – Ian Leogering – 145.40 points
100 Fly – CK – Camdon Hatch – 58.46
100 Freestyle – CK – Kevin Smiley – 55.54
500 Freestyle – OHS – Craig Boekenogen – 5:26.22
200 Free Relay – CK – 2:15.61
100 Backstroke – OHS – True Loan – 1:09.56
100 Breaststroke – CK – Alex Clithero – 1:05.90
400 Freestyle Relay – CK – 3:49.87

Central Kitsap 94, Klahowya 78
1st place finishers:
200 Medley Relay – KSS – 1:48.72
200 Freestyle – CK – Alex Clithero – 2:02.56
200 IM – KSS – Quaid Williams – 2:10.13
50 Freestyle – KSS – Kellen Meyers – 22.92
1 Meter Diving – CK – Ian Leogering – 145.40 points
100 Fly – CK – Camdon Hatch – 58.46
100 Freestyle – KSS – Karl Otheim – 55.11
500 Freestyle – KSS – Egan Dunning – 6:24.96
200 Free Relay – CK – 2:15.61
100 Backstroke – KSS – Quaid Williams – 58.39
100 Breaststroke – CK – Alex Clithero – 1:05.90
400 Freestyle Relay – CK – 3:49.87

It’s the final day of girls swimming and I’m here at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

Klahowya’s Kelsey Crane finished third in the 200-yard individual medley in the Class 2A meet. Olympic’s Danielle Nelson was sixth.

Coming up a little later is the 100 freestyle with North Kitsap’s Serita Solis in the championship finals followed by Crane looking to defend her 500 freestyle title.

UPDATE: Solis placed eighth in the 100 free in 56.70, bettering her time from Friday’s prelims of 56.92. She’s a freshman so coaches always want to see improvement and she did that today.

UPDATE: Kelsey won her second 500 free title in 5:19.17. She was practically racing herself as she nearly lapped the entire field. Second-place finisher Madeline Gillman of Bellingham finished in 5:23.64.

UPDATE: The 2A session is complete.

UPDATE: The 3A session is underway and Bainbridge set a blistering pace in the 200 medley relay. The top seed claimed won in a time of 1:47.75 over Mercer Island, 1:48.45. The Spartans set a 3A meet record and the time was good enough for All-American consideration.

UPDATE: Top Bainbridge qualifiers so far include diver Shannon Engelbrecht, who finished third, Kay Sterner and Mikelle Ackerley were sixth and seventh in the 200 free. Sarah Grundman was eighth in the 200 IM.

UPDATE: Sarah Grundman and Kay Sterner finished 1-3 in the 500 free. Grundman’s time of 4:58.40 was a personal best. Also, Candice Rosen won the consolation finals going away in 5:12, which put her in ninth place overall.

UPDATE: The highlight of the meet for Bainbridge had to have been Shayla Archer’s surprise win in the 100 backstroke. Archer came out of nowhere to win her first title from lane 7.

UPDATE: Bainbridge finished third in the 400 free relay. The Spartans placed second overall to Mercer Island in the team standings.