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closeSEVEN-TIME CHAMPIONS
Tides turn attention to West Central District meet
Marques Hunter
of the Gateway
In years past, the Class 4A Narrows League swimming and diving championships were a walk in the park for the Gig Harbor Tides.
This year, the competition improved. But the Tides posted 17 lifetime-best performances, including eight state- and nine district-qualifying times, to win their seventh consecutive title.
Gig Harbor outscored the Stadium Tigers 262-216 for first place, and the Wilson Rams were third (196.5).
Tides head coach Mike Kelly said the team had to work hard to get this one.
“In the past, we’ve had a lot of depth, and that made the journey easier,” Kelly said. “But this year, it was touch-and-go coming into the meet, whether we were going to have enough to beat Stadium, who has a tremendous amount of talent.”
Stadium senior D’voreaux Cann, the state’s top-ranked swimmer in the 100 free, and Central Kitsap sophomore Brendon Weiner gave the Tides troubles in several individual events, but it wasn’t enough to stop Gig Harbor from scoring in waves.
The Tides tallied points in each of the 12 events, including four first-place finishes. The margin of error was aided by several divers who combined to score 18 points Thursday before the swimming portion began on Friday.
Gig Harbor junior diver Evan Tremblay placed sixth and earned a district qualification with 244.55 points.
The Tides’ 400-yard relay team of Spencer Neff, Tyler Kaslik, Dakota Moist and Devon McMenimen sealed the team’s championship performance with a winning time of 3 minutes, 21.50 seconds. That currently ranks as the fastest 400 free relay time in the state, Kelly said.
Kaslik, a senior, won the 50 free with a lifetime-best 22.10. He said the team stepped up and did what they needed to do.
“It’s important we won today,” Kaslik said. “It shows even though we didn’t have a perfect record, we are a feared team, and we have a lot of potential when we’re swimming our best.”
Neff, also a senior, said this year’s league championship was a lot more fun, considering other teams’ talent. Neff and freshman Evan Indahl placed one-two in the 500 free. There, Neff backed off and swam closer to the lane line so Indahl could drift.
Both individuals earned state cuts in the distance event.
“In the past, league has just been a breeze for us,” Neff said. “We’ve walked through it. It hasn’t even been a challenge.”
Neff hopes to place in the top three in the state in both the 200 free and 500 free. At the league meet, he was second in the 200 free (1:46.27) behind Weiner (1:45.73), and he won the 500 free (4:58.29).
Neff expects to see Eisenhower senior Ian Wheeler in the state championship finals. Wheeler, who just finished performing at the Junior National Swimming Championships in Columbus, Ohio, has signed a letter of intent with the University of Hawaii.
Wheeler has been clocked at 1:43.43 in the 200 free and 4:41.15 in the 500 free. The elite swimmers have been training partners for the Tacoma Swim Club.
Gig Harbor advances to the West Central District meet this weekend. Swimming prelims begin at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Rogers High School in Puyallup, and finals will begin at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Diving preliminaries and finals for the district meet are scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday at Foss High School in Tacoma.
Lifetime bests at league championships
Spencer Neff: 200 freestyle, 1 minutes, 46.27 seconds
Devon McMenimen: 200 free, 1:55.68
Brett Biggs 200 free, 2:06.29, and 500 free, 5:42.06
Michael Armit: 200 free, 2:12.53
Colin Benjamin: 200 free, 2:14.06, and 500 free, 6:14.30
Evan Indahl: 200 Individual medley, 2:08.92
Tyler Kaslik: 50 free, 22.10, and 100 free, 48.58
Will Frame: 50 free, 23.44
Eric Underwood: 50 free, 25.83, and 100 free, 57.98
Nate Read: 50 free, 25.47
Jonathon McCullough: 500 free, 6:11.07
Dakota Moist: 100 back, 55.37
Jeffrey Hale: 100 back, 1:06.77
Noah Long: 100 back, 1:11.97
Jacob Stewart: 100 back, 1:17.12
Spencer Black: 100 back, 1:19.34