High school swimming has come a long way in my 10-year tenure at The Columbian.
In my first couple of years in Vancouver, the district meets were the highlight for most high school swimmers in Southwest Washington. Just making it to state was the big goal.
Once at state, among the 24 seeded swimmers, most of Southwest Washington’s automatic qualifiers were seeded 22nd, 23rd or 24th.
But slowly that began to change. First, we saw several swimmers reach the state finals. Then the state titles began to roll in. Last season we saw Jessica Bottelberghe of Columbia River, Nikki Cannon of Hudson’s Bay and Julia Sanders on Hockinson claim state titles. All three will return to Federal Way to defend their championships this weekend.
Last weekend, those swimmers and several others were making big splashes at the 4A and 3A district swim championships.
With the return of Bottelberghe and Cannon — and the emergence of freshmen sisters Monica Bottelberghe and Carly Cannon — the 3A district meet in Kelso on Saturday was a showcase of local swimming talent. Add to that the fact that Mountain View moved down to the 3A level, giving Peggy Liang her first shot at 3A state crown.
On Saturday, six of the 11 races at the 3A district meet was either won by a Bottelberghe or won by a relay team featuring a Bottelberghe (or two).
Jessica Bottelberghe won the 200 individual medley (by 12 seconds) and the 100 butterfly (by five seconds). Monica Bottelberghe won the 200 freestyle (by nine seconds) and the 100 freestyle.
Both Bottelberghe sisters — along with Anderson sisters, Melanie and Alex — won the 200 medley relay and 400 free relay.
All those River wins led the Chieftains to capture the 3A district team championship by edging out Camas 348-318.
The other five events were won by Liang (50 freestyle), the Hudson’s Bay 200 free relay team of Breaunna Atwell, Arisa Laochumnanvanit, Byranne Hughes and Nikki Cannon, Ada Beale of Camas (500 freestyle), Carly Cannon of Hudson’s Bay (100 backstroke) and Jessica Patterson of Kelso (100 breaststroke).
Entering last weekend, Monica Bottelberghe had the state’s best times in the 100 and 200 free events in Class 3A. Liang had the third-best time in the 50 free.
Jessica Bottelberghe had the state’s best times in the 100 fly and 200 IM entering the weekend. She then posted season-bests in both events on Saturday. River’s 400 relay led the state, while the medley relay ranked No. 2 in the season.
At the 4A meet in Vancouver, it was the Union show. The Titans, in their first year competing at the 4A level, won all 11 events to swim away with the district team title by outdistancing Skyview 461-280.
Felicia Williamson (200 free, 500 free), Alice Chang (200 IM, 100 back), and Andrea Young (50 free, 100 free) won two district titles each. Katie Odiorne (100 fly) and McKenna Spieth (100 breast) each won one district title.
The Class 2A state swimming championships begin Thursday with preliminary heats and will conclude Friday with the finals. Class 4A and 3A prelims and finals will be Friday and Saturday in Federal Way.
Volleyball
Five Clark County volleyball teams have extended their seasons to this weekend at the state tournaments on the eastern side of the state. Let’s take a look at their matchups.
Class 4A at Kennewick: Skyview opened the week as the second-ranked team in the state, according to the coaches’ poll. But the Storm suffered a tough five-set loss to Stadium in the bi-district tournament in Kent and had to advance to state through the consolation bracket.
Because of that, Skyview will open the 4A state tournament against top-ranked Richland at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Class 3A at Kennewick: Camas opened the week as the No. 2 team in Class 3A. The Papermakers went to the bi-district tournament in Auburn and won three matches to claim the bi-district championship.
The Papermakers’ reward for that accomplishment? A first-round match against fifth-ranked Seattle Prep at 3 p.m. Friday. If Camas can survive the first round, top-ranked Mount Spokane could be waiting for the Papermakers in the quarterfinals on Friday night. And if last year is any indication, that could be very, very late on Friday night.
But after handing third-ranked Kennedy its first loss of the season in Saturday’s bi-district final, the Papermakers head to Kennewick brimming with confidence.
Class 1A in Yakima: Ridgefield lost again to Castle Rock in the 1A district championship on Saturday. That sent the Spudders into a first-round matchup against No. 7 Cedar Park Christian of Bothell at noon Friday.
Class 1B in Yakima: King’s Way Christian and Seton Catholic both advanced to state. King’s Way will face Crescent at 10 a.m. Thursday in a first-round match. Seton Catholic will meet Lopez Island at noon Thursday.
Girls soccer
Class 4A: Skyview earned its first trip to the 4A state playoffs since 2002. The Storm will open against No. 9 Eastlake of Sammamish at Kiggins Bowl, likely on Wednesday. The official game time and date likely will not be locked down until today.
Class 3A: Two 3A Greater St. Helens League teams advanced to state. Defending 3A champion Columbia River was not one of those teams after River suffered a tough defeat to Bonney Lake after losing leading scorer Emily Kleier to a broken leg and having another starter disqualified after two yellow cards.
Camas and Prairie will carry the 3A GSHL flag into the state playoffs.
Camas, ranked third by the Seattle Times, will host Juanita of Kirkland, the No. 5 team from District 2, at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Doc Harris Stadium in a first-round match.
Prairie will head on the road to play 10th-ranked Meadowdale at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Lynnwood.
Class 2A: Hockinson is back in the 2A state playoffs for a fifth consecutive season. However, the Hawks are still searching for their first state-playoff win. Hockinson will face Sehome at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Battle Ground’s District Stadium in search of that elusive playoff victory.
Class 1A: After making nine state-tournament appearances as a Class 2A team, Ridgefield makes its debut in the 1A state tournament when the Spudders (17-0) host Overlake of Redmond on Tuesday or Wednesday. The exact time and location of the match will be announced today.
Football
Class 4A: Skyview (8-2) had to battle to get past Todd Beamer on Saturday. Next up for the No. 10 Storm is unranked Auburn (8-3), which knocked off Edmonds-Woodway 24-10 on Friday.
Skyview will host the game at Kiggins Bowl, but a game time and day will not be announced until today.
Class 3A: Camas (10-0) breezed through the preliminary round with backup quarterback Tony Gennaro calling signals. The third-ranked Papermakers expect a much tougher test against No. 4 Juanita of Kirkland. Juanita (9-1) beat Shorecrest 48-6 in the preliminary round. Camas goes for its first state-playoff victory at 6 p.m. Saturday at Doc Harris Stadium.
Class 1A: Stevenson got its first playoff victory by beating Rainier on Friday. Now, the Bulldogs (8-2) face a big test against second-ranked Meridian of Bellingham in the first round of state. Meridian (10-0) hammered Vashon Island 55-0 to reach the state playoffs. The Bulldogs face the Trojans at 4 p.m. Saturday in Bellingham.
Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep coordinator for The Columbian. He can be reached by phone at (360) 735-4538 or e-mail at tim.martinez@columbian.com
