LA CENTER — How many high school athletes can say they had a program started in part because of them?
Hailey Grotte can raise her hand.
When Grotte, a sophomore swimmer at La Center, got to high school, athletic director Matt Cooke knew she had to compete. But the Wildcats didn’t have a team.
“Once we knew there was something special with swimming in her, that’s when her parents and I discussed finding another school to co-op with,” Cooke said, “because we can’t support a swim team on our own. We were very fortunate that Hockinson agreed to do a co-op with us.”
So, La Center began competing in Fall 2016 combining with Hockinson 2A level, with Grotte as La Center’s lone competitor. This year Grotte finished second in the 50-yard freestyle at the 2A Girls Swimming and Diving State Meet at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.
For that accomplishment, she’s The Columbian’s All-Region Swimmer of the Year.
After Grotte learned to walk, it seemed, her next move was jumping in a pool. She started swimming before she was two years old. She joined her first club team at age four.
She comes from an athletic family. Her mom, Heather Grotte, played basketball and volleyball and her dad, Jason Grotte, played baseball. Both are teachers at La Center High School.
But Hailey initially didn’t like the appeal of contact sports. Nor did she fancy a ball in her hand.
So swimming was the natural choice. Plus, she was pretty good at it.
But in an unexpected turn, she realized during a competition in middle school that swim isn’t necessarily “non-contact.”
“People always say you can’t get hurt in swim since it’s non-contact,” Grotte said. “I’m like, well, let me tell you about my experience cracking my head open.”
During a race she went to flip turn at one end of a pool, miscalculated and her head collided into the wall, requiring stitches. Last week in her leadership class, Grotte gave a speech on the matter.
At La Center, Grotte took off.
“Straight off the bat she had a hard work ethic, she had goals she wanted to meet,” Hockinson/La Center coach Carolee Osborne-McAfee said. “I was impressed with her work ethic as a freshman.”
This year she got a teammate — and a good one, at that.
Freshman Bryanna Ungs placed fifth at state this season in the 50 free.
“She’s right there with me,” Grotte said. “She pushes me in practice. We’re neck-and-neck all the time. Having someone there to compete with makes me go harder and work harder.”
The highlight of Grotte’s year was finishing second at the state meet.
Her 50 free time of 24.17 seconds was less than a second shy of North Kitsap sophomore Eleanor Beers, who is a two-time state champ.
And Grotte’s contributions helped La Center finish 15th at the state meet as a team of two.
But her favorite moment? Hands down, it’s beating Columbia River senior and 2A Greater St. Helens League Swimmer of the Year Kara Noftsker to become the district champion, she said. Noftsker had always had a slight edge on Grotte, she said, so winning “was a big accomplishment.”
“I honestly never thought she couldn’t beat her,” Osborne-McAfee said. “But that’s not what our goals were. Our goals were her times she wanted to make, what she wanted to do at state. Swimming is about beating the clock.”
And it’s all in La Center’s second year as a program. Not hard to justify the decision to start one in the first place.
“It’s been working out as good as I could have hoped for,” Cooke said.
Grotte concurs.
She wants to swim at a Division-I level. In fact, Grotte has already heard from a couple of small schools.
As for the next two years?
“I’m hoping to beat the girl from up North who beat me in state,” Grotte said. “That’s my goal.”
Rest of the All-Region team
Hannah Eha, Skyview
The senior placed 10th at state in the 4A 100 breaststroke and 13th in the 200 individual medley.
Kara Noftsker, Columbia River
The senior placed third in the Class 2A state meet in the 200 freestyle and was a state finalist in the 100 freestyle.
Jax Purwins, Camas
The senior and first-time diver placed seventh overall in the Class 4A state meet with a score of 322.05.
Bryanna Ungs, La Center
The freshman placed fourth at the 2A state meet in the 100 breaststroke and fifth in the 50 freestyle
Sruthi Ravi, Mountain View
The junior placed 10th at 3A state meet in the 100 backstroke and was a state qualifier in the 50 freestyle.
Makena Wilcox, Columbia River
The senior placed seventh at the 2A state meet in the 50 freestyle and 16th in the 100 butterfly.
