Four Wolves swam to an 18th place finish and two podium finishes at the 2A state swim and diving meet last weekend.

Sonja Govertsen earned a fourth place finish in the 50 yard freestyle and a sixth place finish in the 100 freestyle helping Sequim climb the rankings at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way on Nov. 10-11.

Govertsen, a sophomore, topped her season’s best in the 50 freestyle (25.55) in the preliminaries going 25.20. She finished fourth with a 25.24 finish.

In the 100 freestyle, she came close to her season best going 56.11 in the preliminaries and 55.78 in the finals to finish sixth. She set a personal record in the 100 freestyle at districts (55.56).

North Kitsap’s Eleanor Beets won both the 50 free (23.65) and 100 free (50.99) at state.

Sequim’s Jasmine Itti, a junior, also swam the 100 freestyle finishing 22nd (26.70) in the preliminaries topping her season’s best at 26.96.

Govertsen, Itti, Sydnee Linnane and Sydney Swanson also swam two relays with the 200 yard medley finishing 11th place with a finals time of 1:59.54. It was their season’s best after swimming 1:59.64 in the preliminaries and 2:00.48 at districts the previous weekend.

The same relay team bested their 200 freestyle time (1:54.04) in the preliminaries by more than 5 seconds going 1:48.71. Unfortunately, the team was disqualified in the finals for a false start. The team was set for 12th place with its preliminary time.

Govertsen said going to state was an exciting experience.

“I really enjoyed being able to swim with the top-eight swimmers in the state because it provided really good and healthy competition,” she said. “I also enjoyed being pushed to my max against these girls. While it was quite nerve-racking, it was worth the efforts to be able to podium fourth and sixth at state.”

She said competing with the relay team made the experience better because they got to share it together.

Three of the four state swimmers tentatively return next season with Linnane, a senior, graduating this spring. She competed at the state meet four years in a row.

“The girls did amazing and really improved overall,” said Sequim coach Anita Benitez. “(With three state swimmers returning) as always, there is a lot to learn and do to prepare for next year.”

Sonja Govertsen readies to swim 200 medley in a meet against Olympic on Sept. 28 in Sequim. The medley team finished 11th at state last weekend. Sequim Gazette file photo by Michael Dashiell