Boys swimming: Relay team sets 400 free school mark at PA meet
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, February 6, 2019
One lap closer.
Sequim’s boys swim squad got their final prep for the postseason at the Olympic League divisional meet in Port Angeles on Jan. 29, setting a school record in the process.
SHS’s Jax Thaxton, Zen Graham, Alex Berikoff and Kaleb Needoba broke the school mark in the 400 free relay — a standard set earlier this season — by 1.2 seconds, with a time of 3:43.42. It’s a full nine seconds better than the quartet’s previous effort.
The same four swimmers nearly broke the school’s 200 free relay mark set in 2011, clocking in at 1:39.70 — just 0.33 seconds off the record.
Sequim swimmers set a dozen personal records (PRs) in individual swims. Oscar Walchenbach set PRs in the 100 backstroke (by nine seconds, to 1:27.11) and 200 IM (3:14.85), while Blake Boardman set PRs in the 100 free (1:01.13, a 16-second improvement from last season) and the 200 free (2:19.22, by five seconds).
Jordan Hurdlow also set two PRs, in the 50 free (29.00, by two seconds) and the 100 free (1:05.84, by 18 seconds).
Additional personal bests included: Needoba (25.41) and Will Plasch (29.57) in the 50 free; Liam Payne (58.11) and Michael Mattern-Hall (1:01.17) in the 100 free; Anthony Thompson-Porrazzo in the 100 backstroke (1:26.50), and Noah White in the 500 free (7:29.68).
The Wolves combined to set 10 personal and five team bests in 200 free and 400 free relays.
The West Central District meet is set for Feb. 8-9 at Hazen High School in Renton. The top seven individuals and relay teams, plus any athlete posting a state qualifying mark, advance to the class 2A state meet set for Feb. 15-16 in Federal Way.
