Hardy punches ticket to state

Sequim Gazette staff

Sequim’s Rachel Hardy is headed back to state.

The Sequim High senior earned a pair of top-six finishes at the West Central District meet last weekend in Renton, assuring a spot at the class 2A state finals that begin Thursday, Nov. 11, at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

Hardy swam to a fifth-place finish in the 50 free with a time of 26.85 seconds and finished sixth in the 100 free with a time of 1 minute, 0.26 seconds.

“We are very proud of Rachel and her accomplishments so far and are looking forward to competing at the state meet,” said first-year coach Susan Craig.

Hardy has qualified for the class 2A state meet since her freshman season, taking 13th in 2007, seventh in 2008 and 14th last fall. In the 100 free, Hardy placed seventh at state as a sophomore and 14th as a junior.

Hardy, along with fellow seniors Rachel Hughes and Gianna Vennetti and freshman Cassandra Calderon, helped Sequim’s 200 medley and 200 free relays each place ninth.

Calderon was 14th in the 200 individual medley competition at districts while Hughes was 19th in the 100 butterfly event.

“All the girls swam really good times and, for most, their fastest times of the season, and the overall times dropped for each relay by at least two seconds,” Craig said.

“We were very pleased with their swims and felt it was a great way to end the season for them.”

Sequim finished 11th out of 15 teams at the district meet. Interlake (260 points) took the team title while Sumner (237) was second and Port Angeles (187) was third.