by MICHAEL DASHIELL
Sequim Gazette
For once, Sequim had all the numbers on their side.
The Wolves’ swimming and diving crew overwhelmed Bremerton on Jan. 20 by a count of 115-67, improving to 3-2 in league and 3-3 overall.
“Bremerton had some good swimmers, but their numbers were low,” Sequim coach Linda Moats said. “Our team did perform better than they had in the past … and we saw many time improvements.”
The Wolves posted three district-meet qualifying times, including the 200 free relay team (Noe Calderon, Matt Cays, Andrew Gunstone and Drew Rickerson), the 400 free relay team (Rickerson, Doug Dunbar, Tommy Moores and Kris Peterson) and Calderon in the 100 butterfly.
Sequim’s 400 free relay team bettered their previous top mark by six seconds and Calderon’s 100 fly swim was a three-second personal best.
“His stroke was very smooth throughout the race,” Moats said of Calderon.
Moores picked up two individual wins, beating the field in the 50 free and 100 back.
In the 50 free, Gunstone finished third with a 29.73 mark.
“He’s new to the team and just last week his best time was 31.80,” Moats said. “To break 30 seconds is a big milestone especially for someone so new to competitive swimming.”
Ezra Perkins, pictured here diving in a meet against Port Angeles in December, edged out teammate Connor Christianson for first place as Sequim topped Bremerton 115-67 on Jan. 20.
Photo by Jim Heintz
Gunstone also topped his previous best in the 100 free by more than two seconds.
Rickerson dropped 24 seconds in his 200 free swim and is closing in on a district qualifying time.
Cays shed 15 seconds off his best 200 individual medley while David Vollenweider and Keil Wood each dropped four seconds off their best breaststroke times.
Sequim swept the diving event, as Ezra Perkins edged teammate Connor Christianson by 0.7 points.
Sequim also swept the 500 free, thanks to Dunbar, Peterson and Kiano Stoppani.
“The team really worked together at this meet and it paid off,” Moats said.
Sequim concludes the regular season with a Jan. 27 home meet against Kingston.
The Wolves swim at the Olympic League meet, set for Feb. 1 in Port Angeles.
The West Central District meet is Feb. 10 at Hazen High School in Renton. The top four swimmers in each event from that meet and other automatic qualifiers advance to the class 2A state meet, scheduled for Feb. 17-19 in Federal Way.
Reach Michael Dashiell at miked@sequimgazette.com.
