FEDERAL WAY — It may not have been exactly what she wanted to accomplish, but Meadowdale’s Anna Keane was all smiles after winning the 50-yard freestyle for a third consecutive year and finishing second in the 100-yard freestyle at 3A state swimming and diving championships on Saturday.
Keane had an opportunity to go for three consecutive titles in both events, but was beaten out in the 100 by Emma Chard of Foss. Chard finished in 50.17, a tenth of a second off the meet record, while Keane finished in 50.48. It wasn’t good enough for the victory, but the accolades that came along with second place weren’t bad. It was a personal best for Keane as well as the fourth-fastest Washington state 3A 100 time in history.
“Of course I wanted to win, but I’m super happy,” Keane said. “It was a best time for me. I’ve never gone faster than 50.6, so to be able to go faster every single year is something that swimmers aren’t able to do. I wasn’t able to do it in my 50, but I was in my 100.”
What Keane was able to do in the 50 was win, doing it in 23.21. It was an automatic All-American time and the third fastest 3A time for the 50 in the state’s history. Her third consecutive title in the event left her nearly speechless.
“It was amazing,” Keane said. “So few people can do that and I was just so happy. I was more than happy. It’s amazing to be able to do something like that.”
Obviously, Keane wanted to win both events, but the 50 is most special to her according to Mavericks’ coach Kati Girard.
“That’s her signature event,” Girard said. “That’s the one she really wanted to three-peat in and she did. It’s really awesome.”
Chard’s swim in the 100 didn’t come as a big shock to Keane, the two-time defending champ in the event. Keane had watched her come up a year ago and knew she would be a threat to winning a third consecutive title.
“Freshman and sophomore year, she wasn’t there,” Keane said. “Junior year she was definitely coming up. I definitely sensed her and I was a little worried. This year, I knew she was a tough competitor. She got really fast over the summer. She worked so hard in the pool. I had a feeling it might come down to (her and I).”
Toward the end of the race the two were neck and neck, but Chard touched the wall just ahead of Keane.
“She was next to me the whole time and I could see her out of the corner of my eye, but I could also kind of tell she was ahead of me at the end,” Keane said.
Marysville Getchell diver Brooke Wherley came up just short of a state championship, placing second behind Danielle Freund of Southridge. Wherley finished with a score of 359.25, nearly 18 points ahead of the nearest diver, but 54 points behind Freund.
“It felt good,” Wherley said after her event. “I’m sad I didn’t win, but it was my first state (meet) and I achieved my goal of getting top-three, so I was happy with it.”
Shorewood’s Britt Blomso also represented Wesco with a fifth-place finish in the 100 backstroke and eighth-place finish in the 100 butterfly. Marysville Pilchuck’s Melody Coleman recorded a seventh-place finish in the 100 breaststroke.
Shorewood scored seventh-place finishes in both the 400 freestyle relay and the 200 freestyle relay. The Thunderbirds also were the only Wesco team to place in the top-10 overall, finishing ninth with 86 points. The Mavericks weren’t far behind finishing in 11th with 69.
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on twitter @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
Local team results: 9. Shorewood 86, 11. Meadowdale 69, 19. Marysville Pilchuck 36, 24. Marysville Getchell 24, 30. Stanwood 9. 31. Shorecrest 7, 32. Glacier Peak 6, 33. Oak Harbor 4.
Top local finishers
200 medley relay—7. Shorewood (Britt Blomso, Christina Garrison, Ann Tardiff, Erin Arslanoglu) 1:55.20, 10. Meadowdale (Anna Keane, Victoria Nguyenle, Lena Osterberg, Anabella King) 1:55.99, 12. Marysville Pilchuck (Melody Coleman, Madison Rossnagle, Abby Magee, Rebekah Pusateri) 1:57.75; 200 individual medley—13. Coleman (Marysville Pilchuck) 2:13.41; 50 freestyle—1. Keane (Meadowdale) 23.21, 13. Emily Strathy (Shorecrest) 25.91; Diving—2. Brooke Wherley (Marysville Getchell) 359.25, 10. Alexandria Pimental (Marysville Getchell) 288.85, 11. Annika Dayton (Glacier Peak) 287.40; 100 butterfly—8. Blomso (Shorewood) 59.76; 15. Abby Magee (Marysville Pilchuck) 1:01.30; 100 freestyle—2. Keane (Meadowdale) 50.48; 14. Strathy (Shorecrest) 56.31; 500 freestyle—9. Karlie Rimat (Stanwood) 5:12.43, 13. Marissa Morris (Oak Harbor) 5:22.15; 200 freestyle relay—7. Shorewood (Garrison, Nicola Gerbino, Ari Norberg, Arslanoglu) 1:44.50, 13. Marysville Pilchuck (Abby Magee, Pusateri, Rossnagle, Coleman) 1:45.97; 100 backstroke—5. Blomso (Shorewood) 59.35; 100 breaststroke—7. Coleman (Marysville Pilchuck) 1:07.17, 16. Garrison (Shorewood) 1:10.06; 400 freestyle relay—9. Meadowdale (Osterberg, Keane, King, Nguyenle) 3:45.99, 11. Shorewood (Arslanoglu, Gerbino, Garrison, Blomso) 3:48.01.
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