At the midpoint of the season for the Bainbridge girls swim and dive team, the Spartans have come away with some dual meet wins and some strong times in the pool.

Head coach Greg Colby is happy with the team’s performance so far.

“I think we’re on course to do real well at the end of the season,” he said.

Bainbridge lost to Newport 94-91 last Tuesday, but rebounded to defeat Kamiak 108-77 last Friday and beat Port Angeles 100-80 Tuesday.

The Spartans took first in nearly every event against the Roughriders Tuesday as several swimmers earned gold.

The 200 yard medley relay team of Emily Sonnenfeld, Lisa Heinlen, Anna Wood and Alex Miggins took first with a time of 2:07.26 while the 200 freestyle relay team of Margaret Huisinga, India Wade, Elizabeth Furman and Julie Pendleton took first with a time of 1:51.59.

Wade also took first in the 100 freestyle with a district qualifying time of 56.72.

Cameo Hlebasko took first in the 200 individual medley with a district qualifying time of 2:19.81 and the 100 backstroke with a district qualifying time of 1:04.50.

Kristine Valdez won the 50 freestyle with a district qualifying time of 26.39 while Tess Harpur took first in the 100 butterfly with a district qualifying time of 1:03.16.

Alicia Konkel took first in the 500 freestyle with a district qualifying time of 5:53.80 while Kate McKenzie took first in diving with a score of 147.85.

Against Kamiak, Wade set a state qualifying time of 1:01.33 in the 100 butterfly.

Wade, along with Pendleton, Valdez and Kalise Ball, took first in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:47.60, just missing setting a state qualifying time.

Anna Wood took first in the 200 freestyle with a district qualifying time of 2:13.13 while Harpur took first in the 500 freestyle with a district qualifying time of 5:58.59.

The 400 freestyle relay team of Molly Gorsline, Sonnenfeld, Harpur and Valdez took first with a time of 4:04.87.

Against Newport, the team of Hlebasko, Pendleton, Wade and Konkel took first in the 200 medley relay with a state qualifying time of 1:59.58.

Pendleton set a state qualifying time of 2:16.56 in the 200 individual medley while Wade set a state qualifying time of 56.38 in the 100 freestyle.

The 400 free relay team of Pendleton, Konkel, Hlebasko and Wade took first and set a state qualifying time of 3:50.64.

“A three point loss is probably harder on me than the kids,” Colby said of the narrow defeat to the Knights, now a member of the 4A classification. “I thought we should have won it.

“But we’re 4-2 – I’ll take that,” he continued. “It’s been very encouraging to see we do have some depth. I kind of pooh-poohed the depth of our team early on and they’ve proved me wrong. That’s awesome.

Colby is also happy with the contribution of so many swimmers across the board. Many have set district or state qualifying times already, or have stepped up to fill holes in the lineup.

“We’ve got some great surprises in some seniors,” he said. “Alicia Konkel is swimming really fast. Kalise Ball – (she) came out of nowhere (for diving). All of a sudden she’s got three good dives for 5’s and she’s got two district qualifying times.

“Tess is swimming great,” Colby continued. “Cameo is swimming great. Our state swimmers are holding their own. Kristine’s a little sick, but she’s toughing it out. Our sophomores are hanging tough.

“I’m really encouraged. It’s a fun group to work with. They’re all on the same page. I’m pretty sure they understand the way to be successful as a team is to keep working hard.”

Valdez said she’s excited to see everyone perform at their best, including the freshman.

“Cameo has been working really hard this summer,” she said. “I saw Tess work in club (swimming) and her butterfly looks amazing. She’s almost close to (a) state (qualifying time) which I think she’ll get in the next few meets.”

The biggest test comes in the Mukilteo Invite at the King County Aquatic Center, home to the state meet, in Federal Way on Oct. 4.

“That’s going to be a real good measuring stick for how we might do at the end of the season,” Colby said.

“It’s our time to shine,” Valdez said. “We’ll see who our competitors are and who we’re swimming against at state.”

The next home meet for Bainbridge is Oct. 14 against Sequim.