Kitsap swimmers do well at state

By Nicholas Zeller-Singh Kitsap News Group • November 15, 2022 1:30 am

Bainbridge High School sent 12 swimmers to state Nov. 12 and came home with nine podium finishes, placing third in the team standings in Division 3A.

Sophomore Sophie Sergerson was a main reason, scoring 107 of the team’s 218 points in her four events at the WIAA Girls State Swim and Dive Championships at Federal Way. Mercer Island finished first with 385 points and Bellevue finished second with 242 points.

One of the events was Bainbridge’s lone gold medal in the 200-yard medley relay where the Spartans beat Mercer Island by .04 seconds. Kathryn Houseman began the race with a backstroke, Sergerson did butterfly, Sara Kriegh did the breaststroke and Emma Solsen anchored with freestyle.

Sergerson also earned a bronze medal in the 200-yard individual medley and a silver medal in the 200-yard freestyle relay with Solseng, Houseman and Uma Pal.

Spartan Sammy Sergerson had a strong outing with a sixth-place finish in the 200 freestyle while Solseng finished fifth in the 100-yard backstroke and seventh in the 50 freestyle too.

Central Kitsap’s squad finished seventh with 92 points. Their points came from all three relay events. Haley Borja, Aziza Meyer, Ava Day and Leah Howell finished third in the 200 free relay and sixth in the 200 medley relay. Nadine Dockendorf filled in for Meyer in the 400 free relay as the Cougars finished 14th in that event.

In the 1A/2A meet, North Kitsap came atop the Kitsap County schools with an eighth-place finish.

The Vikings scored several of their points in the consolation finals. Caylie Slama helped the Vikings as the anchor of the ninth-place 200 medley relay squad. She was also 10th in the 200 free.

Tiffany Le sparked the Vikings on the back end of the meet. She led the Vikings 200 free squad to a sixth-place finish. Plus, Le finished seventh in the 100 backstroke and anchored the 400 free team to fifth place.

Klahowya finished 14th in the meet with two swimmers. Loren Swaney placed second in the 200 free and fourth in the 400 free. Caley Haydu finished seventh in both the 50- and 100-freestyle races.

Bremerton’s Gabbi Patti was the top swimmer in Kitsap County at this level of the state meet with 37 points. She won the 100 free and finished second in the 100 backstroke.

Kingston rounded out this division with only one swimmer reaching the finals. Lilia Manges placed 11th in the 50 free and eighth in the 100 free.

Lastly, South Kitsap finished 27th in the 4A division. The Wolves earned all of their nine points from Nina Mertz’s ninth-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly.