Mercer Island used its depth in the final three events last weekend to nudge runner-up Bainbridge Island by 22 points (340 to 318) to capture the Class 3A swimming and diving championship at King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

“It was a great meet and we’re pleased with our performances overall,” said Bainbridge coach Greg Colby. “We had 10 of our 12 (state qualifiers) swimming on the second day and everyone did a great job.”

Bainbridge had gone ahead 246 to 232 with three events remaining by placing second in the 200 free relay and dominating the 500-yard free event, which was won by Bainbridge’s Sarah Grundman.

The Spartans scored 52 points in the event with Geneva Levy placing fourth, Kay Sterner seventh and Mikel Ackerley 12th.

Each team won two events, but three-time defending champion Mercer Island overcame the Spartans by outscoring them 108-72 in the final three events – the 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke and 400-yard free relay without winning any of the three.

Mercer Island placed fourth, sixth and seventh (40 points) in the backstroke and third, fifth and 13th (34) in the breaststroke to win the team crown again. The Spartans totaled 40 points in those two events.

“If we had scored a few more here and there, like having four score points (instead of three) in the IM,  we might have made it closer,” Colby said. “But probably not enough to make a difference.”

Overall, the Spartans had four second-place finishes (Shayla Archer in the backstroke, Tess Harpur in the breaststroke and butterfly, and the 200 free relay), and finished third behind winner Hanford and runner-up Mercer Island in the 400 free relay.

The Spartans’ other win came on the first event of the day when the team of Archer, Harper, Anna Peirano and Julia Griffiths won the 200 medley relay.

Harpur also placed second in the 100 butterfly, and Levy also finished fourth in the 200 free event.

“Mostly it went to script, in that we did great in the finals and so did Mercer Island,” said Colby. “We knew their (Mercer Island) depth in the 100 back and breaststroke events could make a difference, and that’s what happened.”

With only Harpur and Cameo Hlebasko graduating, Colby was already thinking about his young team’s next year. “We have a lot returning and we’ve got a good group of freshman coming in,” he said.

But he had one more thing to say about this year’s team.

“The kids were not bummed with the result,” he said. “They knew we had been successful and were happy with their performance and the season.”

Team scores (top 10): 1. Mercer Island 340, 2. Bainbridge 318, 3. Hanford 195, 4. Bellevue 150, 5. Holy Names 135, 6. Shorewood 129, 7. Liberty (Renon) 114, Hazen 103, 9. Kennedy 98, 10. Southridge 90.

200 medley relay – 1. Bainbridge (Shayla Archer, Tess Harpur, Anna Peirano, Julia Griffiths) 1:49.16.

200 free – 1. M. Bottelberghe, Columbia River, 1:50.55. Bainbridge: 4. Geneva Levy, 1:55.93; 7. Kay Sterner, 1:59.08; 13. Mikel Ackerley, 2:01.43.

200 individual medley – 1. Grace Wold, Mercer Island, 2:02.50. Bainbridge: 4. Shayla Archer, 2:09.69; 7. Sarah Grundman 2:11.61; 11. Anna Peirano, 2:13.83.

50 free – 1. Anna Keane, Meadowdale, 23:50. Bain-bridge: 14. Julia Griffiths, 26.02.

Diving – 1. Paige Greely, Kennedy, 404.00. Bainbridge: 5. Shannon Engelbrecht, 344:85.

100 butterfly – 1. Grace Wold, Mercer Island, 55.08. Bainbridge: 2. Tess Harpur, 56.39; 5. Anna Peirano, 1:00.01.

100 free – Anna Keane, Mead-owdale, 50.62. Bain-bridge: 9. Cameo Hlebasko, 54.89.

500 free – 1. Sarah Grundman, Bainbridge, 5:04.25. Bainbridge: 4. Geneva Levy, 5:05.69; 7. Kay Sterner, 5:15.19; Mikel Ackerley,5:26.55.

200 free relay – 1. Hanford (Linnea Peacock, Stephanie Tixier, Melissa Merrill, Lisa Tixier). 1:38.46. 2. Bainbridge (Harpur, Peirano, Griffiths, Levy) 1:38.92.

100 backstroke – 1. Mackenn Briggs, Liberty, 58.62. Bainbridge: 2. Shayla Archer, 59.05; 11. Cameo Hlebasko, 1:01.75.

100 breaststroke – 1. Kim Williams, Bellevue, 1:03.97. Bainbridge: 2. Tess Harpur, 1:06.31.

400 free relay – 1. Hanford, 3:34.48. 3. Bainbridge (Levy, Hlebasko, Sterner, Grundman) 3:40.03.