Skyline swimmers remain undefeated, down rival Eastlake

The unstoppable force that is the Skyline swim team, continued its dominance Tuesday afternoon against Plateau rival Eastlake. The Spartans improved their dual record to 6-0 beating the Wolves 117-69 at Boehm Pool.

The unstoppable force that is the Skyline swim team, continued its dominance Tuesday afternoon against Plateau rival Eastlake.

The Spartans improved their dual record to 6-0 beating the Wolves 117-69 at Boehm Pool.

“We did pretty well today,” Skyline head coach Susan Simpkins said, noting the team earned three new state times, and eight new district times.

The Spartans claimed seven first-place finishes out of the 12 events with All-American swimmer Andie Taylor leading the way. The senior earned a new state mark in the 100 freestyle at 53.55 seconds. She also won the 200 IM with a state-qualifying mark of 2 minutes, 5.82 seconds. Taylor also acted as the third leg of the winning 200 medley relay team. The group of Meghan O’Keefe, Maria Volodkevich and Nina Zook finished first with a time of 1:56.87.

O’Keefe also finished first in the 500 free with a new state mark of 5:13.03, while freshman Sarah Elderkin finished first in the 100 backstroke with a new state mark of 1:02.03.

“She’s been working on that all season so it was great to finally see her get it,” Simpkins said.

Skyline also grabbed first in the 200 free relay. The team consisting of Volodkevich, Zook, O’Keefe and Marissa Bennett finished in 1:46.12. Volodkevich also took first in the 50 free with a district time of 25.78.

Eastlake had five first-place finishes, with sophomore Katie Kinnear earning two, while anchoring a relay team to another.

Kinnear earned a state-qualifying mark in the 200 free at 1:56.75, won the 100 butterfly in a state time of 57.71 and anchored the 400 free relay to a time of 4:00.93.

“It’s probably my best meet of the season so far,” Kinnear said.

Head coach Andy Hay agreed.

“I completely expected her to have one of her better performances of the year just because of a couple of reasons,” he said. “This is her home pool. She practices here more than any other pool than she swims in, and then so many of these Skyline athletes are also teammates of her elsewhere, so I think that creates an atmosphere that is conducive of people digging deep a lot more than normal at this point in the season.”

Eastlake, which fell to 2-3 in dual meets also earned first-place finishes from Mackenzie Rands in 1-meter diving. She edged out Skyline’s Kelsey Kosenkranius (210.85) with a score of 226.20. Kara Beauchamp also finished first in the 100 breaststroke with a district-qualifying mark of 1:11.59.

Skyline, which faced off against Issaquah on Thursday, wraps up its dual season Friday, Oct. 16 against Garfield at Medger Evers Pool. Simpkins said an undefeated season would be great, but the final two opponents can’t be overlooked.

“We don’t take anything for granted,” she said.

Eastlake has three more meets, facing off against Garfield today at 3:30 p.m. at Medger Evers Pool. The Wolves then face Interlake, before wrapping up their dual season Tuesday, Oct. 20 against Sammamish at Redmond Pool.

“This year’s a little bit different story,” Hay said. “We have gone after dual meets a little bit more, but the focus remains how well can we perform and KingCo, districts and state.”

The KingCo championships begin Oct. 29., with state set for Nov. 12 in Federal Way.