No matter how many times Skyline first-year head swim coach Susan Simpkins saw the evidence, she still couldn’t believe it.
“I had the trophies at my house all weekend long, every time I walked by them I was like ‘Wow,'” she said.
The Skyline swim team wowed everyone Saturday at the 4A state swimming championships at King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way, claiming its first ever team state championship.
The Spartans earned 234 team points, finishing ahead of Garfield’s 176. Thomas Jefferson was third with 140 points, and Issaquah finished fourth with 131.
Skyline, which had a competitor in all but two events, was helped by seven top-five finishes.
Senior All-American Andie Taylor paved the way with two individual championships, giving her a total of seven state titles for her career. Taylor broke her own state record in the 200 freestyle, finishing in 1 minute, 46.09 seconds. She also took first in the 500 freestyle, swimming to the second fastest time in state history at 4:45.47.
Simpkins, who is in her first year as head coach, but was an assistant the last seven seasons, said watching Taylor compete has been incredible.
“Every year she’s gotten better,” she said. “She makes it look so easy. It’s a pleasure to watch her because she does it right.”
Taylor also pushed the Spartans to their first ever state relay titles, anchoring them to first in the 200 free relay and the 400 free relay. The 200 relay of junior Nina Zook, sophomore Meghan O’Keefe, freshman Maria Volodkevich, and Taylor finished in 1:38.71. The same group of swimmers finished at 3:33.85 in the 400 free.
“The times were incredible,” Simpkins said. “Every single one of those girls’ splits were so fast.”
Volodkevich, who made it her goal at the beginning of the season to win a state title in the 100 breaststroke, reached her goal in exciting fashion. Her time of 1:04.25 edged Redmond’s Heather Harper by just two-hundreths of a second.
“When Maria looked up and saw that she was first, the look on her face was just fabulous,” Simpkins said.
Volodkevich also earned a fifth place finish in the 200 IM (2:07.76), while O’Keefe was fourth in the 100 butterfly (57.95).
Issaquah grabs fourth
While Issaquah didn’t have any champions, the Eagles had plenty of strong performances.
Issaquah earned two second-place finishes, one in the 200 medley relay and another from senior Helen Liu in the 50 free.
The relay of freshman Stacy Maier, freshman Kayla Flaten, junior Marit Borth and Liu finished just two-tenths of a second behind Garfield for first in a time of 1:49.79. Liu’s time of 24.26 was narrowly behind Thomas Jefferson’s Amber Cratsenberg (23.87). Flaten finished third in the 100 free in 52.80 seconds, and Liu took seventh in the 100 butterfly in 58.80 seconds.
Eastlake’s Kinnear swims to two titles
Eastlake sophomore Katie Kinnear continue to impress the the state level. She defended her title in the 100 butterfly, earning a new state record of 53.10 seconds. The mark beat a record set in 2001 by Lindsey Marchand of Peninsula. Kinnear was also a state champion in the 200 individual medley, finishing first in 2:02.53.
The Wolves’ 200 free relay of freshman Laurel Schy, sophomore Becca Fabian, and sophomore Kara Beauchamp finished second behind Skyline in a time of 1:39.98.
Eastlake finished 11th overall with 90 team points.
