RENTON — Port Angeles’ Jaine Macias set a meet record and Port Townsend went from rags to state riches at the District 2/3 girls swimming and diving championships at Hazen High School.
Macias, a junior, took first and broke the district meet record in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1 minute, 6.80 seconds in Saturday’s finals. That time also is a new Port Angeles girls swimming record.
Macias also won a district title in the 100 butterfly with a time of 59.73 seconds.
Carter Juskevich won another district championship for the Riders by taking first in the 200 freestyle (59.73).
Jukevich placed second to Macias in the 100 breast. Her time of 1:07.21 also is better than the previous record holder in the event, Fife’s Meredith Sawyer, who swam a 1:07.54 last year.
Macias and Juskevich led Port Angeles to its second consecutive runner-up finish at the district meet. Liberty again beat out the Riders in team points 286-214. Port Townsend was eighth overall with 74 points, and Sequim was 15th with six points.
Port Angeles entered the meet with many swimmers who had earned state qualifying times, but the team added three more entries over the weekend: Sierra Hunter, who finished fourth in the 200 individual medley and third in the 500 free, and Erin Edwards who took sixth in the 500 free.
The top six placers earned state allocations.
The Riders also had two divers earn state allocations: Cassii Middlestead took fifth in the 1-meter dive and Sydney Miner was sixth.
Juskevich and Macias teamed up with Hunter and Taylor Beebe to give Port Angeles second-place finishes in the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay.
The Riders have three other state qualifiers.
Beebe qualified individually in the 100 free and 400 free, and Ashlee Seelye, Kylee Reid, Sarah Tiemersma and Erin Edwards in the 400 free relay.
Port Angeles had many other swimmers and divers make the district finals, including Edwards, Seelye and Tiemersma in the 200 free; Kylee Reid in the 200 individual medley and 500 free; and Lum Fu in the 1-meter dive.
Seelye and Tiemersma also made districts in the 100 free but did not advance past the preliminaries.
Other Riders eliminated in the preliminaries were Fu and Jayden Sparkhawk (100 butterfly), Gennie Litle and Kiara Amundson (100 back), Makena Merideth (200 I.M.) and Leah Burwell (100 breast).
Redhawks qualify five
Port Townsend entered districts with no state berths locked up and no swimmers ranked in the top six.
The prospects looked dim, but the Redhawks managed five top-six swims, including four state-qualifying times. They also broke four school records.
Chloe Rogers advanced to state in two individual events and two relays.
She placed third in the 50 free and fourth 100 free, setting a school record in the latter.
She also swam with the school-record-setting 200 medley relay along with Corinne Pierson, Camille Ottaway and Ismay Gale. They took sixth at districts.
Rogers, Gale, Pierson and Emily Harrenstein placed sixth in the 400 free relay.
Pierson also qualified for state individually and set a school record in the 100 back.
Pierson also set a school record in the 100 butterfly. Port Townsend coach Peter Braden hopes she will receive a wildcard berth to state in the event. (Update — She did. See box to right.)
