KINGSTON — The Port Angeles boys swim and dive team closed out its regular-season road schedule with a convincing 128-49 win over Kingston on Wednesday, winning 10-of-12 events and continuing to build momentum heading into the postseason.
The Roughriders added one new district qualifying time and turned in 16 personal best swims in a strong all-around team performance, according to head coach Sally Cole.
Port Angeles set the tone early in the 200-yard medley relay, finishing first and second.
The A relay of Thomas Jones, Edward Gillespie, Miles Van Denburg and Patrick Ross cruised to the win by 10 seconds. The B relay of Jensen Wolfe, Jebow Nabua, Cliff Hales and Caige Lovell-Kamatsu battled back after trailing by three seconds following the backstroke leg. Nabua’s breaststroke put PA in front, and the team held on to beat Kingston by 1.32 seconds.
Van Denburg continued his strong meet in the 200 freestyle, taking first place.
Wolfe followed in second with a personal best time of 2:13.23, three seconds ahead of the Kingston swimmer, while Justin McLarty added points in fourth with a one-second personal best 2:19.53.
In the 200 individual medley, Kingston claimed the top spot, but Port Angeles responded with strong swims from Hales and Charlie Kasten. Hales finished second with a seven-second personal best time of 2:30.84, while Kasten placed fourth with another best swim of 2:36.32, a second faster than last week.
Adam Kaminski picked up a win in the 50 freestyle, while Nabua narrowly missed second despite swimming a personal best, 26.69.
The Riders’ divers delivered another big night on the board, led by Liam Sholinder’s first-place finish with 140.5 points. His top dive, a forward one somersault with two twists, earned 31.05 points. Jack Root was right behind in second with 134.9 points.
Divers stepping it up
“With the postseason in sight, the bar is getting higher,” head coach Sally Cole said. “Jack and Liam are stepping up to the board with confidence, taking on higher-level dives, throwing clean doubles, and proving they are ready to elevate their performance when it counts.”
Van Denburg added another win in the 100 butterfly, with Ross placing second as the pair beat Kingston by five seconds. Lovell-Kamatsu placed fourth with a personal best time,1:09.74, just .14 seconds shy of a district qualifying time.
Port Angeles recorded its first sweep of the night in the 100 freestyle, led by Kaminski. Gillespie took second, and Meek finished third with a personal best of 57.18, earning a new district qualifying time.
Jones controlled the 500 freestyle, taking first, while Wolfe placed second and broke the six-minute mark for the first time with a personal best of 5:56.80.
The Riders won the 200 freestyle relay as Ross, Gillespie, Van Denburg and Jones touched first, finishing five seconds ahead of Kingston.
Another sweep followed in the 100 backstroke, with Meek leading the way with a personal best, 1:06.58 a strong four-second drop from his previous best. Hales finished second, and Lovell-Kamatsu took third.
The 100 breaststroke produced one of the closest races of the night. Nabua trailed by a second at the halfway mark but steadily closed the gap. The race came down to the final stretch, where Nabua surged ahead to out touch the Kingston swimmer by 0.2 seconds, dropping time from just four days earlier (1:08.97).
Port Angeles closed the meet with a strong showing in the 400 freestyle relay. The team of Meek, Ross, Jones and Gillespie trailed early but chipped away at the 7-second deficit each leg before coming up just short, finishing a half second behind Kingston.
“Next week is a bittersweet meet as we celebrate and say goodbye to our seniors,” said Cole. “I’m looking forward to more strong swims next week and getting more district times. I want them to see what hard work can accomplish.”
Port Angeles will return home Wednesday to host Bremerton in its final meet of the regular season at 3:30 p.m. at the Shore Aquatic Center.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at sports@peninsuladaily news.com.
