FEDERAL WAY — The Port Angeles boys swim team placed two relay teams and an individual swimmer in the finals, finishing 16th overall as a team at the 2A state swim and dive championships this weekend at the King County Aquatic Center.
The Port Angeles 200-yard freestyle relay team of Kean McClain, Finn Thompson, Landon Close and Alex Che had the best showing of the meet, finishing seventh with a time of 1 minute, 35.48 seconds, beating Selah by 0.02 seconds and earning 24 team points.
The Roughriders’ 200 medley relay team of Blake Nahory, Aidan Butterworth, Close and Che finished 13th with a time of 1:50.40.
The Port Angeles 200 freestyle relay team finished seventh at the state swim and dive championships in Federal Way this weekend. From left are Landon Close, Finn Thompson, Alex Che and Keane McClain. (Courtesy photo)
Nahory also made the finals as an individual in the 100 backstroke, coming in 13th with a time of 59.63. Port Angeles finished with a total of 36 points. Pullman won the 2A championship with 286 points.
Sequim’s Colby Ellefson, who practiced and competed with Port Angeles, also secured 18 team points for the Wolves, helping his school finish 25th as the sole representative.
Ellefson finished eighth in the 500 freestyle in a time of 5:16.55. His preliminary time of 5:11.32 was a personal best, bettering his previous top time by more than 7 ½ seconds.
Ellefson also finished 10th in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:54.42.
“The boys had a successful weekend, and I’m proud of their performances. Congratulations to all the members of the state team for their hard work and dedication throughout the season,” said Port Angeles swim coach Sally Cole.
Cole said Che had incredible swims in the 50 and 100 freestyle, placing 19th in the 50 and 18th in the 100, just missing out on the finals. Close also had a solid swim in the 100 butterfly, coming in 20th.
