As the regular season wrapped up, Tahoma and Kentlake’s boys swim coaches had much to be proud of heading into postseason meets.
Kati Stanford is in her second year with the Bears and has seen sophomore Stephen Shin qualify for the state meet for the second time while sophomore diver Ben Price has achieved his goal of earning a spot at state, too.
Shin earned his spot in the 100 butterfly in the first meet of the regular season whereas last year he got in at the district meet, his last possible opportunity.
Add to that the team’s 5-3 record in a tough South Puget Sound League North Division which features Mount Rainier and Kentridge as well as Kentlake, which practices at the same pool, and Stanford is pleased with the progress Tahoma has made from last season to this one as well as from the start of this year up to this point.
“It’s been a great season,” Stanford said. “The boys have really come together and worked hard.”
The 200 yard medley relay team set a school record, she explained, and Stanford hopes the team will break it again before the end of the post-season.
Last weekend at the league non-qualifier meet, Carsen Dean and Matt Milburn qualified for this weekend’s SPSL meet, as well as diver Connor Cawthorn.
Divers Steven Griffith and Justin Tracy are also qualified for the district meet next weekend.
Stanford said she feels good about league, noting that heading in the meet “we have three strong relays,” as well as a number of strong individual swimmers like Shin, Mitch Halbert, Michael Cox, Cort Hammond and Carter Stoddard.
Stanford attributes much of the team’s success to the addition of assistant coach Sam King, a new position for the team this year, saying that allowed them to provide more directed coaching for individuals.
“It’s been a blast through the season,” she said. “It’s been a very memorable season.”
Kentlake’s first year head coach Seth Dawson said he has also seen significant improvement during the season with his team, as well.
And while it took some time to for his team to shake out so Dawson could see who his core group of swimmers would be, it seems to have worked out, as the Falcons finished 5-3 in the SPSL.
Kentlake’s 200 free relay set a school record this season in the last dual meet against Auburn.
Christian Knobloch set a school record in the 100 free and Dawson hopes he can shave more time off that before the district and state meets.
“I feel like our top end is real strong, our relays, and we’ve got four or five guys that are pretty solid that will be in the final heats,” Dawson said. “The other guys, like I said, are improving, they’re getting better every day… they’re the ones I’ll be looking to step up.”
He is encouraging his swimmers to race hard and he wants to see them win heats rather than worry about times.
Dawson said he’s enjoyed working with the Kentlake swimmers.
“Overall I was pretty happy with (the season), it was a learning experience for me just getting to know the guys,” he said. “They’re dedicated people but they’re really great to be around because they’re interested in a lot of different things… the good side of that is they’re well rounded. You always like to see kids who are involved… because it helps them later on.”
Reach Kris Hill at khill@maplevalleyreporter.com or 425-432-1209 ext. 5054.
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