All of the North Thurston girls swimming team’s relay squads have now qualified for the district meet after its 400-yard freestyle relay team punched its ticket with a second-place finish against Central Kitsap at Olympic High School Thursday afternoon.
Chelsea Watson, Luna Kresha, Kai Cardwell and Michelle Ewig finished the race in 4 minutes, 50.15 seconds, in one of several highlights for the Rams in a 91-68 loss to Central Kitsap.
Junior Lilli Brandes won the 100-yard butterfly in 1:52.26 after her competitor was disqualified. Senior June Booth took first in the 500-yard freestyle, narrowly defeating teammate Aspen Bermensolo by a quarter of a second. Booth swam a time of 7:21.42, while Bermensolo finished in 7:21.67. Both swimmers qualified for the league meet.
“The pool really erupted for this race,” North Thurston head coach Christy Bermensolo said. “Central Kitsap swimmers Claire Hoyner and Haley Paulson took it out fast while June and Aspen paced the race and kept them in view. June reeled the leader in and led the rest of the way. It was a really exciting finish.”
The Rams’ 200-yard medley relay team of Kresha, Cardwell, Ewig and Watson earned their best time in a second-place finish at 2:21.58.
Booth took second in the 200-yard freestyle at 2:40.85, her best time this season, while Aspen Bermensolo set a lifetime best at 2:43.42 to finish third.
Kresha finished as the runner-up in the 200-yard individual medley at 3:05.00. Sophomore Ruth Cheney and junior Halana Tanabe competed in the event for the first time, placing third and fourth, respectively.
Ewig was less than a quarter of a second away from winning the 50-yard freestyle but settled for a new lifetime-best time of 27.32 seconds to place second.
Cardwell’s best time of 1:09.87 in the 100-yard freestyle was enough to finish second and qualify for the league meet. She also punched a ticket to leagues in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing third at 1:34.88 behind Ewig’s second-place finish of 1:22.45.
“I’m really happy with how our veteran swimmers pushed hard and raced to the end,” Christy Bermensolo said. “We had a number of close races and fought hard on every one. Our first-year swimmers continue improving as their skills develop, which bodes well for the future of our program."
North Thurston will return to action Thursday, Sept. 24 at Gig Harbor.
