FEDERAL WAY -- Hanford capped an amazing season with 140 team points and a fifth-place finish in 3A state swimming finals Saturday at King County Aquatics Center.
"Best finish ever by Hanford," said Hanford/Richland coach Kathy Piper.
The Falcons' second-place finish in the 200 free relay (1:39.07) provided the biggest highlight. It was the 13th fastest time in 3A state history and will be considered for All-American inclusion.
The 200 free relay lineup of junior Christine Tixier, freshman Stephanie Tixier and sophomores Melissa Merrill and Taylor Burnight also placed fourth in the 200 medley relay (1:53.78).
Event winner Juanita's 1:37.77 time erased the previous state record of 1:37.95 set in 1999 by Bellevue.
Falcons junior Kristen Bennett placed fifth in the 200 IM (2:11.56) and was second in the 500 free (5:05.53). Christine Tixier finished fifth in the 100 fly (59.60) and and sixth in the 100 breast (1:09.67) events.
Prosser junior Mackenzie Gant and freshman Hailey Rankin set new school records as the Mustangs placed eighth overall at the 2A championships.
The 200 medley relay team of senior Hanna Rankin, Hailey Rankin, Gant and senior McKenna Musselwhite placed fourth with a time of 2:00.64.
"I'm proud of what the girls did," Mustangs coach Rhonda Baker said. "With only four girls swimming, it was pretty good. They did a great job."
In 4A finals, Richland's Nicole Weinman placed 13th in the 500 free with a 5:16.40 finish -- "A new best-time for her," Piper said -- and Mackenzie Ruby placed 15th in the 100 back (1:02.07).
And Southridge earned points in diving thanks to seniors Katie Smoot (8th, 322.70) and Mikaela Niles (13th, 305.55).
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FEDERAL WAY -- Lisa Bratton turned on the jets in a big way Friday.
Now, the Richland sophomore sits in prime position for hardware today at the state swimming and diving championships in Federal Way.
Bratton entered the Class 4A 200-yard individual medley preliminaries as the No. 1 seed and didn't budge from the top spot. She slashed to an All-America consideration time of 2 minutes, 5.54 seconds, 35 hundredths of a second faster than her qualifying time.
Hanford's Merrill shines among Twilight swimmers
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RICHLAND -- Under the lights at George Prout Pool, several state-qualifying times were recorded during the Richland Twilight Jamboree.
Hanford senior Melissa Merrill clocked in at 25.40 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle. She also competed in the 400 freestyle relay (3 minutes, 43.99 seconds) and 200 medley relay (1:57.90).
Merrill, junior Stephanie Tixier and sophomore Lisa Tixier were on Hanford's 400 free and 200 medley relay teams. They were joined by Mylie Oberg in the 400 free and sophomore Taylor Fievez in the 200 medley.
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The six-time state champion, bound for San Diego State next year, not only has the times to back up her talent, but tremendous heart.
"When she did her (letter of intent) signing the other day, I said during my speech that she's an All-American athlete, she's a 4.0 valedictorian of her class, but she's an All-American human being," said Tony St. Onge, who has coached Ruiz as part of a co-op agreement with Moses Lake. "She's got great character. I'd call her a humble champion, which are the greatest champions. She's considerate of others. She's respectful. I'm confident that San Diego's thrilled to have her."
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Richland eke out swim win over Hanford
Richland eke out swim win over Hanford
RICHLAND -- The Richland and Hanford girls swimming teams pulled off a rare first-place tie at last weekend's Mukilteo Invitational in Federal Way.
Though it was close, there was only one winner Saturday at the Tri-City Championships at Serier Pool in Kennewick.
With 339 points, the Bombers seized the trophy from the two-time defending champion Falcons, who had 331.
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