No Oak Harbor High School swimmer qualified for the finals in the Washington state 4A championship meet last weekend at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.
The Wildcats sent three individual event qualifiers and two relay teams to the state meet.
The best finish by an Oak Harbor swimmer was Ciara Hu’s 17th place in the preliminaries in the 200-yard individual medley. The Wildcat sophomore swam a 2:16.07. The top 16 racers advanced to the finals.
Oak Harbor picked up two 18th places: Hu in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:0l.51 and the 200 freestyle relay team of sophomore Karina Concepcion, freshman Akasha Trisler, junior Tori Nickerson and freshman Laura Rosen in 1:46.18.
Rosen had the next best finish for Oak Harbor with a 19th in the 500 free in 5:28.8.
Rosen swam to 20th in the 200 individual medley in 2:17.12, and Trisler was 20th in the 100 backstroke in 1:04.14.
Trisler, Nickerson, Hu and Concepcion took 21st in the 200 medley relay in 1:59.62.
The state’s top 24 swimmers competed in each event.
Oak Harbor coach Erika Miller said, “I’m a little disappointed, but more for them. They gave 100 percent, but they didn’t make their best times.”
Miller said the girls were not happy with their performance but enjoyed the experience of going to state. All of the Oak Harbor entries are nonseniors, so all hope to return.
Miller added, “The important thing is I was able to take six girls to state, and they had a good time. It was a good way to cap off a good season.”
Miller said Hu’s two races were “solid” performances and that Trisler’s relay split was a personal best.
While Oak Harbor did not overwhelm at the state meet, it did complete an outstanding regular season. The Wildcats picked up thier first Western Conference North division title with a perfect 8-0 record and finished the regular season with a 13-0-1 record. The Wildcats also finished fourth in the district meet, Oak Harbor’s best place “in a long time” according to Miller.
With the six state swimmers returning and a couple of eighth graders moving up that will be “good assets,” Miller expects Oak Harbor to be strong for the next few seasons.
