Liberty HS Wins Washington 2A Champs; Freshman Eleanor Beers Impresses

2016 WASHINGTON GIRLS 2A STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Results
• Hosted by King County Aquatic Center
• November 11th-12th, 2016
• Short Course Yards

Liberty High School in Renton, WA pulled off the Washington Girls 2A State victory this weekend thanks much in part to depth across many events. Their star of the meet was junior Abby Russell, who picked up a win in the 200 IM, a runner-up finish in the 100 breast, and was part of two relays that scored major points. Russell split a 30.00 swimming breast on Liberty’s 200 medley relay, which touched 2nd overall, following that up with a 2:05.90 to take the 200 IM title. She then led off their victorious 200 free relay (25.03), which broke the 2A record, and finished her meet with a 1:05.48 in the 100 breast to touch 2nd behind Jaine Macias (1:05.13).

Meanwhile, the biggest swims of the meet came from North Kitsap’s Eleanor Beers. The freshman had an outstanding set of performances, posting two individual wins as well as providing two lights-out anchor splits on North Kitsap’s free relays. Beers flew to state titles in the 50 free (23.36) and 100 free (50.98), winning the former by almost a full second and the latter by nearly two seconds. She broke the 2A record in the 100 free by a single hundredth, the old record having lasted 10 years. On relays, Beers anchored the runner-up 200 free relay with a 22.91 and came to the rescue with a 50.69 anchor leg to lift North Kitsap above Liberty for the 400 free relay title.

Ellensburg’s Krista Wilson pulled off a mighty double, taking both the 200 free and 500 free. The 200 turned out to be a very tight race, with Wilson touching in first (1:54.06) over Columbia River’s Kara Noftsker (1:54.64) and Liberty’s Reegan Weber (1:54.82). In the 500, Wilson had a far smoother run, with her 5:06.40 proving to be almost six seconds ahead of the next-best competitor. Pullman’s Taylor McCoy had a strong meet as well– the senior touched 2nd in the 200 IM behind Abby Russell and surged to a big win in the 100 back (56.40).

FINAL TOP 5 TEAM SCORES:

1. Liberty High School, 322
2. Port Angeles, 260
3. Anacortes, 185
4. North Kitsap, 158
5. Pullman, 155