Lily Boyle and Preita Sanders each took home a South Puget Sound League title, and the Olympia girls swim and dive team finished in second place at the SPSL Championships this weekend at Rogers Aquatic Center.
Boyle, a junior, narrowly defeated South Kitsap’s Harper Vance to win the 100-yard butterfly with a personal-best time of 1 minute, 3.57 seconds. Immediately following her victory, Sanders, a sophomore, triumphed in the 100-yard freestyle at 54.91 seconds, a personal record that was about half a second away from clinching a state bid.
Olympia took second in all three relays, as the 200-yard medley relay team finished as the runner-up behind Curtis at a new best time of 1:55.12. The Bears improved their time in the 400-yard freestyle relay at 3:50.38, and their 200-yard freestyle relay finished in 1:47.52.
Freshman Priya Sanders earned second place in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:17.41, one spot before Boyle at 2:25.78. She was also the runner-up in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:01.39, nearly four seconds faster than her seed time. Preita earned fourth in the 100 backstroke at 1:04.80.
Senior Nastasia Moniodis finished second in the 50-yard freestyle thanks to a new PR at 26.25 seconds, and sophomore Aila Swanson notched third place at 26.44 seconds. Junior Paulina Mueller was third at 27.31 seconds, enough to qualify for districts.
Moniodis also ranked fourth in the league in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 58.52 seconds.
Senior Isabella DiBenedetto-Campos and junior Madison Mack had their best diving performances of the season en route to sixth- and seventh-place finishes, respectively. DiBenedetto-Campos’ final score was 190, and Mack scored a 161.80. They both qualified for districts in just their second year of diving.
Sophomore Olivia Smith took third in the 100-yard butterfly behind Boyle and Vance at 1:06.87.
Swanson, fourth place at 1:13.33, was Olympia’s top swimmer in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Sophomore Amulya Keitheri Cheteri took eighth in the 200-yard freestyle at 2:15.41, a time that qualified her for districts. Senior Normandy Carter’s PR time in the 500-yard freestyle at 6:05.62 was a district qualifier and a ninth-place swim. Senior Campbell Patterson also punched her ticket to districts in the 500 free at 6:10.49 for 11th place.
Olympia scored a total of 273 points compared to champion Curtis’ 382 points.
“We had lots of lifetime bests, and the team looks really good heading into the district championship next week,” Olympia head coach Henry Valz said.
