The North Thurston girls swim team was without seven girls due to illness and a band event Thursday afternoon at Gig Harbor, but the Rams were still able to generate success in the pool.
Michelle Ewig won the 100-yard breaststroke and collected a personal record of 1 minute, 21.29 seconds, and she was seventh-hundredths of a second away from a win in the 100-yard freestyle. She still beat her 100 free time by more than two seconds and qualified for the district meet in the event.
Ruth Cheney improved her lifetime best in the 200-yard individual medley by about seven seconds at 3:24.46 to finish in fourth place. North Thurston saw six 50-yard freestyle PRs, including Kai Cardwell in fourth at 30.56 seconds, Kailey Hudman in fifth at 37.27 seconds, and Sue Berei at 39.99 seconds in sixth.
Chelsea Watson narrowly set a PR in the 100-yard freestyle by less than half a second at 1:12.43 to take sixth.
Luna Kresha finished in third in both the 200-yard freestyle (2:47.55) and the 100-yard backstroke (1:23.19). The Rams’ 200-yard freestyle relay team took third at 2:03.84.
Gig Harbor won the meet 136-35.
“Tonight wasn’t about the scoreboard. Our swimmers put up season-best times against a tough field, and that’s the type of Rams character we’re always building within our team,” North Thurston head coach Christy Bermensolo said.
North Thurston will return home to face Silas on Tuesday, Sept. 29.
