Mercer Island second at KingCo championships | Prep boys swim and dive

By Joseph Livarchik • February 5, 2017 12:51 am
Mercer Island’s Killian Riley competes in the 200 IM at the KingCo championships Saturday at Kamiak High School. Riley won the event with a time of 2:00.69 (Joe Livarchik/staff photo).
Mercer Island’s Killian Riley competes in the 200 IM at the KingCo championships Saturday at Kamiak High School. Riley won the event with a time of 2:00.69 (Joe Livarchik/staff photo).

The Mercer Island boys swim and dive team finished runner-up at the KingCo championships, which wrapped its final day of competition Saturday afternoon at Kamiak High School.

Competing against 16 teams spanning the 2A, 3A and 4A classes, the Islanders finished with a team score of 514. The two-time defending 3A state champion Bellevue Wolverines won the meet with a top score of 583. Issaquah was third, scoring 460 points, and Skyline placed fourth with 459.

Mercer Island coach Evan Moline said he saw a lot of great swims from his team on Saturday. He added he enjoyed seeing his squad go up against the teams from different classifications, as it posed a new challenge for his swimmers.

“A lot of these teams bring a lot of depth and a lot of fast swims, and that brings out the best from a lot of our guys, which is exactly what I’m looking for,” Moline said. “Having the chances for those guys to compete against new people or compete against people that they’re good friends with or train with is definitely great. It brought out a lot from them today.”

Mercer Island had KingCo-best swims in two individual events. Killian Riley won the 200 IM at 2:00.69, edging Newport’s Martin Wu by nine-hundredths of a second.

Oliver Hoff won the 100 back with a finals time of 54.31. Hoff beat out Bellevue’s Thomas Eggenberger in the event by two-tenths of a second.

Joseph Li was a runner-up for the Islanders in the 50 free, posting a state-qualifying time of 21.96. Carson Coe finished seventh in the event, also posting a state cut of 22.29.

Two Islanders placed in the top 10 of the diving event. Ben Dixon was second with a score of 409.4 and Gabriel Neale was third at 358.05. Bothell’s Jeffrey Goong topped all competitors with a diving score of 451.

James Richardson posted state-qualifying times in two events, placing fifth in the 200 free (1:47.78) and seventh in the 500 free (4:55.86).

Mercer Island placed fourth in the 200 freestyle relay, with the team of Evan Hill, Christopher Shin, Riley and Li finishing in 1:29.58.

Hoff was fifth in the 200 IM (2:05.23), while Riley was fifth in the 100 breast (1:02.52). Kyle Bailey was eighth in the 200 free (1:49.78) and Nate Robinson placed eighth in the 200 IM (2:04.31).

Islanders co-league champs

Mercer Island was named KingCo 2A/3A conference co-champions along with the Bellevue Wolverines at Saturday’s meet.

Both Mercer Island and Bellevue finished the regular season with 6-1 league records. The Wolverines defeated the Islanders 104-81 in their Jan. 26 dual meet at Mary Wayte Pool. Liberty High defeated Bellevue 100-83 on Dec. 13, also at Mary Wayte Pool.

Mercer Island’s James Richardson competes in the 500 free at the KingCo championships. Richardson placed seventh overall with a time of 4:55.86 (Joe Livarchik/staff photo).

Mercer Island’s James Richardson competes in the 500 free at the KingCo championships. Richardson placed seventh overall with a time of 4:55.86 (Joe Livarchik/staff photo).

Mercer Island’s Oliver Hoff competes in the 100 back at the KingCo championships. Hoff won the event with a time of 54.31 (Joe Livarchik/staff photo).

Mercer Island’s Oliver Hoff competes in the 100 back at the KingCo championships. Hoff won the event with a time of 54.31 (Joe Livarchik/staff photo).