MIHS girls swim and dive squad takes first at 3A state meet

By Andy Nystrom • November 17, 2024 11:30 am
Mercer Island High School’s 3A state championship girls swim and dive team. Courtesy photo
Mercer Island High School’s 3A state championship girls swim and dive team. Courtesy photo

It was a record-setting day as the Mercer Island High School (MIHS) girls swimmers and divers splashed to success at the 3A state meet.

MIHS snagged its third consecutive team championship with a 381-point total and Alexa McDevitt won the 200 free (1:46.71), 500 free (4:52.91) and swam on the triumphant 200 free relay (1:35.24) on Nov. 16 at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

Islander swimmers set seven school records, including McDevitt in the 200 free (also a 3A state meet record) and 500 free and the 200 free relay, which consisted of McDevitt, Tatum Enge, Hope Enge and Meg Dahlin. All three state title times are Automatic High School All-American marks.

Also setting school records were the 200 medley relay (Clare Watson, Gracyn Kehoe, Tatum Enge and Hope Enge) with a third-place time of 1:42.97; Watson in the 100 fly with a second-place time of 52.90; Watson in the 100 back with a third-place time of 54.99; and the 400 free relay (McDevitt, Dahlin, Kehoe and Watson) with a second-place time of 3:22.55.

Additional Automatic High School All-American times were registered by the 200 medley and 400 free relays, Watson in the 100 fly and Kehoe in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.30, second place) and 200 individual medley (2:01.38, third place).

McDevitt, who was the entire meet’s only double-event winner, is proud of her team and its efforts all season.

“Our win at state was a culmination of hard work and dedication from the entire team every practice for the last 10 weeks. Coach Chauntelle (Johnson) does such an amazing job preparing us, and I think the team’s hard work really showed yesterday. This team is something special and I feel so fortunate to have been a part of it,” she said.

Johnson also spoke of her pride for the MIHS squad, which sent 16 athletes to the state meet.

“We have worked as a unit the entire season — which was evident by how many athletes competed for us at the state meet,” she added. “This was a very fast meet and had more All-American swims than any state meet I have ever seen. A team win in this environment is impressive and would put us in the category as one of the best teams in (the) MIHS program and WIAA state history.”