Sequim-mers splash past Knights

A loss is still a loss but it can also be a sign of progress.

Falling 101-83 to Sequim Tuesday evening, the Bremerton High School girls’ swim team got to look at a measuring stick.

“The score is a lot better than it has been in the past,” said Knights coach Peter Tonder. “We’re still in a building mode but getting good kids out there striving to do their best. That’s all that you can really ask for out of anyone is personal bests and we’re getting that.”

The Knights had to wait for their chance to see how they stacked up this year against the Wolves, a team they have swum against all but one year since the program was revived in 2002 after a hiatus of nearly a decade. A Sequim swimmer became ill on the bus ride down the peninsula and had to return to get the girl home, delaying the meet by a little more than an hour.

Once underway, things looked very well for the Knights after the first four events. The score was knotted up at 31-31 and Bremerton’s Kelsey Wastel had won the 200-meter freestyle in 2:19.11. Chelsey Wheeler took second with a time of 2:32.1 and Veronica Hurm placed fourth with a 2:52.6 in the Knights’ most dominant event of the meet.

Having just one diver, Teija Mortvedt, to Sequim’s three helped the Wolves begin to pull away for good.

Improvement was the name of the game for the Knights however as Tonder noticed particularly strong performances from a couple of the girls.

“Amanda Benson dropped quite a bit of time,” Tonder said. “Adriane Banks had the best meet, she had a good split on the 200 freestyle relay.”

Molly Tonder performed well for the Knights, too, winning the 500 freestyle in 5:59.96 and coming in second n the 50 free at 28.46 seconds.

Bremerton also managed to finish off the meet on a good note claiming first place in the 400 freestyle relay behind a 4:42.88 performance from Wheeler, Wastel, Tonder and Vanette Vargas, nearly 16 seconds faster than the Sequim team. The foursome has been strong all season long, claiming an easy victory against Olympic more than a week ago.

Nothing came easily for the Knights in their previous swim against Gig Harbor. The aptly named Tides swept over Bremerton with ease Sept. 22. The loss snapped a two-meet win streak as two days earlier, the Knights had defeated Bay Division foe Lincoln in Tacoma.

Bremerton traveled to Port Angeles Thursday afternoon to dive back into Bridge Division swimming and take a shot at moving to 2-1 in league. Results from that contest were unavailable at press time. The Knights will be home at 3 p.m. Thursday in the Glenn Jarstad Aquatic Center to match up with the North Kitsap Vikings.

Girls soccer

Bremerton has already doubled its Bridge Division win total from a year ago and quadrupled it overall

Comment on this story.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.