Bobcats sink Capital in swimming

If Aberdeen’s swimmers had any fear of the unknown, they handled it masterfully on Wednesday.

Joseph Bowley, Colton Sundstrom and Dillon Rowe won two individual events apiece as the Bobcats swamped Capital, 98-78, in a boys swim meet at the YMCA of Grays Harbor.

New to the 2A classification this season, Capital entered the meet as the ultimate unknown quantity. The Cougars hadn’t entered a full crew in the Aberdeen Relays late last month and did not even submit seeding times for this meet.

As it developed, Capital had plenty of depth (enough, in fact, that six heats of the 100-yard freestyle were staged) but was unable to match Aberdeen’s first-place punch. The Bobcats (2-0) won 9 of the 12 events, most by decisive margins.

Aberdeen coach Keith Lile was also heartened by his team’s ability to register second through fourth-place points in a meet that seemed closer than the final score indicated.

“If (the other team) fills second through fourth and you finish first and fifth, you lose,” Lile said. “All of those places were important and I thought these kids swam with the intensity they’d been saving.”

Bowley met state-qualifying standards in the 100-yard butterfly with a winning time of 57.39. He also won the 200-yard individual medley by some 21 seconds at 2:09.29.

Sundstrom blasted away the competition in the 100 and 200-yard freestyles, narrowly missing a state berth in the former event with a time of 51.96.

Last off the blocks, Rowe recovered quickly to take the 50 free with a personal-best clocking of 23.52. The Aberdeen senior and Capital’s Hautsern Yeager were inches apart at the midway point of the 100 backstroke before Rowe turned it on in the final 25 yards to prevail by about a body length.

Bowley, Sundstrom and Rowe also figured in a pair of relay victories.

Aberdeen’s other victory came from diver Levi Rose, the only entrant in the event.

One of the day’s best races was for second place in the 500 free. Capital’s Collin Matson won the race handily, but Aberdeen’s Keegan Davison nosed in front of Capital’s Ryan Knutzen in the final 200 yards and withstood a late Knutzen surge to prevail by about a half-second. It was thought at the time that those points might be important to the team outcome, although it developed that they were not.

Lile, who thanked his assistant coaches and managers for their help, also praised the performance of John Jugum.

The Cats will close out the 2012 portion of their schedule with their annual alumni meet on Dec. 22.

Bobcats 98, Cougars 78

200 medley relay — 2:00.53 — Capital (Martinson, Meltzer, Yeager, Reece), Capital, Aberdeen. 200 free — 1:55.47 — Sundstrom (A), Matson (C), Knutzen (C), Dion (A), Smith (A). 200 IM — 2:09.29 — Bowley (A), Davison (A), Young (C), Wakeman (A), Setina (C). 50 free — 23.52 — Rowe (A), Reece (C), Caba (A), Andersen (C), Dion (A). Diving — 121.0 — Rose (A). 100 fly — 57.39 — Bowley (A), Reece (C), Yeager (C), Rose (A), Choi (C).

100 free — 51.96 — Sundstrom (A), Martinson (C), Caba (A), Chadwell (C), Martinez (A). 500 free — 5:53.35 — Matson (C), Davison (A), Knutzen (C), Smith (A), Setina (C). 200 free relay — 1:35.71 — Aberdeen (Bowley, Caba, Rowe, Sundstrom), Capital, Aberdeen. 100 back — 1:06.28 — Rowe (A), Yeager (C), Wolfenberger (A), Martinson (C), Martinez (A). 100 breast — 1:16.74 — Meltzer (C), Andersen (C), Brewer (A), Heard (A), Townsend (C). 400 free relay — 3:41.72 — Aberdeen (Rowe, Bowley, Shippey, Sundstrom), Capital, Aberdeen.