FEDERAL WAY – Skyline senior Andie Taylor has been one of the most consistent and dynamic swimmers at the state meet for the past few years.
Since her freshman season, Taylor has racked up five state titles, including relays, and has set All-American times and meet records.
She has lost just once in the finals — in last year’s 100-yard freestyle to Chelsea Bailey of Kentlake — but came into Saturday’s finals of the Class 4A state swimming and diving meet as the fastest qualifier in both the 200 and 500 freestyles.
She didn’t disappoint.
Taylor won the 200 freestyle in a state record of 1 minute, 46.55 seconds at the King County Aquatics Center. She later added the 500 freestyle to her resume in 4:45.47.
The senior also led the Spartans to their first team title in school history with 234 points, beating out runner-up Garfield, 176.
Amber Crasenberg, sophomore from Thomas Jefferson in Federal Way, made a big splash in her hometown, winning two titles (photo by Ron Newberry).
“This was such a great way to end the year and end my career,” she said while basking in the glow of a state championship.
In the 200 free, Taylor led from the start and it no longer became a question of if she would win, but by how much.
Taylor obliterated the previous record, held by Megan Oesting of Mercer Island in 1989 in 1:48.52. Oesting’s record was one of the longest standing in the record books.
“It was on my mind,” Taylor said of breaking the record. “I’d obviously seen it on the heat sheets. I was just trying to swim fast and I guess the record came with that.”
Taylor, who is undecided on where she will swim in college and didn’t want to say which schools are pursuing her, finished with nine state titles in her career and won the swimmer of the meet for the third time.
Kentlake’s Bailey, a 6-foot-2 junior who chose swimming over basketball, was the favorite heading into the 50 free finals. Initially, she finished second to Amber Cratsenberg of Thomas Jefferson, 23.87 to Bailey’s 23.94, but Bailey was later disqualified for movement while in the starting block.
“It was definitely disappointing,” she said.
Bailey, who said she could feel herself shaking while waiting for the gun to go off, went to her club coach after the race.
“He told me to put it behind me,” she said.
Chelsea Bailey of Kentlake consults with a coach after being disqualified in the 50 freestyle at the 4A state girls swim meet. She said she was shaking at the starting line, which prompted the false start. (photo by Ron Newberry).
Bailey said the DQ probably affected her the rest of the meet. She finished a surprising fourth in the 100 backstroke after coming in as the top seed after Friday’s preliminaries.
Cratsenberg later won her second title, this time in the 100 free in 51.57, automatic All-American time.
“I wasn’t thinking at all I would get two (state titles),” she said.
Eastlake sophomore Katie Kinnear set a state record on her way to winning the 100 butterfly in 53.10. Lindsay Marchand of Peninsula held the record since 2001 in 53.34.
Kinnear, who was racing against Ballard’s Annemarie Thayer and Alana Pazevic, the 2007 champion from Jackson, said she wasn’t trying to break the record but she felt like she was having a good swim.
“I haven’t swam like that since the (state) meet last year,” she said. “I couldn’t beat that until last week at districts.”
In 3A, Mercer Island won its first team title since 1998 with 245.6 points. Juanita was second, 242, followed by Kennedy Catholic 204.
Kelly Tannhauser’s hope for a repeat in the 200 freestyle fell short. The Juanita senior was the top qualifier heading into the meet, but was beaten by Kennedy Catholic senior Emily Fenster. Fenster touched the wall in 1:52.05 to Tannhauser’s 1:53.08.
Juanita’s 200 free relay set a state record, going 1:37.77, breaking Bellevue’s record, which had stood since 1999 of 1:37.95.
In the battle of the Kaufman’s, Juanita’s Emilie Kaufman edged Lauren Kaufman of Hazen in the finals of the 50 free. Emilie Kaufman out-touched Lauren at the wall, 23.96 to 24.25. The pair had the two fastest times heading into the meet. Emilie also played soccer with Lauren in elementary school.
In 2A, Hockinson’s Julia Sanders blew away the competition in the 200 individual medley, touching the wall in 2:11.38 and breaking the meet record she set at during Friday’s preliminaries in 2:13.64. Sanders’ next closest competition finished at 2:17. She also won the 100-yard butterfly in 56.88.
Squalicum won the team championship with 77 points, followed by Sehome with 68 and Hockinson third, 59.
Olympia swimmers pass time by playing cards at the state girls swimming meet at the King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way (photo by Ron Newberry).
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