By Greg Farrar
Derek Wei, Hazen High School junior, seem to be airborne as he strokes through the water his 100-yard butterfly race, winning in 53.17 seconds Jan. 20 against Liberty.

Yet, the Highlanders’ top-to-bottom depth ensured the team had a spot on the podium when the meet came to a close Feb. 21 at Federal Way’s King County Aquatic Center.

Hazen swimmers collected personal bests on the way to the squad’s fourth-place finish, edging out league-rival Kennedy by four points to win a team trophy.

Senior Connor Broughton was the Highlanders’ top finisher, earning a second-place medal in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4 minutes, 40.07 seconds. Broughton picked up another individual medal after finishing sixth in the 200-yard individual medley.

Hazen junior Sergio Licea also won two individual medals, placing eighth in the 200-yard freestyle and third in the 100-yard butterfly. Teammate Derek Wei also placed fifth in the 100-yard butterfly.

Broughton, Licea, Wei and senior Nolan Hoover teamed up to take fourth in the 200-yard medley relay and fifth in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Hoover did not pick up a medal, but did win the consolation finals in the 100-yard backstroke. Wei also won the consolation final of the 100-yard breaststroke.

Liberty’s Nick Klatt is a state champion

By Greg Farrar
Nick Klatt, Liberty High School senior, swims his 500-yard freestyle race during the state 2A swim championships Feb. 21 in Federal Way. Klatt won the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1 minute, 42.12 seconds, and took third in the 500 with a time of 4:41.60.

Liberty senior Nick Klatt ended his high school swimming career as a state champion, winning the 2A 200-yard freestyle Feb. 21.

Klatt finished third in preliminaries the day before, but surged to the top spot in the finals with a time of 1:42.12. He also picked up a medal in the 500-yard freestyle (third, 4:41.60).

All three of the Patriots’ relay teams earned medals.

Klatt, Joel Tinseth, Andy DeVogel and Russell Fitzgerald opened the meet with an eighth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay; Tinseth, Fitzgerald, Jacob Winter and Brian Duffner took seventh in the 200-yard freestyle relay; and Klatt, Winter, Fitzgerald and Kyle Larson finished eighth in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Fitzgerald also finished seventh in the consolation final of the 50-yard freestyle, while freshman Jacob Hepp took seventh in the consolation final of the 500-yard freestyle.

Overall, Liberty finished 10th in the 2A team standings.

By Greg Farrar
Derek Wei, Hazen High School junior, seem to be airborne as he strokes through the water his 100-yard butterfly race, winning in 53.17 seconds Jan. 20 against Liberty.

By Greg Farrar
Turner Englehart, Hazen High School senior, drives through the water while winning his 200-yard freestyle race in a time of 1 minute, 58.53 seconds during the Highlanders’ swim meet Jan. 20 against Liberty.

By Greg Farrar
Nolan Hoover, Hazen High School senior, races to win his 100-yard backstroke race with a time of 1 minute, 0.64 seconds, during the Highlanders’ Jan. 20 swim meet against Liberty.

A certain sense of uncertainty surrounded the Hazen High School boys swim team at the beginning of the season.

Without a coach until nearly the last minute, when current coach Jon Graybill agreed to step in, Hazen senior Malcolm Mitchell said he wasn’t sure what to expect of this year’s Highlanders.

By Greg Farrar
Connor Biehl, Liberty High School senior, swims to fifth place with a time of 1 minute, 56.72 seconds in the 200-yard individual medley 3A state championship final.

“It got off to a bumpy start, just because he was hired just a few days before the season,” Mitchell said. “He handled it well, though, and the season was successful.”

It was a success, and the proof is in the half-dozen medals the team earned at the 3A state swimming championship Feb. 22. The Highlanders performed so well, they were less than eight points away from a fourth-place finish and team trophy.

Hazen began the meet with a bang, earning fourth in the 200-yard medley relay, and breaking a school record along the way. The team of Nolan Hoover, Derek Wei, Connor Broughton and Mitchell swam the race in 1 minute, 39.64 seconds.

The mark broke a Hazen school record that had stood since 1977.

“We’ve been looking at those records every year that I’ve been here, and we were close, but we didn’t quite get it,” Mitchell said. “It was nice to finally get that record.”

Mitchell, in the last competition of his high-school career, went on to win three more medals, two of them individuals, in the meet held at Federal Way’s King County Aquatic Center.

He earned two fifth-place medals — one in the 50-yard freestyle and one in the 100-yard butterfly. Mitchell was also a part of the 400-yard freestyle relay team, along with Broughton, Wei and Sergio Licea, that earned sixth place.

“It’s just satisfying seeing all the hard work pay off,” Mitchell said. “I put a lot of hours into it, so it’s nice to see that in the results.”

Licea, a sophomore, also medaled, earning eighth place in the 100-yard butterfly. Additionally, Broughton placed eighth in the 500-yard freestyle.

Liberty wins three medals

The Liberty High School boys swim team competed in its last state meet as a 3A school, before the Patriots jump down to 2A next year, and earned three medals.

Senior Connor Biehl finished his high school career by capturing two individual medals at the 3A meet Feb. 22.

Biehl placed fifth in the 200-yard individual medley and seventh in the 100-yard backstroke.

“It’s great, just pounding the wall and turning and looking to see I got fifth. That was my goal,” he said after the individual medley race.

Junior Nick Klatt also earned a medal, placing sixth in the 500-yard freestyle.

By Greg Farrar
Freshmen varsity athletes (from left), swimmer Sydney Hartford, cross country runners and twin sisters Brigette and Kelsey Takeuchi and football player Noah Pritchett, stand by a poster in the Liberty High School commons proclaiming the motto of Patriot athletes and their student body fans, ‘We Are One.’

Less than a year ago, Brigette and Kelsey Takeuchi, Sydney Hartford and Noah Pritchett roamed the halls at Maywood Middle School.

Fast forward to their first year at Liberty High School. Three of them have competed among the top athletes in the state, while the fourth has found a place on a varsity squad that rarely makes room for freshmen.

Liberty sports teams found a lot of success this fall, due in no small part to these budding stars.

Brigette and Kelsey Takeuchi — cross-country

Liberty coach Mike Smith knew of the talented twins on Maywood’s cross-country team, he just didn’t know what sport they would choose in high school.

Luckily for him, the Takeuchis, of Newcastle, chose cross-country instead of soccer. They were integral parts of the Liberty team that finished sixth at state.

Brigette became the school’s first cross-country state medalist when she took fourth overall with a time of 18 minutes, 31.79 seconds.

“It was really fun, because everyone supported each other no matter how they did,” Brigette said. “I also really like the course.”

It’s a good thing, too, because if the Takeuchis have their way, they’ve got three more visits to the state competition in their future.

Kelsey completed the state course in less than 20 minutes, putting her among the state’s top 30 runners in the 3A division.

High school cross-country is different than anything she saw at Maywood, Kelsey admitted, but it’s a lot more rewarding.

“We used to think that our 2-mile runs were really long, but we don’t even do 2-mile runs anymore,” she said.

Smith said he’s excited about the girls’ potential.

“We look at increasing pace, mileage and leadership every year, so over the next couple of years, they’ll hopefully have progressively faster times and serve as role models for the other runners,” he said.

Brigette, in particular, has the talent to compete on a national stage, Smith said. He added that the Takeuchis’ work ethic and parental support separate them from the pack.

“How you do in cross country is based on how hard you work,” Brigette said. “So, if you put in a lot of hard work, then you will be more successful.”

Both girls said they hope to continue to drop times as their careers progress, with the ultimate goal of running in college at a place with warm weather, such as California or Hawaii.

Sydney Hartford — swimming

Sydney Hartford, of Newcastle, feels at ease in the pool.

“I love swimming because I’m actually more graceful in the water than I am walking or running,” she said.

There is no doubting Hartford’s prowess in the water, where she was a member of Liberty’s state-medalist 200 freestyle relay team. That team took fifth place and Hartford recorded a season-best split.

Liberty coach Kris Daughters, who knows a thing or two about top freshman swimmers after the early successes of Mackenna Briggs, Lauryn Hepp and Ellie Hohensinner, said she was pleasantly surprised about Hartford’s contribution to the team.

“Sydney has competed on a club team for the past few years, so she comes with more experience and endurance than most ninth-graders,” she said. “She is also very tall and lean, and that makes a difference in swimming.”

Hartford admitted she was a little nervous joining the Patriots squad, but she was quickly welcomed by her teammates.

“I was blown away just by how much they accepted the freshmen into the group,” she said. “On the first day, I had multiple people walk up to me and introduce me to other people on the team.”

Hartford likely isn’t done growing, Daughters said, which helps in a sport where height is valuable.

“I loved seeing her get more confident this year,” Daughters said. “I’m not sure she knew she would have the impact she did when the season began.”

Hartford said she isn’t sure if she wants to purse swimming in college, but her goal is to make it to state in an individual.

Noah Pritchett — football

It’s rare for a Liberty freshman to crack the football team’s varsity roster, let alone start; if he does, he must be pretty special.

In coach Steve Valach’s 15 years at the school, he said he can count the number of freshmen to start on varsity on one hand. One of those is ninth-grader Noah Pritchett.

“Noah has size, strength and aggression,” Valach said. “He’s also a humble kid who’s willing to work hard and be coachable.”

Pritchett is a soft-spoken lineman, with an unrivaled determination and work ethic. He began training and watching film last year, hoping to make varsity.

“I went to the summer workouts and I would walk to Liberty if I couldn’t get a ride,” he said. “I’d also go in the weight room in my free time at home.”

When not at school or doing homework, he’s working out, even in the offseason, with an eye toward getting the chance to play in college.

Like most Liberty football players, Pritchett got his start in the Five Star football program. It was quite a leap, he admitted, from the youth leagues to KingCo.

“The game speed is a lot faster in high school football, but after a few games I got used to it,” he said. “I’m getting the hang of it.”

Valach said he’s eager to see how Pritchett develops in the next few years, but he knows that effort will never be an issue for the freshman.

“Noah has tremendous potential, and I am excited to see how a year of varsity experience and an offseason in the weight room impacts his play on Friday nights,” he said. “Hard work in the weight room and game experience do so much for a player’s confidence.”

Pritchett is rather humble about his lofty accomplishment in seeing the field at such a young age, but more than anything, he said he is extremely grateful to Valach for giving him the opportunity to play for the Patriots.

“I’m really fortunate to be able to play on this team and I’ll do anything I can to help the team,” he said. “I’m going to work out and just try to be the best lineman I can be going forward.”

The temperature couldn’t have been higher than 32 degrees.

Puddles of water turned to ice outside the Newport Hills Swim and Tennis Club, and signs warned visitors to watch their step.

By Christina Corrales-Toy
Water polo buddies (from left) Blair Voorhees, Peyton Thomas and Jacob Hepp brave freezing Nov. 21 temperatures to get a workout in at the Newport Hills Swim and Tennis Club’s outdoor pool.

And yet there they were, a group of water polo enthusiasts practicing in the facility’s outdoor pool as steam emanated from the water.

“It’s worth it because the game is really fun,” said Newcastle resident Jacob Hepp, 14, a member of the newly founded Northwest Water Polo Club.

While the swimmers bobbed in a steamy heated pool, the real troopers were their parents and coaches who stood freezing on the deck, watching the athletes.

It’s the type of dedication needed to excel in the sport, which is beginning to rise in popularity in the Northwest, program founder and coach John Jacobson said.

Competing among the water-polo elite requires going head to head with athletes from sunshine states where it’s a year-round sport. So, the Northwest Polo Club athletes will practice through a little rain and a crisp chill; the only thing that gets them out of the pool is thunder and lightning, he said.

“We want to expose our kids to a higher level of water polo,” Jacobson said. “Then, we really hope our kids stick with it and get them into college. I know that’s one of the things I did.”

Jacobson played the sport at Mercer Island High School before continuing his career at Whittier College in Southern California. From there, he served as a graduate assistant coach at California Lutheran University.

Most of the kids found the sport through their swim teams. They enjoyed the fitness of the sport, but sought an outlet from the monotony of it, Jacobson said.

Water polo is nothing if not exciting, he said. It combines the physicality of football with the finesse of swimming, all in a soccer-type setup.

“I love the water, so I tried it and fell in love with it,” said Newcastle resident Peyton Thomas, 12. “It’s just more fun and more interactive than most sports.”

It’s also safer than most contact sports, Jacobson said.

“It’s every sport put into one,” he said. “A lot of kids and a lot of parents like contact sports, but injuries are a big part of that, and water polo is low impact. You don’t have a lot of concussions or torn ACLs.”

The goal with the burgeoning club is to give athletes a year-round option to play water polo, while coaching them to compete at a national level and travel to both local and out-of-state tournaments.

A big part of that is Jacobson, who Lynne Hepp, Jacob’s mother, lauded as an excellent coach.

“Jacob has played a lot of sports and he said, by far, John is the best coach he’s ever had,” she said. “He’s a good balance between fun and one-on-one serious training. That’s a good combination.”

The club practices in Newport Hills and Seattle’s Medgar Evers Pool. Its winter session will conclude in mid February, before a short break until the spring session starts.

It offers a variety of membership options from drop-in rates, to a once-a-week practice schedule. Free trials are also available, so athletes can, literally, get their feet wet. The club, which offers teams for athletes ages 10 through 18, operates on open enrollment, so swimmers can join at any time during a session.

Learn more at www.northwestwaterpoloclub.com.

The Liberty girls swim team notched its highest finish ever at the Nov. 15-16 3A state championships held at Federal Way’s King County Aquatic Center.

The team finished fifth, just missing the chance at a team trophy, but several swimmers came home with individual medals.

Leading the way for the Patriots was junior Mackenna Briggs, who captured her second individual crown in three seasons, winning the 100 butterfly in 55.02 seconds. Her time was the fourth fastest in state history.

Briggs, who won the 100 backstroke title as a freshman, also finished second this season in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:04.71.

Sophomores Ellie Hohensinner and Lauryn Hepp also won individual medals. Hohensinner was sixth in the 500 free (5:12.80) and Hepp was eighth in the 100 backstroke (59.99).

The Patriots qualified all three relays for state, and won medals in the 200 free relay (fifth, 1:41.70) and 400 free relay (fourth, 3:39.10).

Briggs, Hohensinner, freshman Sydney Hartford and junior Cecilia Nelson swam in the 200 free relay; while Briggs, Hohensinner, Nelson and Hepp swam the 400 free relay.

The future looks bright for the Patriots, since no one from this year’s state team will graduate in 2014.

Hazen finishes 16th

The Hazen girls swim team finished just two spots below last year’s mark, taking 16th in this year’s 3A state championships.

All-league swimmer Talisa Wibmer led the team in her final state competition.

Wibmer, a senior, took second place in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.11, and finished fifth in the 100 freestyle with a time of 53.02.

Sophomores Kristen LeBar and Clarissa Mitchell and junior Kourtney Brunings all swam in consolation finals.

By Greg Farrar
Raymond Ha, Liberty High School senior, cuts through the pool, en route to repeating as 3A state champion in the 100-yard breaststroke Feb. 16 at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

As Liberty High School senior Raymond Ha approached the starting block to swim in the final 100 breaststroke race of his high school career, the sounds of Justin Bieber’s “Beauty and a Beat” blasted from the King County Aquatic Center’s speakers.

The participant with the top-qualifying time in each event gets to choose which song is played as the swimmers walk onto the pool deck to compete in the final race. Surprisingly, Bieber was Ha’s artist of choice.

“I like to do it to psych people out, to get them off their serious edge, so I get an advantage,” he said of the song selection.

It must have worked because Ha, a senior, successfully defended his title in the 100 breaststroke with an All-American consideration time of 57.79 seconds at the 2013 3A Boys State Swim and Dive Championships on Feb. 16.

The 3A state champion admitted he was a bit nervous coming into the last state competition of his career, but credited the support of his coach and teammates for helping him to succeed.

“It was very nerve-wracking, coming up to the event,” he said. “I’m actually really glad I’m done with high school swimming, but I’m glad to end it on a good note.”

Liberty coach Kris Daughters said Ha’s performance was the perfect finish to a solid high school career.

“That’s kind of an emotional finish,” she said. “He’s just a great kid and a really fierce competitor.”

Liberty sophomore Nick Klatt also put together solid performances, taking fourth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:42.95 and third in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:36.69.

In the 500 freestyle preliminaries, Klatt emerged with the top-qualifying time, making his third place finish in the finals, a bit of a disappointment, he said.

“In the 500 free, I was seeded first but I came in third. I had more in me. I could have done better,” Klatt said.

While Klatt did not come out on top in the 500 freestyle, he did post his best time ever, and still has a lot of swimming ahead of him, Daughters said.

“He swam really well. That’s an incredible time for a sophomore,” she said. “I think he wanted a win, but at the state meet, even if you’re first in prelims, you’ve got to come out and give it your all, and I think he did that today.”

Liberty junior Connor Biehl finished eighth in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:57.78.

It was an overall successful day for the Patriots, who placed 10th at the meet, and Daughters said she looks forward to having swimmers such as Biehl and Klatt back next year.

“It was just really exciting to see the boys swimming so fast and having all their hard work pay off,” she said.

Hazen improves on last year’s performance

After a respectable top-25 finish at last year’s state championship, the Hazen High School swim team had hoped to creep into the top-10 with a strong performance at this year’s competition.

Unfortunately, the Highlanders just missed it, coming in 13th place, with 73 points, just six points behind 10th-place finisher Liberty.

Still, the Highlanders had much to be proud of based on the significant improvement they showed from last year, thanks largely to the team’s strong relay performances.

“We want to be a top-10 team at state, and it happens with strong individuals but great relays,” Hazen coach Rick Wertman said earlier in the season.

Hazen relay teams secured two top-eight finishes with successful swims in the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay.

The relay team of Nolan Hoover, Chris Foth, Malcolm Mitchell and Kyle Nelson placed eighth in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:42.10.

The Hazen team of P.J. Warmenhoven, Connor Broughton, Mitchell and Hoover took eighth place in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:21.27.

Hazen junior Mitchell also took home an individual medal for his seventh place finish in the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.32.

These amazing aquatic mentors can usually anticipate what may or may not transpire down to the tenth of a digit.

At the annual swim meet between the Issaquah Eagles and the Liberty Patriots held at Julius Boehm Pool on Jan. 24, what unfolded in front of the unsuspecting audience was not only in the realm of the uncharted, but was entirely unexpected with the element of surprise and was outrageously humorous.

With Issaquah owning a commanding advantage heading into the final event of the afternoon, the 400-yard freestyle relay, swimmers from both squads manned the starting blocks, displaying their best stern and stoic game faces, but a funny thing happened on the way down to the water. When the horn sounded to initiate the proceedings, the participants began to churn the water with every imaginable myriad of swim stroke possible in rather comical fashion.

“With a combined total of 80 different swimmers in the pool area, I am really surprised that those guys were able to keep it a secret from [Issaquah coach] Laura [Halter] and myself,” Liberty coach Kris Daughters said. “But the kids from both teams know each other very well, from the clubs they’ve swam in together, and they just love to have fun by messing with Laura and I. Last year they scrounged up a water polo ball from somewhere and broke out in a game after hitting the water…again, unbeknownst to anyone but the guys competing.”

The teams’ swimmers have been showing their serious side all season long as many participants from both clubs have already qualified for the state tournament in mid-February.

Additionally, Liberty’s adroit crew dominated most of the Class 3A Seattle-area teams it faced during the regular season. Issaquah was one of the more formidable contingents in the KingCo 4A during the 2012-13 rigors, finishing with an accounting of 6-2 in league action.

As the meet got under way, the score was fairly close initially, as Issaquah’s 200-yard medley relay foursome won by tenths of a second with a clocking of 1:43.36 and also struck gold in the ensuing event, the 200 yard freestyle.

Liberty retaliated in the following 200-yard individual medley event as swift Patriot sophomore Nick Klatt, cut through the water for a sizzling time of 2:00.71, but Issaquah countered by taking first, second and third in the 50 freestyle.

In the diving competition, a pair of seniors dueled against one another, but in the end Issaquah’s Andrew Larsen edged out Liberty’s Thomas Hughes 146.95-141.15, for the half dozen points awarded for the top dive in the one meter diving competition.

The 100-yard butterfly, meanwhile, was close to being a photo finish, but Liberty prevailed here as Patriot junior Connor Biehl finished hundredths of a second faster than Issaquah senior Austin Melody.

The following race was the longest of the day, the 500-yard freestyle, which saw Liberty’s Klatt easily triumph, as he swam it in less than five minutes, posting 4:47.03.

In the 100-yard backstroke, once again, the cream rose to the top as Liberty’s Biehl just beat out Issaquah’s Willy Matsuda 0:57.22 to 0:57.54.

For the first time in the meet, Liberty claimed back-to-back blue ribbons as in the ensuing event, the 100-yard breaststroke, Patriot senior Raymond Ha flashed to a clocking of 1:01.87, while Issaquah finished second, third and fourth with slightly lesser times.

“Part of what I ask the boys to measure themselves against is how supportive are we? Are we being good sports? Good sportsmanship means caring enough to give your best,” he said.

The team did give its best, Wertman said, with several swimmers dropping seconds off of their times on the way to a dominant victory.

By Christina Corrales-Toy
Nolan Hoover, of Hazen High School, swims his way to victory, in the 100 backstroke with a time of 58.85 seconds.

Leading the pack was junior Malcolm Mitchell, who earned two state-qualifying times, capturing the 200 freestyle with a time of 1 minute, 49.36 seconds and the 500 freestyle in 4:59.32

“I was pretty happy with it,” he said. “It hurt, but it was worth it, so I was happy.”

Mitchell’s performance thrust him into an elite class with some of the best swimmers Hazen has ever seen, Wertman said.

“What he did today, really, was put himself in the all-time top 20 for Hazen swimmers as a junior,” he said. “So, when you think of a storied history from 1968 and you look at the records there, it’s pretty amazing. There are some Olympic-caliber swimmers there.”

He wasn’t surprised by Mitchell’s achievements, though.

“I was very pleased, but not surprised, because he’s committed himself to being his best,” he said.

Kyle Nelson and Nolan Hoover also had a big day for the Highlanders, each emerging from the meet as double winners.

Nelson captured the 200 individual medley in 2:19.08 and the 100 butterfly in 59.85; Hoover took the 50 freestyle in 24.3 and the 100 backstroke in 58.85.

Hazen also won each relay event, a necessary achievement if the team wants to be considered among the top in the state, Wertman said.

“We want to be a top 10 team at state, and it happens with strong individuals but great relays,” he said. “That relay enthusiasm, when you get a foursome clicking as one, acting as one, it’s the most inspiring thing we have.”

The team of Turner Englehart, Chris Foth, Nelson and Mitchell won the 200 medley relay in 1:47.22; PJ Warmenhoven, Englehart, Nelson and Hoover took the 200 freestyle relay in 1:37.11; and Connor Broughton, Mitchell, Hoover and Warmenhoven took first in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:33.11.

Last year, the Highlanders placed in the top 25 at state, but the goal this year is to get into the top 10, Mitchell said.

“We definitely want to get top 10 at state and we would like to win Seamount League and district,” he said. “The team is definitely doing a lot better this year. We have a lot more depth overall in each category of swimming and our team is definitely getting stronger.”

At last year’s end-of-the-year banquet, Wertman made it clear that the team hopes to put the top 25 finish in the rearview mirror and work toward the top 10.

“The only thing I said at the banquet, and I said it about 20 times, is, ‘Hazen’s on the move. Hazen’s on the move,’ and I want the team to embrace that,” he said.

To achieve that goal, athletes and coaches will have to be at the top of their game, Wertman said.

“As coaches, we want to be teaching the things that allow kids to succeed at their highest level,” he said. “And if you are doing that right, you are going to be a top 10 team at state.”

After coming into the 3A state championship ranked 12th, the Liberty High School girls swim team racked up four top-eight finishes to take eighth place overall with 98 team points.

With all of those points having been earned by underclassmen, coach Kris Daughters is already excited for next year.

Photos by Greg Farrar
Mackenna Briggs, Liberty High School sophomore, swims in the 50-yard freestyle final Nov. 10 in 24.2 seconds, good enough for third at the 3A state swimming championships.

“We are looking forward to the next couple of years. We should have strong teams,” she said after the meet. “The main state team is going to stay intact for the next two years.”

Daughters attributes a lot of the Liberty Patriots’ rise from their 12th-place ranking to an eighth-place finish to two freshmen: Ellie Hohensinner and Lauryn Hepp. Hohensinner finished the 500 freestyle with a time of 5 minutes, 18.88 seconds.

“It was really, really nice to see her drop that seven and half seconds in the 500 yesterday to make the top eight,” Daughters said. “When you are making the top eight as a freshman, that’s a pretty big deal. It means you are one of the top swimmers in the state. I think it gives you some confidence and excitement for the next three years.”

Hepp also had a lot to be excited about. Her preliminary time of 59.89 made her the only freshman in the top eight finals for the 100 backstroke. With a final time of 1:00.52, she finished in eighth place.

“Her confidence has just grown and grown and grown,” Daughters said. “Believe me, I did not expect her to go under a minute in the backstroke yesterday. When she did that, I was probably more surprised than she was … it was amazing.”

Hohensinner and Hepp, along with Mackenna Briggs and Cecilia Nelson, also swam as members of Liberty’s state 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams. With a time of 1:54.47, the Patriots took seventh in the 200 medley relay. The girls came back later to take ninth in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:44.63.

Briggs, a sophomore who painted her nails in Liberty colors blue, green and silver, earned the team’s top state finish when she took third in the 500 freestyle with a time personal best of 24.2.

“It’s just an awesome feeling,” she said after accepting her state medal. “It’s just all the work that you do pays off when you go up there.”

Hazen places 14th

At last year’s 3A state championships Hazen took home eighth place, but this year’s 14th-place finish is not a disappointment, said Hazen coach Rick Wertman, considering the amount of talent the Highlanders lost after last year.

“I thought we had an exceptional season,” Wertman said. “We were eighth a year ago, but we lost a top-eight diver and we lost a top-eight swimmer. So, losing that, I was ecstatic at the way we swam.”

Junior Talisa Wibmer swam in the consolation finals of the 100 freestyle and the 100 backstroke, placing ninth in both races.

Sophomore Kourtney Brunings swam in the consolation finals of the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke.

Hazen relay teams for the 200 medley and the 400 freestyle also swam in the consolation finals.

Wertman said he was particularly proud of outgoing senior Amy LeBar’s performance at the meet. LeBar swam as a member of the relay teams and in the consolation finals of the 100 freestyle.

“This is her senior campaign and she swam as well or better than I had hoped for to finish off her career,” he said.

The future should be a bright one for the Hazen girls swim team, Wertman said. Wibmer and Brunings are slated to return next year and freshman Kristin LeBar and Clarissa Mitchell both played breakout roles for the team.

“We had two young ladies, two young freshmen come in and immediately help us in Kristin LeBar and Clarissa Mitchell,” he said.