Swimming: Papermakers Win SW WA Invite

LONGVIEW, WA — Swimming was definitely interesting today. The Camas High School Boy’s swim team won the Southwest Washington Swim Invitational Saturday at Mark Morris High School, with a final score of 602.5 points. Mountain View and Mark Morris rounded out the top three.The meet was halted near the end of the first event due to a septic overflow that spilled onto the pool deck, causing a public health hazard. This caused over an hour delay, which resulted in the athletes waiting and playing hoops in the gym, many still wearing their swimsuits and caps.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Sheri Breuer, a Skyview coach and meet referee.

The athletes spent the time playing hoops, most were barefoot, playing duck-duck-goose, or playing games.

Once crews cleaned up the mess, the event resumed.

“It was a good meet for us,” said Head Coach, Mike Bemis. “We’re right where we were supposed to be. We did really well. I’m pleased.”

While the Papermakers didn’t dominate as many individual events, as they have in previous years, they came out ahead overall, as a young team working to overcome the strength of losing a commanding senior team last season. The void left by state champions Kasey Calwell and Lucas Ulmer, as well as state swimmer, John Utas, has been felt all season.

“The Freshman are helping offset the loss of last year’s stars,” said co-captain, junior Luke Albert. “Plus, swimmers like Tom Utas have made state cuts. I think Tom has made state cuts in the 100 Free, 50 Free and the 100 Breast.”

Bemis added: “You don’t replace State champions very easily. We have four years to get there, and such is the cycle of high school sports. We’re young and growing, and learning how to be a team. The team came together Saturday to win the meet. Here’s a breakdown of the individual events.

Event 1 – 200 Medley Relay: Mountain View won (1:37.99), followed by Union A and B relays, and Mark Morris. Camas placed fifth.

Event 2 – 200 Freestyle: Isaiah Ross, of Washougal won (1:54.59), followed by Sam Walker, of Columbia River (1:54.77), and Nathan Hwang, of Union (2:03.04).

Event 3 – 200 IM: Eric Wu, of Camas, won (2:00.95), followed by Tom Utas, of Camas (2:05.02), and Austin Fogel, of Camas (2:07.26).

Event 4 – 50 Free: Josh Bottelberghe, of Columbia River, won (22.94), followed by Stuart Sardo, of Mountain View (24.32), and Michael Suk, of Mountain View (24.74).

Event 6 (no event 5) 100 Fly: Andrew Chang, of Union, won (53.53), followed by Josh Bottelberghe, of Columbia River (53.67), and Jacob McCarthy, of Mountain View (59.08).

Event 7 – 100 Free: Max Dolbinin, of Heritage, won (49.95), followed by Luke Albert, of Camas (52.27), and Chris Joa, of Mountain View (53.12).

Event 8 – 500 Free: Isaiah Ross, of Washougal, won (5:07.05), followed by Finn McClone, of Camas (5:17.74), and Tom Utas, also of Camas (5:19.27).

Event 9 – 200 Free Relay: Camas won (1:33.79), followed by Mountain View (1:36.00) and Camas B relay ( 1:42.02).

Event 10 – 100 Back: Andrew Chang, of Union, won (56.20), followed by Jeff Fadlovich, of Camas (57.38), and Finn McClone, also of Camas (57.99).

Event 11 – 100 Breaststroke: Eric Wu, of Camas, won (1:02.69), followed by Max Dolbinin , of Heritage (1:06.53), and Austin Fogel, of Camas (1:07.25).

Event 12 – 200 Free Relay: Camas won the event (3:28.08). The team consisted of Tom Utas, Eric Wu, Finn McClone, and Luke Albert.

The team will convene once more, in two weeks, to compete at the 2016 District Championship, in Kelso. Many are still hoping to make state cuts at that event.