FEDERAL WAY, WA — The Camas Boys Swim Team capped off a stellar season placing seventh overall, and dropping times at the 4A State Boys Swim and Diving Championships at the King County Aquatic Center this weekend.

This was the team’s first time competing in 4A, and placing seventh overall was the best state performance for the CHS Boys team. Last year, they placed ninth overall.

Camas sent eight to State, and seven qualified for finals on Saturday night. By the time the last event ended, the boys were exhausted, but had a lot to show for themselves. They entered State buoyed by clinching the District Championship, and felt the meet would be a success.

It was.

Calwell, who swims for Camas, but attends King’s Way, also finished fourth in the 200 IM with a time of 1:55.70, shaving time off a personal record he just made at Districts.

“I feel really great about it,” said Calwell. “It was really fun to see people achieve their goals – and so many dropped time.”

In the 100 Breastroke, Calwell came in at 59.96 seconds. Yraceburu competed in the same event, and placed seventh overall.

The boys also took home a medal in the 400 Free Relay, placing seventh with a time of 3:17.26. Seth Albert, Trent Harimoto, Kasey Calwell and Lucas Ulmer competed in that event together.

Camas just missed the podium in the 200-yard relay, placing ninth, with a time of 1:32.18.

State Academic Honors

 The boys also received academic honors at the event for achieving higher than a cumulative 3.6 GPA as a team. It’s a very distinguish honor. The crowd cheered them on.

“They’re a good group of kids,” said Coach Mike Bemis. “They work hard in the pool and at school. It’s all paying off.”

In all, the following CHS swimmers went to State: Max Urbanek, Xianguang Yan, Lucas Ulmer, Seth Albert, Jake Yraceburu, Kasey Calwell, Trent Harimoto, and John Utas.

Also in the 4A competition, Skyview senior Eric Bugna placed seventh in 100-yard backstroke with a time of 54.48 seconds. Jake Breuer of Skyview competed in the 200 IM.

I thought it was a great meet, said Bugna. “Really solid best times. Hoping to get even better times at sectionals in March.”

The Camas boys earned 130.5 points, and were just a half a point shy of tying for sixth place overall.

Team scores — Kamiak 207, Stadium 170, Newport 163, Issaquah 156, Gig Harbor 139, Inglemoor 131, Camas 130.5, Kentridge 129, Easltkae 123, Richland 119, Mount Rainier 114, Moses Lake 88, Woodinville 76, Roosevelt 67, Curtis 67, Skyline 60, Jackson 43, Cascade 41, Redmond 41, Rogers 29.5, Walla Walla 28, Lake Stevens 25, South Kitsap 23, Skyview 22, Snohomish 17, Tahoma 15, Kentlake 14, Wenatchee 13, Auburn Riverside 13, Garfield 12, Bothell 12, Evergreen 11, Olympia 10, Ballard 8, Davis 4, Puyallup 2, Federal Way 2.

Edward Kim, of East High School, stunned the event with his 50 Free, clocking in at 20.11. He was only .09 seconds off the state and meet record of 20.02.

Class 3A

Prairie swimmer Jaron Hamlik, a junior, who trains with the Camas team, earned two medals on Saturday and All-America consideration times, but wasn’t pleased with the outcome.

Hamlik placed fourth in his events, the 200 IM (1:53.24) and the 100 Back (51.51), and was clearly discouraged. “I really wanted to go faster,” he said.

Class 2A

The Hockinson Boys team, who train with Camas as well, excelled at State, placing fifth overall.

Jonah Rodewald placed second in the 200 IM and seventh in the 100 Back. Rodewald was joined by Dylan Osbourne, Dylan Butler, and Cullyn Newman in the 200 Medley and 400 Free Relays, placing third in both events.

Teams From All Over Washington

More than 30 schools from all over Washington state competed at the event this past weekend. There will be shorter stories about several other teams on the Lacamas Magazine Facebook page.

“It was a good learning experience for our team as a whole, we had no seniors go to state, so everybody is returning,” said Brian Wright, of Kentwood High School. “We should come back even stronger next year.”