The state swim and dive championships brought out the best in area teams.

Both Interlake (2A) and Newport (4A) earned second place finishes in their classifications last weekend at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

The second place finish was the highest-ever for Interlake.

“We came in first in our district championships, so we had an idea that we’d be competitive,” said Interlake coach Christina Hunsberger. “But as a KingCo team…in a way, we were coming in blind because we hadn’t swam these teams.”

The champion was determined in the final race of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay. Interlakes Larissa Nakatsu, Anna Kimura, Brigid Mackey and CC Hagen set a new meet record in 3 minutes, 45.09 seconds – unfortunately for the Saints, Squalicum also set a new meet record in the same race, finishing in 3:42.41. That gave Squalicum that title with 226 points to Interlake’s 216.

“It came down to that last relay and we were holding our breath,” Hunsberger said. “We were so proud of the girls, how they competed and how excited they were to be there.”

The Saints 200 medley relay team of Kimura, Nakatsu, CC Hagen and senior Maddie Hagen set a new meet record and won the event in 1:53.55.

Interlake didn’t have any individual winners, but the nine swimmers accumulated 11 top-15 finishes in those events.

“The girls…worked extremely hard to get to where they were at state,” Hunsberger said. “All the girls swam better at state…we had a lot of best times. The environment and atmosphere brought it all together.”

The Saints highest individual finisher was CC Hagen, who took fifth in the 100 freestyle in 55.87.

Newport finished second in the Class 4A meet, falling short to KingCo 4A rival and defending champion Skyline. The Spartans repeated with 220 points to Newport’s 157.5.

The Knights were led by strong performances in the relays. The 200 freestyle relay team of Jordan Lee, Sara Simpson, Maggie Pana and Lorea Gwo finished in first in 1:39.73, while the 200 medley relay team (Talisa Wibmer, Carolina Van Maren, Monique Saysana and Lee) and 400 freestyle relay team (Lee, Saysana, Pana, Gwo) both finished in second.

Gwo had the highest individual finish for the Knights. The freshman finished in sixth in the 50 freestyle in 24.73. She also finished seventh in the 100 butterfly in 59.12.

Bellevue finished fourth in Class 3A, tying with Kennedy Catholic with 151 points. Hannah Weiss finished third in both the 100 butterfly (57.29) and the 100 backstroke (59.23). The Wolverines 200 medley relay team (Weiss, Kelly Holton, Madelyn Mooers and Natalie Fontana) took fourth in 1:52.96.

Sammamish’s Sammi Simas earned a pair of 13th place finishes in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly, while Lynden Kuwada took 9th in the 100 backstroke.

Top-15 Finishes

Newport – 200 medley relay team (Talisa Wibmer, Caroline Van Maren, Monique Saysana, Jordan Lee), 3rd, 1:51.08; Maggie Pana, Fr., 200 free, 11th, 1:58.84; Lorea Gwo, Fr., 50 free, 6th, 24.73; Gwo, 100 buttefly, 7th, 59.12; Amelia Liu, Soph., 100 buttefly, 11th, 1:00.77; 200 free relay (Lee, Sara Simpson, Pana, Gwo), 1st, 1:39.73. Wibmer, 100 back, 10th, 1:00.09; Nina Dipboye, Soph., 100 breast, 13th, 1:10.33. 400 free relay team (Lee, Saysana, Pana, Gwo), 2nd, 3:37.98.

Bellevue – 200 medley relay team (Hannah Weiss, Kelly Holton, Madelyn Mooers, Natalie Fontana), 4th, 1:52.96; Rachel Schneider, Jr., 200 free, 4th, 1:55.95; Katie Mackie, Fr., 200 IM, 11th, 2:15.59; Weiss, 100 butterfly, 3rd, 57.29; Mooers, 100 butterfly, 15th, 1:02.96; Schneider, 500 free, 6th, 5:14.53; 200 free relay team (Fontana, Madeleine Calvo, Holton, Schneider), 9th, 1:44.28; Weiss, 100 back, 3rd, 59.23; Holton, 100 back, 10th, 1:10.14; Mackie, 100 back, 11th, 1:10.32; 400 free relay team (Weiss, Mackie, Fontana, Schneider), 8th, 3:46.37.

Sammmamish – Sammi Simas, Sr., 200 free, 13th, 2:02.83; Simas, 100 butterfly, 13th, 1:01.44; Lynden Kuwada, Jr., 100 back, 9th, 1:01.81.

Interlake – 200 medley relay team (Maddie Hagen, CC Hagen, Anna Kimura, Larissa Nakatsu), 1st, 1:53.55; Brigid Mackey, Fr., 200 free, 6th, 2:01.32; Nakatsu, 50 free, 6th, 25.28; Andrea Price, Jr., 50 free, 11th, 26.59; Mackey, 100 butterfly, 6th, 1:02.14; Kimura, 100 butterfly, 7th, 1:02.59; Price, 100 butterfly, 15th, 1:04.42; CC Hagen, 100 free, 5th, 55.87; Nakatsu, 100 free, 8th, 56.70; 200 free relay team (Mackey, Marta Mueller, Melodie Nagasawa, Price), 7th, 1:47.25; Kimura, 100 back, 6th, 1:04.60; Maddie Hagen, 100 back, 9th, 1:06.30; CC Hagen, 100 breast, 7th, 1:10.72; 400 free relay team (Nakatsu, Macket, Kimura, CC Hagen), 2nd, 3:45.09.