Aquajets win fourth straight at Anacortes

November 7, 2008 5:32 pm
Ten-year-old Molly Vagt strokes her way to a new Pacific Northwest Swimming qualifying time in the 50 backstroke as she leads off the girls 10-and-under 200 medley relay.
Ten-year-old Molly Vagt strokes her way to a new Pacific Northwest Swimming qualifying time in the 50 backstroke as she leads off the girls 10-and-under 200 medley relay.

The North Whidbey Aquatic Club Aquajets scored 1,251 points to win their fourth consecutive Fall Thunderbird Invitational swim meet at Fidalgo Pool in Anacortes on Oct. 25 and 26.

Second place went to the Mighty Marlins of Marysville with 632 points and third to the host Thunderbird Aquatic Club with 597 points.

Leading the Aquajets was John Hu, who won eight events in the boys 15-and-older division. Jacob Jepsen claimed seven victories among boys ages 13 to 14 and Laura Rosen along with Caley Powers were each first to the wall in four events in the 11- to-12-year-old division for girls and boys, respectively.

Also winning events for NWAC were Noah Allison, Josh Jepsen, Marissa Morris, Justin Poblador, Dakota Powers, Amanda Streubel, Chris Trisler and Olivia Tungate.

Rosen set the only team records at the meet, notching new marks in the 100 individual medley clocked at 1:03.71 and 100 backstroke with a time of 1:03.51.

Thirteen Aquajets earned new Pacific Northwest Swimming Championships qualifying times.

This group was led by Emily Huffer, who made three new cuts in the girls 11- to-12-year-old division, competing in the 50 backstroke (34.25), 50 freestyle (29.13), and 100 butterfly (1:16.25).

Other new qualifiers included Karina Concepcion, Therese Desquitado, Tricia Desquitado, Joey Jepsen, Kennedy Trisler, Molly Vagt and Cole Weinstein.

Four Aquajets finished the meet with 100 percent individual and relay best times. These swimmers were Ben Cardinal, Lauryn Plush, Dani Rickard and Emily Schroeder.

NWAC next competes Nov. 8 and 9 at the Cascade Challenge in Seattle, where it will field a team of 59 competitors.

The North Whidbey Aquatic Club is a competitive swimming program of the North Whidbey Park and Recreation District. It includes swimmers of all abilities and ages from 6 through college. Tryouts are Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at the city pool from 4:45 to 5:30 p.m.

New swimmers should be able to swim a length of the pool in freestyle and backstroke. The first two weeks are free. For more information, call the pool at 675-7665 to speak with head coach Neil Romney or visit the team’s Web site at www.teamunify.com/pnswznwac.