Powers leads Wildcats at state meet | Swimming

Senior Caley Powers collected the best two finishes for Oak Harbor High School at the state swim meet Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22, at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

Senior Caley Powers collected the best two finishes for Oak Harbor High School at the state swim meet Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22, at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

Powers finished 16th in the 100-yard butterfly in 54.98; the race was won by Bellevue’s Todd McCarthy in 49.12.Powers was 17th in the state fly as a junior and 23rd as a sophomore.

Powers added a 17th in the 50 freestyle in 22.61. Interlake’s Michael Lorr won in 20.9.

Powers teamed up with senior Cedric Cabigting, junior Dakota Powers and sophomore Micah Geist to place 20th in the 200 medley relay (1:50.98) and 23rd in the 200 free relay (1:30.98). Bellevue took the medley relay in 1:34.09, and Mercer Island captured the 200 free relay in 1:25.97.

Geist, Cabigting and sophomore Joe Gorman all placed 22nd in individual events.

Geist swam the 200 individual medley in 2:15.89; Lakeside’s Abrahm Devine won in 1:47.6.

Cabigting clocked a 1:00.07 in the 100 backstroke won by McCarthy in 48.64.

Gorman posted a 5:17.52 in the 500 free; Devine took first in 4:29.56.

Caley Power’s 16th in the fly earned Oak Harbor’s only team point and the Wildcats finished 35th. Mercer Island, coached by Oak Harbor graduate Chauntelle Johnson, won the team title with 337 points.

Oak Harbor coach Alex Thierry said his swimmers had “really good results” at district but could not “hold their taper” for state.

“There are a lot of factors that go into it and it is hard to pick the one or the few that played the biggest role,” he added.