Dynasty is a pretty strong word, but the Wood River High School swimming team has a pretty strong group of girls.
So, the word "dynasty" was meaningfully tossed around last weekend when the Wood River girls captured their third consecutive state swimming championship in a field of 454 of Idaho's best swimmers.
Wood River (252 points) left no doubt about its depth and determination with a 74-point victory over Sandpoint during the Idaho State High School Swimming Championships held at the West Boise YMCA.
The Wood River championship was all the more impressive because the state finals are an "open" team competition with no distinction between school sizes. So, Wood River took the title against schools with much bigger enrollments.
Coach Brian Gallagher said, "It was a great team event for us. Every swimmer swam a personal best. We saw huge drops in time, fueled by adrenaline and momentum. I was really proud. They put in a lot of time and really trained hard to have these great times at the end of the swimming season."
Two huge point-getters for Wood River were Racheal McGinnis and Natalie Hague, who scored 33 points alone in the 100 free finals with second-place and third-place results. McGinnis' 54.30 prelim time set a new Wolverine school record.
Wood River gained 80 more points with first-place, 40-point results in the 200 free relay (Hague, Megan Hayes, Lacey Werley, McGinnis) and 400 free relay (Taylor Coiner, Hague, Hayes and McGinnis in a new school record 3:48.78).
The 200 free relay was a real battle, Wood River (1:44.15) out-touching runner-up Moscow (1:44.33) at the wall with Sandpoint (1:44.55) in third place.
Individually, McGinnis missed gold in the 50 free by a close margin, with a time of 25.01. Kjirsten Magnuson of Lake City High School (24.85) edged out runner-up McGinnis.
Coach Gallagher was again awarded the Idaho High School Swimming "Coach of the Year" award. It was the second such honor for the well-respected coach, the first coming in 2005 when the Wood River girls' team captured its first state title. Gallagher was noted for his quiet dedicated coaching manner as well as for the caliber of athletes he coaches.
Check next week's Local Life for more state photos.
Results:
Girls' team (top five): 1—Wood River 252. 2—Sandpoint 178. 3—Moscow 167. 4—Coeur d'Alene 162. 5—Lake City 136.
Finals girls' individual placings: 2—Racheal McGinnis 100 free (54.30 prelim time, new school record) and 50 free (25.01). 3—Natalie Hague 100 free. 4—Natalie Hague 200 free (2:01.03) and Megan Hayes 100 fly. 6—Taylor Coiner 500 free. 7—Taylor Coiner 200 IM and Megan Hayes 100 back.
Consolation girls' placings: 2—Taylor Straley 200 IM and Michael Coiner 200 free. 4—Sarah Brown 100 fly. 5—Taylor Straley 500 free and Michael Coiner 100 back. 7—Sarah Brown 200 IM and Esther Williams 500 free.
Other individual results: 19—Melissa Becker 500 free. 21—Esther Williams 200 free. 22—Ashleigh Share 200 IM. 28—Melissa Becker 200 free. 32—Sophie Nosworthy 100 breast.
Girls' relays: 1—200 free (Natalie Hague, Megan Hayes, Lacey Werley, Racheal McGinnis) in 1:44.15, and 400 free (Taylor Coiner, Natalie Hague, Megan Hayes, Racheal McGinnis) in 3:47.46 for a new school record. 7—200 medley (Lacey Werley, Taylor Coiner, Sarah Brown, Taylor Straley).
Boys' team (top teams): 1—Moscow 303. 2—Bishop Kelly 199. 3—Lake City 192. 4—Centennial 176. 5—Boise 175. 18—Wood River (4 swimmers).
Consolation boys' placings: 2—Jon Atkinson 100 free (52.91). 5—Jon Atkinson 50 free (23.74) and Gene Fairbrother 100 fly (1:01.22, new school record). 6—400 free relay (Jon Atkinson, Gene Fairbrother, Max Jones, Matt Lichtenberg) in a new school record 3:57.06. 8—200 free relay (Atkinson, Fairbrother, Jones, Lichtenberg) in a new school record 1:45.11. 43—Max Jones 50 free.
Wood River?s state championship 400 free relay team of, from left, Taylor Coiner, Racheal McGinnis, Megan Hayes and Natalie Hague set a new school record of 3:48.78.
