PORT ANGELES — The swimmers’ equivalent to hitting the winning shot at the buzzer, three of North’s Vikings — juniors Josh Berry, Josh Jones and Brian Parrott — shaved away seconds at the league meet Jan. 28 to qualify for districts.

The trio’s times came during their last chance to qualify for the district meet, which is being held this weekend at Foss High School. As a result, they’ll join NK swimmers Spencer Nagley, Mikal and Jeffrey Reeves and Krister Seaberg in individual events competition.

Berry, in only his first year as an NK swimmer, managed to shave four seconds off his 100 meter breaststroke time to qualify for the district meet, with a 1:19.90.

The difference?

“The adrenaline rush of competition,” Berry reported. “It was amazing, awesome.”

Every single meet this year, Berry has been competing in the breastroke event and coach Greg Braun said that he’d even faced some significant drawbacks this season — wisdom teeth removal, pool closures and illness to name a few. But Braun added that for Berry, everything clicked when he needed it most.

“He put it all together and took five seconds off,” Braun said. “That’s a really significant improvement.”

Berry admitted that he came out for the swim team “as a way to stay fit for track,” he said.

“At first I wasn’t too fond of swimming,” he commented. “But I’ve been having a lot of fun and I’ve gotten a lot better.”

Jones, a three-year team veteran, broke into the district meet in Port Angeles with a 26.17 time in the 50 meter freestyle. Jones’ previous best was a 26.80, shaving off more than six tenths of a second while beating the district time by a razor-thin three one-hundredths of a second.

“Right when I finished, (coach) Braun yelled and I looked up and saw the time,” he recalled.

“It was just a matter of getting the confidence,” Braun said of Jones’ time.

He said he’s aiming for a state time but Jones admitted his top priority is to enjoy the moment of competing in districts.

“This has been a goal since I started at North,” he said. “It just feels great to do it.”

Another three-year team veteran, Parrott, cut two seconds off his 100 backstroke time to bust into districts, attaining a 1:18. Like Jones, competing at the district level will be something he’ll enjoy greatly.

“It’s not something I’m planning on winning,” he admitted, “but it’s gonna be fun.”