Swimming Roundup: Special group of Kitsap seniors take their final bow

FEDERAL WAY — Kitsap swimmers once again dominated the 2A state meet in 2019, winning nine out of the program’s 12 events, capped by the state championship trophy captured by Olympic.

For a full story on Olympic’s big day, click here.

The Buccaneers once again captured a medal, finishing in third place in the state for the second year in a row and in the top four for the fourth consecutive year.

The meet served as the last hurrah for a special group of seniors, including Tim Gallagher, Ethan Fox, Aron Markow and Duncan Platz that helped put Kingston swimming on the map. They were part of a group that helped the Buccaneers go from 24th in 2015 to fourth place in 2016 and then won a state championship in 2017.

Gallagher won the Swimmer of the Meet award, winning two individual state championships and a third as part of the 200-yard medley relay team, while the 400-yard freestyle relay team, despite breaking its own record, finished second to Olympic. Gallagher also broke his own meet record in the 100 backstroke with an all-American automatic time of 48.79, just .6 off the overall state record.

“I’m still pretty excited, I’m running on adrenaline,” Gallagher said after the meet.

Fox won the 200-yard individual medley for the second time in his career. He swam the event all four years of his career at state and finished second and fourth the other two times.

And after finishing second in the 100-yard breaststroke to 2A state meet record holder Josh Bottlebergher, Markow stepped up and won the event in 2019 with an all-American consideration time of 57.06.

For the fourth year in a row, Gallagher and Fox were part of Kingston’s winning 200-yard medley relay team, racing the event with Markow and freshman Rocco Velie. Their time of 1:34.30 — an All-American consideration time — was just a hair off the state meet record time set by Gallagher, Markow, Fox and Quincy Walker last year, 1:33.55.

“We’re absolutely going to miss them, and they’re going to miss us, I think,” said Kingston head coach Mark Van Huis. “But they’re ready to move on to the next stage and I’m happy to send them off with a third place finish. I think that third place means just as much to them as the state title did.”

On a larger scale, Kitsap County as a whole will see a number of talented seniors depart this year.

North Kitsap’s Nathan Ramey is off to Utah next year and he finished his career with a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle and came in second to Markow in the 100 breaststroke. Olympic will see Ross Burchell, Haakon Meyer and Tiernann Shelton graduate and Bainbridge will lose amazing talents such as William Waite, Kevin Houseman, Aidan Wagner and Makai Ingalls that have helped Kitsap rewrite the state record books.

“It’s absolutely fun to watch,” Van Huis said. “We’ve had some amazing racing. The racing we’ve had in the past four years has brought out the best in everybody.”

But the boys are ready for their next challenge. Gallagher, Fox and Markow are all going to swim at the next level, and although their time at Kingston has come to an end, they recognize a new chapter awaits.

“With me and Ethan having these four years together, it’s sad to think about, but it’s what happens,” Gallagher said.

Team scores — 1. Olympic, 293; 3. Kingston, 238; 7. North Kitsap, 136; 11. Klahowya, 65; 29. Bremerton, 1.

2A state meet finals results

200-yard medley relay — 1. Kingston “A” (Gallagher, A. Markow, Velie, Fox), 1:34.30; 3. Olympic “A” (R. Meyer, Ro. Burchell, Ry. Burchell, Shelton), 1:37.55; 6. Klahowya “A” (Heaman, Swaney, Oathout, Cook), 1:44.19; 13. North Kitsap “A” (Sievenpiper, Grubb, Chapman, Bers), 1:51.61.

200-yard freestyle — 1. Tim Gallagher, Kingston, 1:40.13; 4. Nathan Ramey, North Kitsap, 1:43.34; 5. Ryan Burchell, Olympic, 1:44.88; 9. Ross Burchell, Olympic, 1:45.46.

200-yard IM — 1. Ethan Fox, Kingston, 1:54.28; 2. Haakon Meyer, Olympic, 1:58.05; 4. Rocco Velie, Kingston, 2:00.50; 10. James Correll, North Kitsap, 2:03.47.

50-yard freestyle — 1. Dietrich Meyer, Olympic, 21.49; 3. Aron Markow, Kingston, 21.78; 4. Tiernann Shelton, Olympic, 21.88; 5. Brandon Anderson, North Kitsap, 21.93; 7. Rainer Meyer, Olympic, 22.10; 12. Mason Heaman, Klahowya, 22.98

1-meter diving — 16. Schuyler Berger, Kingston, 210.15.

100-yard butterfly — 5. Ross Burchell, Olympic, 53.33; 7. Connor Swaney, Klahwoya, 53.75.

100-yard freestyle — 1. Dietrich Meyer, Olympic, 46.42; 2. Haakon Meyer, Olympic, 47.37; 4. Brandon Anderson, North Kitsap, 48.63; 6. Tiernann Shelton, Olympic, 48.94.

500-yard freestyle — 2. Ryan Burchell, Olympic, 4:38.77; 5. Rocco Velie, Kingston, 4:52.70; 16. Spencer Gill, Bremerton, 5:19.87.

200-yard freestyle relay — 1. Olympic “A” (H. Meyer, R. Meyer, Shelton, D. Meyer), 1:26.64; 6. North Kitsap “A” (Anderson, Correll, Grubb, Ramey), 1:31.95; 8. Kingston “A” (S. Markow, Yamane, Platz, A. Markow), 1:33.48.

100-yard backstroke — 1. Tim Gallagher, 48.79; 6. Rainer Meyer, Olympic, 54.58; 14. Max Sievenpiper, North Kitsap, 58.83.

100-yard breaststroke — 1. Aron Markow, Kingston, 57.06; 2. Nathan Ramey, North Kitsap, 57.40; 3. Ethan Fox, Kingston, 58.44; 12. James Correll, North Kitsap, 1:02.23; 13. Connor Swaney, Klahowya, 1:02.80.

400-yard freestyle relay — 1. Olympic “A” (H. Meyer, Ro. Burchell, Ry. Burchell, D. Meyer), 3:10.88; 2. Kingston “A” (Velie, Platz, Fox, Gallagher), 3:12.62; 6. North Kitsap “A” (Anderson, Beers, Ramey, Correll), 3:20.42; 9. Klahowya “A” (Heaman, Smith, Marquez, Swaney), 3:27.64.