Kentwood swimmer Logan Ryan got it out of the way early. Kentridge diver Matthew Drui waited until his final opportunity.
Despite different paths, Ryan and Drui are heading to the same place — the Class 4A state diving and swimming meet at the King County Aquatic Center, which will be held Feb. 18-20.
Ryan, a senior, qualified for state in the 100-yard breaststroke in Kentwood’s second meet of the season, touching out with a time of 1:03.6.
“I knew I had it at the time,” said Ryan, who will be making his second straight state appearance.
Qualifying for state early eliminated any pressure Ryan may have otherwise felt during last weekend’s West Central District meet at Rogers High in Puyallup. On a day that included more than a handful of fast times, Ryan touched out in the breaststroke in 1:04, good for sixth place.
“I wasn’t feeling very good that day,” lamented Ryan, who still has an outside shot of advancing to state in the 100 butterfly depending on how other district times turn out this weekend. “I went to practice that morning (with my club team) and that didn’t help. I wasn’t feeling very good during that race.”
Ryan, however was plenty solid in the prelims, when he delivered a blistering, and personal-best time of 1:02.44 in the breaststroke. The time was just a fraction off of Kentwood’s school mark of 1:01.96, held by Kyle Corcoran. Ryan hopes to break that record at state.
It’s a feat that Kentwood coach Sharon Wright believes Ryan can accomplish.
“It’s a perfect storm waiting to happen,” Wright said. “If he was feeling good on Saturday (during the district finals), I think he could have busted through it.”
Ryan will be Kentwood’s lone representative at the state meet, where he will go in with a plan of attack. And he’s keeping it as simple as possible.
“Before my race, I will visualize it and get ready to swim fast,” he said. “I’ve been trained to do it, so I should be able to go fast.”
Drui didn’t have to worry about going fast at the district meet. The Kentridge diver did, however, have the additional pressure of advancing to state or having his season end. Drui, as teammate Quinton Wong did just days earlier, delivered the goods. The Kentridge senior brought home fourth place from the district meet with 297.05 total points.
“I’m very proud of our two divers for advancing to state,” said Kentridge coach Erin Schulze. “It will be the first time in a while that we’ve put two through.”
Along with Drui and Wong, Kentridge also qualified its 200-free relay team for state, which has rotated among a handful of swimmers this season. During the district meet, the group consisted of Bryan Lam, Trent Davis, Tim Berquist and Kyle Wilson, a team that combined for a fourth-place time of 1:33.09. Davis, however, won’t be able to make the trip to state due to other obligations. The slot will be filled by either Jake Dacus, Kyle Bige or Dallin Connell, Schulze said.
Kent-Meridian’s Matt Bailey, who advanced in the 200 individual medley and the 500 free, also will advance to state.
Kentridge finished highest among local teams at the district meet, taking ninth with 55 points. Kentlake finished in 10th with 45 points followed by 15th-place Kentwood (18) and Kent-Meridian, which took 23rd with seven points.
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