With the meet result too close to call, Marysville-Pilchuck coach Jaci Legore Hodgins turned it over to her relay teams — and they did not disappoint.
Tomahawks foursomes earned top billing in the 200- and 400-yard freestyle races Oct. 8 en route to a 103-83 win over Glacier Peak and a 126-56 win over Snohomish in front of a hometown crowd.
“It was really big for us to get this win, and I’m really proud of the girls” Legore Hodgins said. “Glacier Peak is 3-A, but it’s always nice to beat them.”
The two relays had three similar pieces in Hannah Taylor, Megan Shoemaker and Jewel LeValley. The 200-yard race, which finished in 1:46.72, also had Geina Malavolti and the 400-yard race — 4:02.5 — had Karoline Schaufler.
It wasn’t all about the relays, however, as a number of Tomahawks shined in the individual meets, and that all started with Taylor. The freshman broke the 12-year school record in the 100 butterfly with a blazing 58.94. The previous record was held by Emily Hutson at 59.46.
“The crazy thing is that Emily has been working with Hannah since the sixth grade,” Legore Hodgins said of Taylor, who now owns three other Tomahawk individual records. “That has sort of been a joke that she’ll be knocking her off the board, and she is — one by one.”
Taylor also won the 50-yard freestyle race with a 25.12, state-qualifying time.
Marysville was down four points after the diving segment ended, causing a motivational speech by Legore Hodgins. And her team responded by six races. Other winners included LeValley’s 1:08.04 time in the 100-yard backstroke and Marysa Eastman scored the highest in the 1-meter diving with 189.80.
A standout that didn’t take home first place was sophomore Geina Malavolti, who bested her personal record by two seconds with a time of 1:00.76 in the 100-yard freestyle.
“Geina had to be promoted because we had a swimmer out and she really stepped up and got us some points,” Legore Hodgins said. “She has been working hard and it shows.”
Also, Amanda Collins shaved six seconds off her PR in the 500 free to earn second place.
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