FEDERAL WAY--It was a big week for Megan Kawaguchi.

The Mount Rainier High School senior signed on to swim for the University of Utah on Wednesday and three days later she took a second and a third place medal individually in the Class 4A portion of the WIAA/Dairy Farmers of Washington/Les Schwab Tires girls state swimming and diving meet. She also helped the Rams take a third and a fifth place in relays.
Kawaguchi said that the choice of Utah came easily, even though the school is a good distance away from her current home in Des Moines.
"All of the pieces just fell into place there," she said. "I felt at home there. The team was so supportive and the coaches were great. I couldn't ask for any better."

Saturday Kawaguchi and the Rams started off on the right foot in the state meet at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, taking fifth in the finals of the 200-yard medley relay.

Kawaguchi joined Anna Burdine, Kristen Lemley and Erin Ronald in posting a time of 1 minute, 51.58 seconds.

Shortly thereafter Kawaguchi took third in the 200 individual medley finals in a time of 2:08.22, after Lemley took second in the consolation finals for 10th place overall with her 2:11.91 clocking.

Mount Rainier remained stuck at 51 points until the ninth event -- the 200 free relay -- where the Rams took third place in 1:39.42.
For that event Kawaguchi teamed up with Lemley, Ronald and Maddie Duncanson.

The third place relay finish added 32 team points.

"I'm exceptionally proud of the 200 free relay," said Rams head coach Chris Veraya, who was assisted this year by Kim Gansneder.

Kawaguchi followed that up in the next event by taking second place in the 100 backstroke. Her time of 55.58 left her just shy of the All-American Automatic time of 55.57, although she still took All-American Consideration.

"In the grand scheme of things, Automatic All-American or not, I was so happy with that swim," Kawaguchi said. "I had a tough few months in training, but I felt like myself racing today. I'm really happy with the meet overall."

Lisa Bratton of Richland won the race in 54.04 and she also won the 200 IM in 1:59.44 ahead of Gig Harbor's Carolyn McCann (1:59.56) and Kawaguchi.

Kawaguchi's placement added 17 points to the team total to bring the Rams to an even 100 points, where they stayed to finish ninth.
"We had good individual performances, so I'm not too worried about the meet score," coach Veraya said. "This was a great way to finish the season."

Kawaguchi was happy with her choice of universities and happy about her state accomplishments after the meet, yet crying because it was her last high school action.

"I was so proud of the girls I got to swim with on the relays," Kawaguchi said. "That's one thing I'll miss the most. I've got the best teammates in the world."

Class 3A

Kennedy Catholic High School of Burien used a team concept all year in winning a Seamount League title and posting a perfect 11-0 overall season record. The Lancers followed up with first place team finishes at the Seamount League and West Central District meets, then used that concept again in taking sixth place at the 3A state girls swimming and diving meet with 110 points.

Saturday's action started off with the Lancers taking sixth place in the 200 medley relay, with Vanessa Moffatt, Angela Gagliardo, Hannah Baillie and Natalie Mutter posting a time of 1:53.78 for 26 points.

Moffatt, a senior, then took sixth place in the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:55.14 for 13 points.

That set the stage for sophomore sensation Gagliardo, who placed fourth in the 200 IM with a 2:07.35 effort in her first of two individual event finals for 15 points.

Mutter then took 15th in the 50 free with a time of 26.23 for two points.

The Lancers fell silent after that until the 500 free, where Moffatt came in seventh for 12 points with her time of 5:13.25.

Gagliardo then came through with a team-best third place finish in the 100 breaststroke, speeding to an All-American Consideration 1:04.57 time.

That added 16 points to the team total, then the 400 free relay team tacked on the final 26 points by coming from behind in the final seconds for sixth in 3:42.85.

Moffatt, Baillie, Mutter and Gagliardo made up JFK's team in what was the final event of the day.

Highline was also represented at the meet, tying Prairie for 36th place as a team with three points.

Sophia Cassam was the lone Pirate present, capturing 14th place in the 1-meter diving competition with a personal total of 277.80 points as a junior.

Class 2A

Being there wasn't all that counted in the case of Evergreen High School junior Emma Murray and her appearance at the Class 2A state girls swimming and diving meet Saturday.

Murray put in a solid effort to improve to 14th place on the final day of action in the 100 breaststroke after coming in 16th in the preliminaries to barely qualify.

She then got out of the water quickly enough to join a line formed to welcome the event finalists to the pool.

Murray's time actually fell between Friday and Saturday, even though her placement moved up.

She posted a time of 1:16.96 in the preliminaries and finished with a 1:17.37 in the consolation finals for sixth place in that race and 14th overall.

Evergreen -- which teamed with Tyee and Foster on the trip around the Seamount League regular season schedule -- finished with three points on Murray's state finish for 32nd place as a team.