KingCo Titles go to MI Wrestling and MI Swim & Dive; Gymnasts take 2nd

Gymnastics:

At the Feb. 5 KingCo gymnastics tournament at Lake Washington High School, the Mercer Island High School Gymnastics Team almost hit the 150-point mark (149.375), but still fell short of , the Mt. Si Wildcats who finished first with 155.125 points. Both Mt. Si and Mercer Island will move on to compete at Districts next Saturday at Sammamish High School at 6:15pm.

"While no Islanders dominated first or second in any event, they picked up points consistently after that showing the depth of the team," said Islander parent Eric Gaffney, whose daughter Vanessa is one of the team's top performers in the floor exercises.

Mt. Si's Kennedy Richmond took first in vault (8.6), Bars (7.75), and Floor (9.45). First place in Beam went to Bellevue's Jacqueline Hamilton (9.050). Richmond took second in Beam (8.5), and Shawna Sarrett from Liberty took third (8.2). Second place in vault went to Tia Riley from Liberty (8.525), and Islander Kari Johnson took third (8.4). MIHS junior Kristin Trumble took second in Bars, and third went to Hamilton. The Islanders took fourth and fifth in bars, Johnson (7.350) and Tonayo Crow (6.8). Hamilton took second in Floor (9.4), with Mercer Island's Vanessa Gaffney taking third (8.7).

For individual Islanders in the scoring, Trumble placed third overall (31.3), and Johnson placed sixth (30.9). 

Wrestling:

took home another KingCo trophy Saturday, Feb. 5 at Liberty High School with 231 points, beating second-place Mt. Si (165 pts) and third place (Juanita 158).

Seven Islander wrestlers competed for first place in their weight class. KingCo Champions from Mercer Island included Connor Gullstad (119) [dec. Brad Ballard 7-0], Luca Caruccio (119) [dec. Jonathan Iwazaki, 11-1], Kyle Shanafelt (135) [maj. dec. Aaron Peterson, 9-0], Blake Johnson (145) [Peter Owens, pin], Phil Frazier (171) [dec. Logan McCallum, 6-4 OT], and Colton Knebel (189) [Chase Miller, pin]. At 103, Jake Pruchno from Mercer Island came in second.

Districts will be held next weekend on Saturday, Feb.12 at Glacier Peak High School.

Swim and Dive:

The put in a dominating performance to win the Feb. 4-5 Kingco Championship with 840 points, more than double the score of second-place team Newport (394). Other schools in the competition finished third through seventh place (followed by team scores): Roosevelt (367), Interlake (294), Garfield (288), Issaquah (287), and Bellevue (277). The competition was held in two separate locations: Swimmers competed at the University of Washington Pavilion Pool and divers competed at the Newport Hills Swim and Tennis Club.

Top finishers for Mercer Island were:

200-yd Medley Relay Team: (1st) Andy Wingerson, Marco Signorelli, Kyle Moline and Quinn Markwith, 1:42.02

200-yd Freestyle: (2nd) Jimmy Deiparine, 1:48.92

200-yd Individual Medley: (2nd) Dan Simons, 2:02.90; (4th) Eric Benca 2:07.69, (5th) Markwith 2:08.12

50-yd Freestyle: (2nd) K. Moline, 22.91

Diving: (4th) Cody Hall (297.10), (7th) Connor Nielson (286.80)

100-yd Butterfly: (4th) Wingerson, 56.03

100-yd Freestyle: (3rd) Signorelli (49.66), (4th) Deiparine (49.99), (5th) Benca (50.30)

500-yd Freestyle: (5th) Gabe Tse (5:14.36) (6th) Samuel Peterson (5:20.17).

200-yd Freestyle Relay Team: (1st)  Benca, Wingerson, Markwith, Signorelli (1:31.23)

100-yd Backstroke: (3rd) K. Moline (56.63), (5th) Simons (58.04)

100-yd Breaststroke: (3rd) Wingerson (1:02.99)

400-yd Freestyle Relay Team: (1st)  Simons, Deiparine, Benca, K. Moline (3.17.75)

The newest state qualifiers for the Islanders this weekend were Ian Piper (100 Back) and Dan Simons (200 IM) and the members of all MI relay teams.

Districts for Swimming will be held at the Mary Wayte Pool next weekend (Feb. 11-12), starting at 4:15 p.m. on Friday and 5:15 p.m. on Saturday.