FEDERAL WAY — It was the second time in a week that she’d broken a school record in the 200-yard freestyle, but on Saturday afternoon it was for a medal.
Mountain View’s Darya Samiee finished in fourth place at the 4A girls state swim meet, missing third place by just .65 seconds. Her time was 1 minute, 55.86 seconds.
But the distance between third and fourth paled in comparison to the personal goal Samiee accomplished, competing in the 200 free for the first time in her four-year state meet career.
“Since freshman year I had always gotten fifth place in the 500 free, so I wanted to mix it up in the 200 free and I got fourth so that’s just crazy. Mind-blowing,” Samiee said. “It was a big deal.”
First year Mountain View coach Mark McBride was at a loss for words trying to describe Samiee’s performance.
“Outstanding. She exceeded every expectation,” he said.
But Samiee wasn’t the only local swimmer to get time on the podium at the King County Aquatic center on Saturday.
Heritage sophomore Colleen Woods finished fourth in the 100 butterfly in 58.88, one year after going home on the first day.
She may be smaller in size than her fellow competitors but as the old saying goes, it’s the size of the fight that matters.
“In that last turn, I was so, so tired and I pushed through and was in fifth. I thought ‘OK, I want to move up one spot. I’m just going keep fighting.’ And I didn’t give up until that last second until I touched the wall and saw I was fourth.”
“She’s a competitor,” said Heritage coach Dave Shoup. “She has a ton of competitiveness in a little body. She trains hard, races hard and it was neat to see her this year get up on the award stand.”
In other finals highlights:
• Union’s 200 medley relay of Marissa Young, Livi Cox, Shelby Conrad, and Katharine Kaplan placed seventh in 1:55.29.
• Union junior Marissa Young finished sixth in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.65
• Camas senior Anna Panebianco finished seventh in the 100 back with a time of 1:00.83
• In the 3A meet, Prairie’s Keiko Inouye was eighth in the 100 back in 1:01.80.
