Union swimmers have plenty to celebrate after 4A state meet

FEDERAL WAY — A pair of top-four individual finishes and two more medals in the relays was quite a haul for Union’s Sam Empey, yet the sophomore left Saturday’s 4A boys state swimming championships wanting more.

“I was expecting a little more, I set high standards for myself, but I feel like I did best with what I was dealt with,” said Empey, who took second place in the 100-yard butterfly finals and fourth in the 50 free.

Even after taking sixth place in the team scoring for their best finish in school history, it was a feeling shared by Titans swimmers and coaches, in large part because of the high bar they set during last weekend’s bi-district meet with seven wins all-combined.

“We call it the district honeymoon, because they perform well and then they come to state and oftentimes, it’s hard to come back and repeat that,” said coach Doug Lumbard, who leads the Evergreen Public Schools high school swim programs. “It’s one of those things.”

Still, Union had plenty to celebrate after the finals were over Saturday night at King County Aquatic Center.

For one, the Titans placed in the top eight of all three relays — the 200 medley, 200 free and 400 free. A fifth-place finish in the middle relay, led by Steven Empey, Sam Empey, Duc Bui and Alexander Wahlman, was the team’s best.

“To get three relays in the big eight was huge,” Lumbard said.

Freshman Owen Robertson added a pair of eighth-place finishes in the 200 free and 500 free, respectively, in addition to swimming legs on two of the Titans’ relays.

And for Sam Empey, taking second place in the 100 fly (50.83 seconds) came shortly after swimming the 50 free and a brief pause for medal ceremonies.

“It was right after the 50 free, so it was a hard double, but I was just trying to place second, and I did so,” he said.

Once the finals were over, Union couldn’t help but look ahead to next season. The Titans return all of their state qualifiers, and perhaps with a couple more additions, they’re well-positioned to climb higher on the team leaderboard.

“We only had three individual swimmers at finals, so I think all of us really showed up during finals,” Sam Empey said. “If we get a couple more in the finals next year, I think we could get into that top three.”

Other local placers included Battle Ground senior Carsten Hicks. In the 100 fly preliminary round Friday, Hicks had the eighth-fastest time to qualify for the championship finals, and improved to sixth place on Saturday with a time of 52.40 seconds.

Camas, which placed 16th as a team, had a seventh-place finish from Nathan Kim in the 200 individual medley (1:50.04). Kim also appeared to secure a top-five finish in the 100 backstroke, but was later disqualified due to a false start.

4A STATE MEET

At King County Aquatic Center, Federal Way

Saturday’s finals

Local results

Team scores — 1, Curtis 292; 2, Newport 282; 3, Jackson 168. Also: 6, Union 137; 16, Camas 60; 24, Battle Ground 15.

200 medley relay — 7, Union (Sam Empey, Alexander Wahlman, Steven Empey, Owen Robertson) 1:38.03; 13, Camas (Nathan Kim, Tyler Torve, James Crawford, Sahn Kim) 1:41.26.

200 freestyle — 8, Owen Robertson (Union) 1:50.04.

200 individual medley — 7, Nathan Kim (Camas) 1:57.25

50 freestyle — 4, Sam Empey (Union) 21.11; 15, Carsten Hicks (Battle Ground) 22.53.

100 butterfly — 2, Sam Empey (Union) 50.83; 6, Carsten Hicks (Battle Ground) 52.40.

100 freestyle — 9, Alexander Wahlman (Union) 48.67.

500 free — 8, Owen Robertson (Union) 5:00.38; 14, James Crawford (Camas) 5:01.33.

200 free relay — 5, Union (Steven Empey, Sam Empey, Duc Bui, Alexander Wahlman) 1:29.28; 10, Camas (Isaac Yim, Andrew Wade, Andrew Wessel, Tyler Torve) 1:32.76.

100 backstroke — DQ, Nathan Kim (Camas).

100 breaststroke — 12, Tyler Torve (Camas) 1:01.23.

400 free relay — 8, Union (Owen Robertson, Duc Bui, Alexander Wahlman, Steven Empey) 3:22.91; 9, Camas (James Crawford, Isaac Yim, Sahn Kim, Nathan Kim) 3:19.08.