FEDERAL WAY — The 100-yard breaststroke at the state championships will be a clash of friends with contrasting styles.
Port Angeles senior Carter Juskevich and junior teammate Jaine Macias enter the 2A swimming and diving championships both seeded in the top four in the event.
Sequim and Port Townsend also will be competing at the 2A state meet, which begins today at King County Aquatic Center.
Macias, who won the District 2/3 title with a record-setting time is seeded second, and Juskevich, who took second at districts, is fourth.
“It’s a great race. I love that I have her to compete with in the water, in practice all the time and in races. It’s just a friendly competition,” Juskevich said.
“I love the event and I love her.”
With two swimmers ranked so high, Port Angeles should be able to rack up a bunch of team points in the 100 breast this weekend.
“You can get a lot of points. And what’s hopefully been the benefit, too, is that the two girls have had a chance to be training together all season and pushing each other,” Roughriders coach Rich Butler said.
“Every now and then you kind of lose sight of how much you need to work because you might be sort of by yourself, but those two have been pushing each other all year.”
Macias broke the District 2/3 meet record and the school record in the 100 breast last week with a time of 1 minute, 6.80 seconds. Joni Jacobs held the previous Port Angeles record with a 1:07.20 in 1995.
After a rough first day at districts last week, Macias said she had to clear her mind and not worry about her times or her races to have a better second day.
“Going into state, I’m just going to not think about anything,” she said.
“Because I’m a thinker, so I over-think everything and I overwhelm myself.
“Carter, she envisions her races. I can’t do that. If I do that, I totally psych myself out and do horrible.”
Despite having been friends and teammates with many of the same coaches for years, the two swimmers’ mental approaches couldn’t be more different.
Macias wants to avoid a race until it happens, while Juskevich races it in her mind numerous times before it starts.
“Up until I stand on the blocks, I am thinking about every turn, every stroke, every pull-down,” Juskevich said.
“I’m thinking high elbows, fast turns, quick underwaters, like really squeezing my legs together and stuff, and I literally envision myself winning that race over and over and over and over again.
“I don’t necessarily think about times, but just all the nitty gritty little tiny pieces that go into swimming a successful race.”
Both ways seem to work.
Along with her runner-up in the 100 backstroke, Juskevich earned a district championship in the 200 freestyle.
In addition to the 100 backstroke, Macias also won the 100 butterfly at districts. In fact, she carries the top seed into state in the latter event and is the only swimmer with a sub-minute time at 59.73 seconds.
“I’m really excited because I’m first, but then I’m like, the girls I’m going against, I know they’re going to put up a really big fight, which is what I want because the more competition, the more fun it is,” Macias said.
“I just am going to try to make it to the top eight and race them at finals.”
Having the best 100 butterfly time in 2A this year puts a target on Macias. Everybody, including Macias, is gunning to break that 59.73-second time.
“She knows [the seeding is] just telling her where she’s at, but I guarantee you, she wants to finish it that way,” Butler said.
“It’s one of those, it paints a target on your back, so you have to learn how to deal with that.
“Jaine knows it’s just a seeding and . . . she wants to be faster than that 59. She wants to beat her own time.”
Macias and Juskevich also are part of two top-three relay teams, the 200 free relay and the 200 medley, along with Taylor Beebe and Sierra Hunter.
They are within a tenth of a second of school records in both relays, and they’re seeded second in the 200 free relay, only three-tenths of a second behind North Kitsap.
Interestingly, the plan was for the relay foursome to swim the 400 free relay, not the 200 free relay. But Macias wanted to try the 200 free relay and finally got her way.
“I told Carter and Mr. Butler we really should go after the 200 free relay, because I hate the 400 free relay, it’s such a hard event. And they were like, no, no, no,” Macias said.
“And finally Carter was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it,’ and that’s like our best relay.
“It’s a sprint event, so it’s like all power, and it’s just like the funnest event ever, because you’re just sprinting as hard as you can and it’s so short.”
Macias, Juskevich, Hunter and Beebe are four of 16 Riders competing at the state championships.
Along with the two relays, Hunter, a freshman, made state in the 200 individual medley and the 500 freestyle.
Beebe will compete in the 100 backstroke.
Erin Edwards will compete in the 200 free and 500 free, and Kylee Reid made state in the 200 individual medley.
The Riders also qualified a 400 free relay team for state.
Other Port Angeles swimmers going to state are Jayden Sparhawk, Gennie Litle, Sarah Tiemersma, Ashlee Seelye, Jane Rudzinski, Hailey Scott and Kiara Amundson.
The Riders also are sending three divers to state: Cassii Middlestead, Sydney Miner and Lum Fu.
Port Townsend has six swimmers going to the state meet and Sequim has one.
Chloe Rogers and Corinne Pierson lead the Redhawks with two individual and two relay state qualifications each.
Rogers helped set two school records at the district meet, swimming the 100 freestyle in 56.45 seconds and teaming up with Corinne Pierson, Camille Ottaway and Ismay Gale for a school-record time of 2:01.57 in the 200 medley relay.
Rogers also will compete in the 50 freestyle and the 400 free relay, which she will swim with Gale, Pierson and Emily Harrenstein.
Pierson set school records at districts in her two individual events, the 100 butterfly (1:07.42) and the 100 back (1:05.21).
Sequim’s lone state contestant is Sydnee Linnane, who will compete in the 100 backstroke.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
