The Auburn Riverside boys swimming team will square off against rivals Auburn and Auburn Mountainview on Tuesday afternoon to decide who gets bragging rights to the best high school swim team in town.
For the past two years, the honor has gone to the Ravens.
“It’s a lot of fun. We take a lot of pride in it,” said Auburn Riverside coach Patrick McKeehan. “We practice with those guys all season long and we see them all over the place. We talk with them and compare times. It’s just a fun little battle for bragging rights.”
The Auburn All-City meet will begin at 3:30 p.m. at the Auburn pool.
Although claiming victory in the showdown is nice, it’s just icing on the cake for Auburn Riverside. Right now the more pressing goal for the Ravens, as the season winds down, is placing well in the South Puget Sound League North 4A and moving a few swimmers to the Feb. 19-20 state 4A meet at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.
“We’re sitting pretty well,” McKeehan said. “We’re starting to drop times again. It’s always hard when you come back from the break to get everyone back into it. I’m really pleased with the way we’re moving forward.”
Last season, the Ravens’ 200-meter freestyle relay team qualified for the state meet, taking home 17th out of 25 teams.
“We lost Kyle Rogers and Devin Cramer, who both swam on our state relay team last year,” McKeehan said. “But we’ve got Ryan Atwood back, and he’s been big for us this year. Brandon Hand has stepped up as well.”
In addition to the returning state competitors, this year’s relay team features Alan Reiss and Nick Serdahl.
“It’s real nice to have Ryan,” McKeehan said of his team’s co-captain, along with Reiss, Serdahl and diver Deon Johnson. “He (Atwood) just qualified for districts in every event. So he’s the kind of kid who you can put in any event and he’ll get to a first or second place anytime. Most of the time, it’s a first. It’s very nice to know he’s there.”
McKeehan hopes Atwood can qualify for state in an individual event, as well as with the relay team.
“Ryan is close in the 100 freestyle, but there is not a lot of wiggle room there,” McKeehan said. “I like his chances in the breaststroke as well.”
In addition, McKeehan hopes Hand can move on past districts and the league meet.
“Brandon Hand is coming on strong” he said. “Having those two or three guys at the top who can compete for a victory every time is just nice. It lets you spread other guys around. Brandon I like in the 50 free, and I think he has a shot at qualifying or at least getting an allocation at districts.”
The Ravens swam against Kentridge on Thursday, with results unavailable at press time. The winner nets second in the SPSL North, with the loser settling for third.
The SPSL North meet will be held at 2 p.m. next Saturday at Curtis High School in University Place. The West Central District III meet will be contested Feb. 5-6 at Rogers High School in Puyallup.
