high school swimming

Some familiar names posted top times Friday during preliminary races in the Intermountain Conference swimming championships. And a newcomer was the lone first-place finisher for the reigning girls team champion.

All of which set the stage for the finals, which begin noon Saturday at Juniper Swim & Fitness Center in Bend.

Bend High is the defending district and Class 5A state champion on the boys side, and the Lava Bears were paced Friday by juniors Alexander Moore, who led the field in the 200-yard freestyle, and Kurt Felder, who was first in the 100 butterfly.

For Summit, the 2016 girls IMC and state team champion, freshman Anneliese Husaby, was first in the butterfly for the Storm’s only first-place finish.

Mountain View made some waves in the girls preliminaries, led by senior Kennedy Bright’s wins in the 200- and 100-yard freestyles. Also for the Cougar girls, sophomore Emma Brady placed first in the 50 freestyle.

The Bend girls posted the fastest times in four events, highlighted by junior Emily Brockman in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke. Also placing first for the Lava Bears were freshman Maria Wold in the 500 freestyle and senior Elliyana Ferrin in the 100 backstroke.

Summit’s bid to dethrone Bend as the IMC boys champion started with a pair of two-time winners in the preliminaries. Senior Taj Mercer was first in both the individual medley and the 500 freestyle, and junior Logan Todd clocked the fastest times in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles.

Other preliminary winners among the boys were Redmond senior Nicky Tsai in the backstroke and Mountain View sophomore Griffin McKean in the breaststroke. For Ridgeview, the highest finisher Friday was junior Ben Hucke, who was second in the 100 freestyle.

The three relay races, which were not contested in the preliminary round, are certain to carry considerable weight in the finals.

Individual and team relay winners in the finals automatically qualify for the Class 5A state championships next Friday and Saturday at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham. Lanes at the state meet that are not occupied by district champions will be filled by swimmers with the next-fastest times from district meets around the state.