The Mercer Island boys swim team has dominated other Washington state teams for the past 14 months, including a 111-58 win over Bellevue Saturday at Mary Wayte Pool. The Islanders took it to another level Jan. 13 at the Albuquerque Academy Invitational, besting 14 other high school teams from the Western United States. The Islanders finished second to only the host team.

“We had some best times and we showed well,” said Mercer Island boys swim head coach Jeff Lowell. “And they all bonded and brought that sense of team back to the other members of the team.”

The Islanders bonded to the tune of 899 team points, trailing the host team by just 12 points.

One of the biggest results of the meet came in diving, as Beau Riebe continues to rewrite every record book he comes in contact with. Riebe scored 414 points — 64 points better than his closest competitor — breaking the meet and pool records. Riebe also went far beyond the 380 points needed for All-American Consideration.

Mercer Island’s dominance in the pool was no more evident than during the 200-yard freestyle, as four of the top six finishers wore maroon and white. Sophomore Murray Longbotham led the pack with a first place finish in a time of 1:46.40. Tyler Benster (third – 1:47.04), Jeff Benca (fourth – 1:55.54) and Will Voit (sixth – 1:57.29) followed Longbotham to the wall.

The Albuquerque Invitational also lent the Islanders another challenge, the thinner air at a high altitude.

“You have to make some adjustments in their times but they dealt with it really well,” said Lowell.

Benster was the only other Islander to win an individual event, the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 5:05.30.

Mercer Island relay teams took first in the 400- and 200-yard freestyle relays.

The Islanders hosted the 3A KingCo Invitational at Mary Wayte pool on Saturday. The event was designed to complete the regular-season schedule for dual meets that were canceled due to snow and power outages. The event was scheduled to be Mercer Island hosting Lakeside in a non-league exhibition but that meet was canceled to complete the KingCo schedule. Mercer Island defeated Bellevue but did not take a single first-place finish in any of the races, leaving it to depth to beat the Wolverines. And depth ruled the score board as Mercer Island put up three state qualifying times and 22 district meet qualifying times. Leading the way was freshman Ian Fisk, who posted a state time of 4:59.98 in the 500-yard freestyle for second place overall. Fisk also joined Eric Stadius, Inar Zhang, and Chris Picardo to pick up a state time of 1:45.99 in the 200 medley relay and senior Jay Voit, Benca, and Alex Tao in the 400 freestyle relay for a state time of 3:29.33.

The Islander relay teams swept all three events Thursday at Mary Wayte Pool as Mercer Island stayed perfect against KingCo teams with a 139-46 victory over Liberty. The Islanders finished in first and second during all but three events and took first place in every event with a different competitor. Lowell gave many Islander swimmers who have qualified for the post season the night off, while giving other Islander swimmers one more chance to qualify for post season events. Mercer Island posted 48 district qualifying times during the meet.

The Islanders started the night with Will Voit winning the 200-yard freestyle (1:59.92) and teammates Eric Bauer (2:01.40) and Quinn Chasan (2:05.10) in second and third place.

Islander Kyle Schaeffer won the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.15. Schaeffer beat the previous meet record against Liberty set last year by Longbotham. Picardo took first in the 200 individual medley.

“Chris Ferrell, Chris Picardo and Tyler Benster have all done well so far this year,” said Lowell.

Fisk took first in the 100 fly (57.07), Charlie Horton won the 100 free (51.34) and Tao won the 500 free (5:10.08). Ryan Hammond won the 100 back (1:05.49), Ryan Ellis won the 100 breaststroke and Riebe set another meet record with 252.20 points in the diving competition.

Maybe the most impressive thing about the Islanders this season is where they are compared to this time last year.

“Last year at this time we had eight or nine state times,” said Lowell. “This year we have 16 already and we are close in eight others.”

The 2005-2006 Mercer Island swim team finished first in KingCo, districts and at the state meet.

Mercer Island will face Newport at Mary Wayte Pool tomorrow at 3:30 p.m., and the 3A KingCo championship meet will also take place at Mary Wayte Pool Feb. 2-3.