NEW BERN — The Washington swim team turned in its best performance of the year in its biggest meet to date on Wednesday at the New Bern YMCA, the boys taking first with 159 points and the girls also taking first with 182 points.

The Pam Pack faced off against New Bern, East Carteret, Jacksonville, Havelock and Southern Wayne.

Washington’s relay teams notched five first-place finishes with impressive marks and a second-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay.

Individually, Lanie Godley started things off with a photo-finish win over East Carteret’s Carlee Boyd. Godley, who has been one of head coach Spenser Pake’s most consistent swimmers thus far, edged her opponent by just .12 of a second (2:11.69). Later in the meet, Godley also took first place in the 100-yard butterfly with a 1:06.26 finish.

Sophomore standout Kevin Andrews followed suit in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing first with a time of 1:55.52, while teammate Justin Clark took second with a time of 2:06.81.

Returning state qualifier Megan Baldwin also had an impressive day in the pool. Baldwin won the 200-yard individual medley by 12 seconds, posting a time of 2:22.63, and also took the 100-yard breaststroke later in the meet with a 1:12.28 time.

Continuing Washington’s success was Eric Lovenberg, who edged his brother, Tony, by just .28 of a second (2:10.24) in the 200 IM. The next closest time was 2:33.75 by Jacksonville’s Tyler Murray.

The photo finishes continued into the girls 50-yard freestyle. Amy Arnold and Jacksonville’s Reina Romero both notched a first-place time of 28.23, which was considered too close to call, so both came away with the eight points.

Oddly enough, Washington’s A.J. Howard and New Bern’s Christian Rust both finished with a first-place time of 24.02 and were both awarded eight points as a result. Howard took to the pool again two races later, only to blow away the competition in the 100-yard butterfly with a 58.38 mark.

In the 100-yard freestyle, Arnold finished strong again, edging East Carteret’s Erin Midgett with a time of 1:03.36, but the boys couldn’t match, as Clark fell two seconds behind Rust for first.

Other notable times on the evening were Andrews in the 100-yard backstroke (59.09) and Lovenberg in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:07.48).

“It was a fun day,” Pake said. “The swimmers really seem to step up when they go to someone else’s pool. The confidence is high. We know what we need to improve on, get in better shape and get ready for regionals and states.”

Washington will host Conley and West Carteret next Wednesday at the Susie Gray McConnell Sports Complex.