Polito not alone in state bid
The Moses Lake swim team got a little help for its trip to the state swim meet with the wildcard entry of the 200-medley relay to accompany Mario Polito this weekend. Pictured are Jeff Warner (bubbles floating above him), Jeremy Grant, pictured to Warner's left, Alexey Semenko, Mario Polito, Kraig Grant, Chris Forrest, Robert Kubosumi and Brad Reeder. Not pictured is Craig Stout.<br>Brad Redford/ Columbia Basin Herald
Moses Lake awarded a wildcard entry for 200-medley relay
MOSES LAKE — Mario Polito was supposed to go at it alone.
As the only swimmer from the Moses Lake swim team to qualify for the state meet at the King County Aquatic Center, Polito was going to make a run at state by himself this weekend.
Not anymore, as the Moses Lake 200-medley relay team was awarded a wildcard entry into the meet. They may be seeded 24th, but Moses Lake head coach Tony St. Onge has expectations he'd like to meet.
"We did what we had to do to get in, now we have to take advantage of the situation," St. Onge said.
Teams qualify for the state tournament by either setting a qualifying time during the regular season or the district tournament, or a team wins the district championship for an event.
If all 24 slots are not filled, the WIAA fills the slots with wildcard entries awarded to teams for times set during the district championship meet only.
"We got our best time at the right time," St. Onge said. "We have to take advantage of our opportunity and go in thinking we can do it."
Now St. Onge has brought along nine more swimmers to get ready for one more event. He made the plans just in case they got a wildcard and thinks he can get the results he is looking for.
What that would require would be a full second drop by each swimmer in 50-yard times in each leg of the 200-medley relay. Opening the relay, St. Onge has Chris Forrest penciled in, who started swimming for Moses Lake this year. Following Forrest is Brad Reeder for the breaststroke portion of the race.
Forrest and Reeder have nine months of collegiate swimming experience between them and room for improvement, St. Onge said.
"It is realistic that we can decrease three or four seconds on our relay," St. Onge said. "That is what we hope for."
Polito is in the same position, needing to drop a full second from both his 50-free and 100-free state qualifying times. He is seeded 14th in the 50-free (22.51) and 10th in the 100-free (49.19) and would need to drop a full second to finish in the top five at the state meet.
Polito hasn't tapered or shaved all year and St. Onge believes that works to his benefit heading into the meet.
"I believe Mario has the ability and the work ethic to be a state champion," St. Onge said. "This year is more of a matter of how fast he can go and how high he can place."