Another blowout before crunchtime

MOSES LAKE - For the second straight double dual, the Moses Lake swimming team made easy work of a nonleague and league opponent.

This time, Hanford took the major blunt of the damage with a 159-19 loss to the Chiefs, while Richland fell 119-64 unexpectedly for Moses Lake.

"We expected Richland to be tougher than they were, but we have been going hard the last two weeks," said Moses Lake swimming coach Tony St. Onge.

Moses Lake finished first in six of the 12 events and had three swimmers finish in the top four of seven events to secure the win. Moses Lake also got qualifying times from Kyle Kittrell and Ceasar Seanez in the 500-free for the district tournament and Rhoan Ashby and Tucker Lybbert in the 50-free, bringing the Chiefs total district qualifiers to 16.

But, the win over Richland signified the end of guaranteed victories with Eastmont coming to Moses Lake next Thursday in a battle for the top spot in the Big Nine.

"We are feeling successful, but we will see another side of success next week," St. Onge said.

"Eastmont is faster than us in every event except for what Mario (Polito) is in," St. Onge added.

Polito finished first in the 50- and100-free and helped lead the Chiefs to first-place finishes in the 200-medley and 200-free relay. Polito remains the only Moses Lake swimmer to qualify for the state tournament.

St. Onge said the Chiefs are 2.9 seconds away from the 200-free and would like to have a relay and another event for Polito qualified for state before the district tournament in February.

"We are getting closer on the relay," St. Onge added.

Results from Tuesday's matchup with Davis: 200-medley relay: Moses Lake A (first) - Jeff Warner, Brad Reeder, Alexey Semenko and Mario Polito; Moses Lake B (third) - Jeremy Grant, Kraig Grant, Craig Stout and Robert Kubosumi; 200-free: Eric Butterfield (second), Jeremy Grant (third); 200 I.M.: Brad Reeder (second), Craig Stout (third) and Robert Kubosumi (fourth); 50-free: Mario Polito (first), Katlyn Lopez (second) andKraig Grant (third); Diving: Tim Molitor (first), Jacob Smedley (second) and Rhoan Ashby (third); 100-butterfly: Jeff Warner (first), Alexey Semenko (second) and Craig Stout (fourth); 100-free: Mario Polito (first), Robert Kubosumi (second) and Katlyn Lopez (third); 500-free: Eric Butterfield (second) and Chris Forrest (fourth); 200-free relay: Moses Lake A (first) - Katlyn Lopez, Kraig Grant, Jeff Warner and Mario Polito; Moses Lake B (third) - Rhoan Ashby, Tim Molitor, Tucker Lybbert and Eric Butterfield; 100-back: Jeff Warner (second), Jeremy Grant (third) and Alexey Semenko (fourth); 100-breast: Brad Reeder (second), Kraig Grant (third) and Andrew Gjefle (fourth); 400-free relay: Moses Lake A (second) - Eric Butterfield, Katlyn Lopez, Jeremy Grant and Robert Kubosumi; Moses Lake B (third) - Alexey Semenko, Chris Forrest, Craig Stout and Brad Reeder.