Moses Lake swims past Panthers

Chiefs win last home meet of season

MOSES LAKE — The Chiefs hosted Wenatchee for senior night and it was a night for the graduates to remember.

Moses Lake defeated the Panters 91-87. The win Thursday makes Moses Lake 10-2 this season and puts them second in the league to Eastmont.

"Tuesday we qualified the 200 freestyle relay team for state," said head coach Tony St. Onge.

The meet came down to the final race of the night, the 400 meter freestyle relay. Wenatchee was down 10 points going into the race and had to place first and second to take the win.

The Chiefs' team of Eric Butterfield, Craig Stout, Kraig Grant and Mario Polito gathered around lane four to try to seal the win for Moses Lake.

Wenatchee had teams on either side of the Chiefs looking to challenge Moses Lake for the win.

The race began with Wenatchee in first in lane two, Moses Lake in second and the other Wenatchee team in third in lane five.

Wenatchee came out strong but faded fast and by the third leg, Moses Lake was the clear winner of the race.

Grant hit the water and swam hard down the pool to give Polito room to swim.

When Polito dove in for the anchor leg of the race it was only to finish off the win. He finished a full lap ahead of the nearest team.

In the first race of the night, Moses Lake fell behind a half length early but earned a length and the lead with Polito's swim as the third leg of the team. Polito's 23.52 second 50 meter butterfly gave his team the space they needed in the pool.

Polito continued to make waves for Moses Lake, winning the 200 meter individual medley with a time of 2:05.20 and the 100 meter freestyle in 49.52 seconds.

"This was a good meet for our seniors," St. Onge said. "We've got a great group and they've led the team all season."

Moses Lake's seniors are: Brian Butterfield, Illya Demchuk, Chris Forrest, Grant, Nolan Hansen, Polito, Alexey Semenko, Jake Smedley, William Stout and Kustav Vyakhk.

Other results:

200 meter medley relay: 1 - Forrest, Brad Reeder, Polito and Grant 1:46.12; 3 - Jeremy Grant, Demchuck, Semenko, B. Butterfield 1:53.63; 5 - Austin Massart, Hansen, Dylan Grigg, George Olson 2:08.27

200 meter freestyle: 1 - E. Butterfield 1:58.31; 2 - C. Stout 2:03.38; 5 - Nick Kardong 2:10.64

200 meter individual medley: 3 - Marshall Goodrich 2:13.61; 4 - Reeder 2:20.85

50 meter freestyle: 2 - J. Grant 24.07; 3 - K. Grant 24.15; 6 - B. Butterfield 26.01

Diving: 2 - Smedley 197.85; 5 - Chad Borg 137.10; Anthony Palmen 133.30

100 meter butterfly: 1 - Semenko 1:01.48; 2 - C. Stout 1:01.95; 6 - Grigg 1:08.85

100 meter freestyle: 2 - E. Butterfield 53.29; 3 - K. Grant 54.22

500 meter freestyle: 2 - Goodrich 5:13.35; 5 - Kardong 5:54.48; 6 - Ceasar Seanez 6:06.52

200 meter freestyle relay: 2 - J. Grant, Semenko, C. Sout and E. Butterfield 1:38.61; 4 - B. Butterfield, Trevin Byington, Marc Bales and Goodrich 1:47.15; 5 - Seanez, Chris Jackson, Kyle Hickman and Kardong 1:56.21

100 meter backstroke: 2 - J. Grant 1:02.94; 3 - Forrest 1:03.43; 5 - Massart 1:09.71

100 meter breaststroke: 2 - Reeder 1:05.43; 4 - Semenko 1:11.27; 5 - Demchuck 1:15.67

400 meter freestyle relay: 4 - Reeder, Forrest, Kardong and Goodrich 3:59.61; 5 - Byington, Bales, Demchuk and Massart 4:10.57