Chiefs' relays chase state swimming medals
Devine, Polito also look to make mark at 4A meet
MOSES LAKE - In spite of a second-place finish at the recent district meet, Moses Lake's girls swimming and diving team knows the odds are against them going into the 4A state meet this weekend.
In comparison to their east-side rivals, the Chiefs are one of the most advanced and experienced teams. But head coach Tony St. Onge, a veteran of the state swimming circuit, knows the best squads lie west of the Cascades.
"They know what year-round swimming is all about," St. Onge said Wednesday as his girls practiced in their home pool for the last time this year. "Our kids…have got to eventually get the concept in mind that to compete with the best, they've got to do more than the rest. Right now, on a year-round basis, they're doing about half as much as the best."
Still, the Chiefs have plenty of reasons to be proud of their 2007 campaign. All three relay squads will compete at the King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way beginning Friday, sophomore Catherine Polito is a contender to medal in the 100-yard freestyle, and junior Heather Devine was a wild card qualifier for the diving event.
Moses Lake finished behind perennial power Wenatchee at districts two weeks ago but achieved its No. 1 goal.
"One hundred percent of the team came out with best times and that's always the goal," St. Onge said. "It kind of becomes a launching pad into the state meet."
Polito, who gained state experience as a freshman, is the fifth-ranked swimmer in the 100 freestyle. Jackson High School's Alana Pazevic is "kind of out there in a league of her own," St. Onge said, leading the field with a mark of 51.90, but Polito's qualifying time of 54.31 has her squarely in the middle of medal contention.
Polito went undefeated through her Columbia Basin League events, but was pushed by Walla Walla senior Sarah Hicks at districts. St. Onge feels Polito has nothing to lose because of her age.
"In my opinion, Catherine's one of the most talented swimmers in the Northwest," he said. "There's no real pressure on her, being a sophomore. More pressure is probably on the seniors - however, she wants this as bad as they do."
The Chiefs' relay times will have to be better, St. Onge believes, to contend for a medal. None of the three squads are ranked higher than 11th going into state and that team - the 400-yard freestyle foursome of Megan Schuh, Reilly Hourigan, Stephanie McFarland and Polito - will likely need to drop about 4 seconds to earn a spot in the championship finals.
"Our expectation is to be the most improved team at the state meet," St. Onge said. "If we can do that, we're going to move up in the points and the standings all across the board."
In the 200-yard medley relay, Moses Lake sits about 2.5 seconds out of eighth place. Ana Costa will open the event by swimming the backstroke, with Cari Cortez following in the breaststroke, McFarland in the butterfly, and Polito in the freestyle.
Polito anchors the other two relays, but in the 200-yard freestyle event she'll lead off. Schuh, Hourigan and McFarland will follow her.
"We're going to lead off with our fastest swimmer," St. Onge said. "We want to get out there and put the pressure on everyone else."
The Chiefs' qualifying time of 1 minute, 44.97 seconds is 14th-fastest among the 24 competing teams, but this time Moses Lake should only need to drop about 1.5 seconds to reach the championship finals.
In the 1-meter diving event, Devine comes in ranked 24th. For her coach, that again translates to a low-pressure situation.
"In her situation there's nowhere to go but up," St. Onge said of Devine.
With so many top-flight squads in attendance, St. Onge is realistic about his team's goals. It would take a Herculean effort for a squad as small as Moses Lake's to finish among the top 10.
"To go top 20 in the state, we have to improve those times," St. Onge said. "To go top 15, we're going to have to put everybody in the top eight. To go top 10, we'd have to put them all in the top three or four."
The coach also talked about what it will take for his program to make the next jump to perennial state championship contender.
"We've got the facilities - now we've got to get the mindset and the culture to say, 'This is what it takes to be the best,'" St. Onge said.