Chiefs make splash, take 20th
FEDERAL WAY — Over 600 swimmers and divers took part in the Kentridge Invitational on Saturday and the event featuring 40 teams saw Moses Lake’s squad wrap up 20th place with 52 points.
The top 24 finishers in any evens earned team points during the meet.
Braxton Ford was the highest placer from Moses Lake scoring 194 points, good for third place overall in the one-meter diving event.
Ford took the event which featured 50 divers.
“Braxton was on his game Saturday and dove consistently through the six dive event,” Chiefs coach Tony St. Onge said.
Daniel Camacho placed fifth in the event.
Reuben Huddleston was the highest placing swimmer in the meet with a 22nd place out of 128 in the 100-yard freestyle.
His time of 52.7 is his best performance of the season according to St. Onge.
The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Evan McFarland, Dominic Cachiotti, Kyle Reeder and Reuben Huddleston placed 22nd with a time of 1:39.2, which is their best performance of the season.
Freshman swimmer Reid Jackson placed 27th and junior Daniel Noteboom place 29th in the 500-yard freestyle.
“Reid and Daniel have been training very hard and putting in the extra time in the mornings to become strong distance swimmers,” St. Onge said.
Overall, St. Onge felt his team of swimmers got a taste of what to expect as the season winds down.
“ Our swimmers found out what a meet the level of a state competition was all about,” St. Onge said. “Hopefully it will motivate them to give it an extra effort the rest of the season and be ready for the championship phase of the season in February.”
Additionally, St. Onge noted what his team faced at the meet and how they will need to take the next step up his sports’ food chain.
“The swimming part of the meet was dominated by athletes that participate with their year-round USA teams,” he said. “This is something that our future swimmers in Moses Lake will need to do if they want to be competitive at this level of competition. It was definitely an eye opener for a lot of our swimmers.”
Next up the team travels to Whitworth College on Thursday.