Two Moses Lake divers on to state meet
Moses Lake Chiefs diver Braxton Ford is state-bound after winning the diving competition at this weekend's district meet in Ellensburg.
ELLENSBURG - Following the district swim and dive championships at Central Washington University two Moses Lake Chiefs boys are on the way to the Tacoma to take part in the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) Class 4A state finals in Tacoma on Feb. 18-19.
Despite Richland pulling away for the district title with 479.50 points, the Chiefs held on and splashed past their rivals, the Wenatchee Panthers, for second place, scoring 417 points.
Wenatchee ended up with 411 points.
The individuals who will represent MLHS on the season's final weekend will be Braxton Ford, who won the diving competition, with 381.4 points and Patrick Jaruzel who took third in the same event, scoring 320 points and bettering the state standard by 20.
"We were at ninety percent best times throughout the meet," Chiefs head coach Tony St. Onge said. "The most we can ask for as coaches is for your kids to give their best performances."
The state tournament takes the top two finishers in each event from eight districts and then eight automatic qualifying times based on reaching an individual event's standard score needed to advance. The WIAA will fill each event with 24 athletes so if there are not eight qualifiers available, the state extends invitations to the eight highest scores following the top 16 and they will travel to Tacoma as wildcards.
According to St. Onge, diver Miles Hanson may still get in as a wildcard in the event, Kaelan Connacher, who finished third in the 100-yard backstroke (59.99) also may get in via this route and could also do so as a member of the 200-yard freestyle relay team along with Corey Bradshaw, Parker Merkley, and Evan McFarland (third, 1:37.43).
As many as eight wildcards could be named in an event with a low of zero also a possibility.
"We will have to wait a week to find out if we qualify for state in those events based on the state wild-card system," St. Onge said.
Moses Lake's top two scorers at the district meet were Connacher who scored 31 points and Bradshaw who finished with 29 points.