State swim meet starts Friday
Pictured in back row from left are Hailey Garza, Courtney Schwiesow, Amber Garrett and Sammy Hendrickson, Front row from left are Grace Hochstatter, Jordan Richeson, Kelly Garrett, Kaitlynn Knitter and Victoria Dalrymple. Not pictured is Natilee Ruiz.
MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake girls swim & dive team will have six Lady Chiefs competing for state recognition this weekend.
Courtney Schwiesow, will be participating in the 100 breaststroke, where she is currently ranked seventh in the district, and is also a member of the 21st ranked 200 medley relay team made of her, Grace Hochstatter, Amber Garrett and Victoria Dalyrmple that will be swimming at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way too. Jordan Richeson and Kelly Garrett are alternates.
Amber Garrett, will also swim the 100 butterfly, where she is currently ranked 22nd.
Sammy Hendrickson, who is ranked 8th and was named the Big Nine Diver of the Year, will compete in the 1 meter dive event. Hailey Garza, ranked 14th, will also dive for Moses Lake.
State participants from Othello and Ephrata will also make the trip with the Chiefs as the two schools have co-op swimmers that train and travel with Moses Lake.
The Huskies Natilee Ruiz, ranked No. 1 in the 100 freestyle and 200 individual medley, will be competing in both for Othello. She currently holds four state records in the freestyle and individual medley, was voted the 2A Swimmer of the Year. She will also will be swimming in the Olympic qualifying trials in June.
The Tigers are represented by Kaitlynn Knitter, who is currently ranked 24th in the 100 butterfly. She is the first Ephrata swimmer to qualify for state.
The 4A preliminaries get underway Friday at 2:30 p.m. The 2A preliminaries start at 6:15. Finals are on Saturday, starting at 2:30 p.m. for the 4A competition, and 6:30 for 2A.