Swim & dive brings home medals
Courtney Schwiesow swims the 100 breastroke at the state swim meet in Federal Way. Schwiesow finished fifth in the event.
Federal Way - The Moses Lake girls swim and dive team returned from a successful performance at the state meet last weekend, bringing home medals and setting personal and school records.
Courtney Schwiesow, who was seeded seventh in the breastroke, finished fifth with a time of 1:07.80. Sammy Hendrickson, the 4A Big Nine Diver of the Year, finished eighth in the 1 meter event, and the 200 medley team of Grace Hochstatter, Amber Garrett, Victoria Dalrymple and Schwiesow, set a Moses Lake High School record as they finished 13th in the event.
"On the first day of the meet (Friday) we really uncorked our times and set some personal bests, which got us into the finals in our events," coach Tony St. Onge said. "Saturday we fell off those times a bit, but still ended up receiving medals."
St. Onge said the girls were excited to stand at the podium when the hardware was handed out.
"They were pretty fired up," he said. "The girls did what they needed to do to get there, setting personal bests and that's how you want to swim at state."
St. Onge has coached many of swim and dive teams over the years, but this particular group he said, really stood out.
"The girls made a bigger commitment this season than they had in past years," he said. "They sacrificed a lot. They were eating right, got plenty of rest and were able to avoid the pitfalls of being teenagers. I attribute that to the senior leadership on the team."
Forty girls turned out for the team, 24 qualified for districts and the more made it to state than in years gone by.
Seniors Schwiesow, Hendrickson and Hailey Garza will graduate this year, so the team, St. Onge said, has some "big fins to fill."
"We are really going to miss them," he said. "But that just means there will be opportunities for others to step up."
The state swimmer weren't the one ones to receive accolades as St. Onge was voted the 4A Big Nine Swim and Dive Coach of the Year.
"Its really nice to be recognized," he said. "But the success of the team is not about me, it's about the accomplishments of the kids."
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