Moses Lake girls finish second at the Big Nine swim championships
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin Herald - Anna Fair goes off the blocks after Ashley Madrishin touches during the second exchange of the 200-yard freestyle relay Thursday at the Columbia Basin Big Nine swim championships. The Chiefs finished second.
MOSES LAKE — When it comes to Columbia Basin Big Nine swimming, there's Wenatchee and then there's the rest of ‘em.
It was no surprise that Wenatchee won the CBBN team championship on Thursday by a landslide. But Moses Lake did beat the rest of ‘em, finishing second with some of the best swims of the season.
Anna Fair had already met the Class 4A state qualifying standard in the 100-yard butterfly and Thursday afternoon she put that stroke on display, winning CBBN championships in both the butterfly and the 200 individual medley.
Eisenhower's Maya Cunningham had the fastest time of the season (2 minutes, 14.71 seconds) going into the individual medley, but Fair put together a quality swim to win in 2:19.06.
She turned a 28.24 on her butterfly leg and went on to defeat a quality field.
But where Fair put the shine to the day was in the 100 butterfly field when she dipped under one minute with a winning time of 59.62, again defeating a quality field, which included Kailie Wulf (1:00.30) and Jordan Hartley (1:00.54) from Wenatchee.
“I broke the minute barrier, which is a big deal. I like swimming against Wenatchee because they're so good,” Fair said. “You have to step up your game when Wenatchee is there. I know what to expect after swimming against them for three years now.”
So far, Fair is the only state qualifier. She met the standard in the butterfly, swimming 1:00.60 earlier this season. The remainder of the team will have to settle up at the District 6 swim championships, which begin on Thursday at the Moses Lake pool.
“I just missed the backstroke qualifying time, but I see myself qualifying at the district meet,” Fair said. “I'm considering not resting to taper before state. I know I'm in a lot better shape this year and I'm a lot quicker. I just want to keep that going.”
Cora Dana had a big-time performance in the 100 freestyle, winning with a great swim of 56.28, which included splits of 26.97 and 29.31.
“We were incredible today,” Chiefs coach Tony St. Onge said. “Wenatchee is out there, they could win state. But we just keep getting faster. We want the fastest times to be at the last race of the season. We want to go faster at districts and even faster at state. Anna Fair will train straight through districts. We'll peak for districts for the kids that haven't qualified and again for state. We can peak twice.”
The Chiefs 200 freestyle relay went stroke for stroke with Wenatchee in one of the most competitive races of the day. Wenatchee's Kailie Wulf, Rae Ann Dressel, Abigail Wild and Hannah Van Heyningen posted a 1:45.44. But the Chiefs were spot on in 1:45.57. Dana, Ashley Madrishin, Fair and Shyanne Speed combined for that spectacular swim.
Lacy Johnson finished in a tie for second in the 200 freestyle in with a time of 2:11.85. She also scored on the 100 freestyle, placing fourth in 1:00.86.
“I knocked two seconds from my best time in the 200 freestyle, so that was a PR (personal record),” Johnson said. “The 200 is my favorite. It's the right distance for me because I'm really good at pacing myself. With the 100, you just have to swim full out, but with the 200 I work at my own pace.”
Columbia Basin Big Nine team scores — 1. Wenatchee, 769; 2. Moses Lake, 389. 50; 3. Eastmont, 336; 4. West Valley High, 302. 50; 5. Davis, 198; 6. Eisenhower, 175; 7. Sunnyside, 138