Manta Rays compete in 2017 Sprint Shootout
Courtesy photo Manta Ray swimmers (from left to right) Azzy Alvarez, Annika Burke, Britni Reed and Lizzy Severin pose for a photo.
MOSES LAKE — 46 athletes from Manta Ray Aquatics participated in the Sprint Shootout swim meet hosted at the Tony St. Onge Pool of Dreams recently.
This swim competition had an unconventional format in which swimmers participated in preliminary sprints of all four competitive strokes and a 100 individual medley.
After completing the five preliminary swims, the eight athletes from each age bracket with the fastest overall times advanced to the “Sprint Shootout” portion of the meet, where they competed in one-on-one swim-offs in the sprint freestyle to be named the fastest swimmer at the meet.
Manta Ray Aquatics posted an impressive five representatives for the sprint shoot-out portion of the competition: Anthony Alvarez (9) Calvin Becker (8), Brett Jorgensen (16), Cole Lindberg (14) and Dylan Moore (9).
All five boys swam strong sprint freestyles for their age groups. The Manta Ray who progressed furthest in the competition was Cole Lindberg, who advanced all the way to the semi-final round of the shootout, achieving a personal best of 25.54 second in his 50 freestyle. During preliminaries, Cole Lindberg also set a team record in the 100 individual medley with a time of 1:05.93.
Lindberg’s teammates Laurel Knox (14) and Jorgensen also set team records in the 100 individual medley with times of 1:16.60 and 1:03.52, respectively. It was an extremely strong meet for 16-year-old Jorgensen, who also broke the Manta Ray team record in the 50 breaststroke with a time of 31.93 seconds.
Of the 46 athletes competing for Moses Lake, 13 were brand new swimmers competing for Manta Ray Aquatics. Competing in their first ever swim meet as a Manta Ray was Oliver Burke (10), Dallie Cobb (9), Mary Karnafel (9), Payton Leeder (13), Noah Martinez (12), Addison McBee (9), Aubree McBee (7), Iver Miner (8), Angie Molitor (7), Marcus Quezada (8), Caitlin Spitzli (9), Selah Thompson (9), and Kendall Vance (9).
Manta Ray Aquatics is looking forward to a strong 2017-2018 short course competitive season.