Mavs swim best times at state

FEDERAL WAY – The Moses Lake Mavericks left this weekend’s State Boys Swimming and Diving Championships in Federal Way with their heads high, and some new personal bests to hang their hats on.

Moses Lake had swimmers advance to the finals in six different events and placed 20th as a team with 28.5 points.

“They all had awesome attitudes and had a good time,” Moses Lake Head Coach Jason Hart said. “Everyone went over and did their best, and that showed because everyone had best times in what they did – and I mean everybody. Lifetime best times happened this weekend, and I’m very proud of them.”

Five swimmers participated in the finals across the six swims; senior Nicholas Moore swam in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing 14th; sophomore Luke Molitor swam in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing 13th; senior Ashton McKean swam the 100-yard freestyle, finishing tied for 12th; Moore swam again in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing 14th; the 200-yard freestyle relay team consisted of Molitor, Jay Rodrigues, Moore and McKean finished 14th; Molitor, freshman Sam Molitor, Moore and McKean swam in the 400-yard freestyle relay, finishing 13th. In the diving competition, junior Carter Beus was one spot off from advancing to the finals, finishing 17th in the semifinals.

“Even the guys in the relays, they had their fastest relay splits,” Hart said. “Carter (Beus) dove like crazy on the diving board. It was awesome.”

Hart said one of the biggest drops in time was Luke Molitor’s swim in the 100-yard butterfly, who finish the event finals in 52.93 seconds.

“His time last year was 57.7 (seconds) and he went 52.9 (on Saturday),” Hart said. “That’s a major drop.”

As for many Maverick swimmers, Molitor’s performance in the 100-yard butterfly finals will motivate him more for next season, according to Hart.

“Our record board has Zach Washburn straight up and straight down, he has every swimming event on it,” Hart said. “(Molitor) is now within 81 one-hundredths of a second off the school record in the 100-fly, so Luke’s excited to go out there and put the work in, because he works amazingly hard here with the club program, and come back and get that record.”

Maverick junior Danny Thurman took home two medals after finishing first in both the adaptive 50-yard freestyle and 50-yard backstroke events.

“He’s a very hard worker, and he definitely was focusing on things – whether it be his turns or his starts,” Hart said. “The most important thing is he is very proud of himself.”

Along with the action in the pool, swimmers spent time playing games and bonding with their teammates on the bus over to the west side, on the pool deck and in hotel rooms.

“That’s really what the trip’s about,” Hart said.

Between swimmers from both the boys and girls Moses Lake programs, who both had swimmers advance to state during their respective seasons, Hart believes the future is bright for Moses Lake swimming and diving. A big part of that is the number of swimmers on the roster – 26 on the girls team and 36 on the boys team – and increasing those numbers for years to come.

“The more kids we can affect, the better,” Hart said. “I think that’s a great thing.”

With the season over and the hard work put in now in the rearview mirror, the Mavericks will look to come back even better next year.

“I left the season and really felt good about them and where they are,” Hart said. “It’s hard not to be proud of them.”