Mavs swim for the win at district meet

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Mavericks had eight first-place finishes at last week’s Columbia Basin Big 9 district meet, guiding the Mavs to a districts win in their home pool.

“I’m just so proud of the girls,” Moses Lake coach Jason Hart said. “They all contributed, it was all important.”

The Mavs scored 459 points at the meet, 70 points ahead of second-place Eastmont. Rounding out the finishes was Wenatchee in third (367 points), Eisenhower in fourth (236 points), West Valley (Yakima) (216 points) and Davis (159 points).

“That meet, we knew it was going to be tight with Eastmont,” Hart said. “Actually if you scored it before the meet we were behind Eastmont.”

Moses Lake picked up wins in five individual events and swept the relays, racking up wins in the 200-yard medley, 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle relays. The meet began with the medley relay, with the Mavs setting the tone for the meet early.

Hart said the competitiveness is amped up when it comes time for districts.

“It’s awesome, and that’s why you see so many great performances,” Hart said. “We took off on the medley relay, which we ended up winning, and it was a fantastic swim. I watched all four of them go lifetime-best times. It was so much fun to see.”

The five individual event winners were senior Issabelle Parrish in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle, sophomore Bria Bodenman in the 500-yard freestyle, junior Julia Heaps in the 100-yard backstroke and junior Kathryn DuVall in the 100-yard breaststroke.

“When Julia Heaps won the backstroke, that was important,” Hart said. “Kathryn (DuVall) won the breaststroke, (Bria Bodenman) won the 500-free; we were all so competitive in there. Even Keera Michie and Alli Hines got second in their events. They all stand out.”

“Some things happened, and we swam well on top of it,” Hart said. “Eastmont had a pretty major disqualification but we still would have won the meet had she swam.”

So far, 11 Maverick swimmers are heading to Federal Way for next week’s 4A State Swimming and Diving Championships, a year after Moses Lake had a fourth-place finish in 2022. There is a chance the Mavs could add more swimmers to the state championships with wild cards.

“We went in there (at districts) and had some incredible swims, it was an awesome experience,” Hart said. “We’ve got 11 swims so far at state, hopefully, we can pick up a couple wild cards next week. All three relays are going; it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The 2023 4A State Swimming and Diving Championships run from Nov. 9-11 at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

“I think we’re feeling pretty good,” Hart said. “We’ve got a group in here that’s focused, they know what they need to do. It’s business, we’re going over there for a business trip, and to have fun too of course.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com. He also participates in the Big Sky Conference football podcast which can be found by visiting our Facebook page.

    Members of the Moses Lake girls swim and dive team smile after winning a district title Saturday.
  

    Swimmers stand on the podium at Moses Lake.