Mavs swimming well through first month of season

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake girls swim and dive team has picked up where they left off in 2022, jumping out to a 4-0 record in meets through the first month of the season.

“These girls came in here and have come out of the gate swimming really well the first meet against Eastmont,” head coach Jason Hart said. “It’s just riding that, and we’ve continued to have good swim after good swim at all levels of swimming — from the new girls to the girls that have been here for a while.”

After the season-opening 108-75 win over the Wildcats, Moses Lake has defeated Wenatchee 118-65, Davis 137-32 and Eisenhower 130-47. The wins have locked up a league title for the Mavericks regardless of the outcome of Thursday’s road meet against West Valley (Yakima), Hart said.

With a league title secured, eyes turn to qualifying for state and competing well at districts; four of Moses Lake’s seven state-qualifying swimmers returned this season with junior Julia Heaps, junior Kathryn DuVall, senior Issabelle Parrish and sophomore Brianne Bodenman all back for the Mavericks.

“This group of kids want to show that they are just as good, if not better than what we were last year,” Hart said. “We lost a lot, but you really see some people stepping up and moving forward.”

Parrish has already qualified for state, doing so in the first meet against Eastmont. The senior qualified for the 50-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle, and her leadoff time in the 400-yard freestyle also qualified Parrish for the state in the 100-yard freestyle.

“She had three state-qualifying times in the same meet,” Hart said. “We swim in a sport where you do two individual events in a meet, one was a leadoff in a relay. That stuff’s rare.”

Though Parrish is the lone Moses Lake swimmer to have qualified so far, Hart anticipates more will qualify through times and district allocations at the district meet.

“I wouldn’t be shocked if we have 11, 12, 13 swims at state,” Hart said. “We had 13 last year, and I think we can get relatively close to it this year too.”

This year’s district meet is at home for the Mavericks, with dive events being held Oct. 26 and swim events being held on Oct. 28.

“We love swimming at home, it’s a beautiful place to swim,” Hart said. “We enjoy it, it’s definitely in everybody’s comfort zone. It’s a ton of fun.”

Among the highlights so far this season for the Mavs have been faster times on 200 and 400-meter freestyle, Heaps and DuVall approaching the school’s record in the 100-meter backstroke and 100-meter breaststroke, respectively, and the team’s overall growth through the first month of the season.

“What I’ve seen is a lot of growth,” Hart said. “To see some of these kids grow and develop, it’s one of the best parts of the job. You can see that at every level, and I’m pretty excited to see where it ends come state time. We really do train to have our best times at the state meet, that’s the goal.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.