Mavs swim away with late win over Wenatchee
IAN BIVONA | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 10 months AGO
The Moses Lake boys swim and dive team came out victorious with a 96-90 win over Wenatchee on Thursday.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/JASON HART
Ian Bivona serves as the Columbia Basin Herald’s sports reporter and is a graduate of Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. He enjoys the behind-the-scenes stories that lead up to the wins and losses of the various sports teams in the Basin. Football is his favorite sport, though he likes them all, and his favorite team is the Jets. He lives in Soap Lake with his cat, Honey. | January 14, 2023 3:10 PM
MOSES LAKE – It came down to the final event, a 400-yard freestyle relay, to determine the winner of Moses Lake’s boys swim and dive meet against Wenatchee on Thursday.
Needing a second-place finish, the Mavericks had two teams finish inside the top three of the relay to lock up a 96-90 win over Wenatchee, giving Moses Lake a head-to-head win over the Panthers.
“It wasn’t sealed up until that last race in the 400 free relay,” Hart said. “We had to get second to win the meet, and then we ended up getting second and third, which was awesome.”
With the win, Moses Lake moved to 5-1 on the year and 3-0 in league meets.
The second-place Moses Lake relay team consisted of Sam Molitor, Damien Paluch, Kylan Chivers and Dylan Moore, while the third-place team made up of Sam O’Shea, Anthony Longoria, Ryder Cranston and Carter Beus came from behind to take third in the 400-yard relay.
“They were pumped, they had fun, they were supporting each other and engaged in the whole process,” Hart said. “They were willing to do anything they could to help the team win the meet.”
Senior Nicholas Moore competed in four events for the Mavericks, winning both the 500-yard freestyle and the 100-yard backstroke while also being on the 200-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relay teams.
“It was awesome, almost all his swimming was done in a 15-minute period,” Hart said. “He went in there and he won the 500 free, won the 200 free relay and then he won the 100 back. It was pretty awesome.”
Swimming in such a highly competitive meet, Hart said each of the Maverick swimmers was locked in and focused on the competition.
“They just kept competing and moving forward,” Hart said. “I think it helped that a lot of them were having really good swims for themselves individually, a lot of best times and improvement.”
After a road meet against Eastmont on Tuesday, the Mavericks are back at home in a meet against West Valley (Yakima) and Sunnyside on Thursday.
Ian Bivona can be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct that Dylan Moore swam in the team's 400-yard freestyle relay.