MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Mavericks swim team hosted a meet Thursday, competing against Eastmont in 12 events. The final team scores came close, with Eastmont earning 90 points and Moses Lake earning 87. 

“It was a real fun meet, real emotional meet,” said Mavs head coach Tony Preston. “We’ve been training hard this week, and it really showed in our girls.” 

The first event of the evening was the 1-meter dive, where the Mavs’ Chloe Saxton took the top spot with a score of 109.25. Taking second was Mia Thompson with a final score of 96.20.  

MLHS’s Bria Bodenman would earn first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:07.04, Taylor McKay earned second with 2:27.15 and River Spees earned third with 2:40.45. In the 500-yard Freestyle, Bodenman would take first with a time of 5:36.81and would be followed by Paysyn Torrey for second with a time of 6:14.46. 

“Bria was happy with her swims, they were a little slower than last week, but the truth is she’s been working so hard in practice and it’s just awesome to see her out there,” said Preston.  

Ellen Center earned second in the 200-yard Individual Medley with a time of 2:46.11 and second in the 100-yard Butterfly with a time of 1:15.06. Kimball Roylance would also earn two second-place finishes with 1:06.47 in the 100-yard Freestyle and 1:20.29 in the 100-yard backstroke.  

For the relay races, Center, Torrey, Bodenman and McKay would take second in the 200-yard Medley with a time of 2:09.91.  Center, Roylance, Clara Larkin, and Bodenman would also earn second in the 400-yard relay with a time of 4:24.21. The Mavs earned first in the 200-yard Freestyle with Torrey, Larkin, Roylance and McKay finishing with a time of 1:59.5. 

“The score was close, we were missing some pieces, they were missing some pieces, so I think it was just a great meet against a great team,” said Preston. 

He said Thursday’s meet left him with good feelings about how the rest of the season will play out and is celebrating the successes of the players, both from Thursday and throughout the season. 

“I think everybody had good swims across the board,” said Preston. “From a coaching standpoint, I look more at the global perspective of the whole season, and I know where we are and I know where we’re going, so just seeing them cheering each other on, happy with each other, helping each other when somebody’s down...the mood of the team is really good.” 

This last meet also helped the Mavs recognize the hard work that they are putting in this season. He said the team has not slowed down this season and they will work hard at practice to continue their improvement. 

The Mavs are looking forward to training through the rest of the season and are setting their sights on the district tournament with prelims starting in three weeks. Preston said as the team pushes forward, the athletes will be working on polishing up their performances in some events and just having fun trying out others. 

“Take each week at a time, we’re working hard with the ultimate goal is the district prelims, getting there and having good swims,” said Preston. “Nothing’s guaranteed, so we want to get through prelims.” 

The Mavs will host their next meet Thursday, where they will face off against AC Davis and Eisenhower at 5 p.m. 

    Ellen Center does a backstroke during the 200-yard Medley Relay on Thursday. Center earned second place for the Mavs in both the 200-yard Individual Medley and in the 100-yard Butterfly.
  

    Lexie Gruber, Chloe Saxton, Ciara Quilter, Mia Thomson, and Becca Rettowski from the Mavs cheer on their teammates from the side of the pool during Thursday’s meet. Mavs head coach Tony Preston said the girls have been great this season in supporting one another.
  

    Ally Hindman from the Mavs comes up for air during the 200-yard Individual Medley event. Hindman finished the event with a time of 3:27.53.