MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Mavericks hosted a Big 9 League Invitational for the league championships Thursday. This invitational was not scored, but helped prepare the teams for the district meet this weekend.

“It went really well, a lot of good swims,” said Mavs head coach Tony Preston. “We trained right through the meet, so this will be our big week for rest.” 

The invitational started with the dive portion earlier in the day, with Chloe Saxton leading the Mavs, taking sixth, followed closely by Mia Thompson, who took seventh. 

Later in the day was the swim portion of the meet, with the first event being the 200-yard medley relay. The Mavs team of Kimball Roylance, Clara Larkin, Ellen Center and Ava Robinson took fourth with a final time of 2:24.51. 

In the 200-yard Freestyle, Paysyn Torrey took fourth with 2:19.54 and first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:20.14. Dallie Cobb would take first in the 50-yard Freestyle with a time of 27.02 and Taylor McKay took third with 28.47. 

Bria Bodenman would take second in the 100-yard Freestyle with a time of 58.36 and first in the 500-yard Freestyle with a time of 5:40.69. Center took fifth in the 200-yard Freestyle with a final time of 2:23.64 and took third in the 500-yard Freestyle with a time of 6:23.2.  

The Mavs took first in the 400-yard Freestyle Relay with the team of Cobb, Center, Roylance and Bodenman swimming a final time of 4:14.38. Torrey, Larkin, Robinson and McKay took third in the same event with a time of 4:33.07. 

Preston said that this meet was a great opportunity for the team to get some more experience in racing before the district meet this weekend. The times that some of the girls scored at the meet didn’t reflect their best swims, given the amount of work they’ve put in the past week. 

“I talked to a couple of the girls, and we agreed they were good swims even though the times weren’t necessarily what they wanted,” he said. “We know our big job is Thursday night, getting our preliminary times in and making finals for Saturday.” 

The big focus this week for the Mavs is to stay focused on the races ahead and put in their best effort at the preliminaries to have as many athletes make the top 8 or top 16. Preston said while the athletes are feeling a little nervous, the overall mood of the team is positive, and they are excited to go into Thursday’s meet. 

“Just really want to focus on our racing and go from there,” he said. “I think the times will come as long as they get up and race.” 

The Mavs will compete in the District 5 Preliminaries on Thursday with the diving event at noon and the swimming events at 5 p.m. Those who make the top 16 will compete in the district finals Saturday at 11 a.m. 

    Zoe Rasmussen from the Mavs competes in the 200-yard medley relay during a previous event. Mavs head coach Tony Preston said the Big 9 League Invitational allowed the athletes to dip their feet into events they aren’t typically used to.
  

    Ellen Center from the Mavs does a backstroke during a previous competition this season. Center, along with Dallie Cobb, Kimball Roylance and Bria Bodenman, took first in the 400-yard Freestyle Medley Relay during the Big 9 League Invitational.