FEDERAL WAY — The Moses Lake Mavericks swim team traveled to the King County Aquatic Center to compete in the state tournament, where each of the qualifying athletes found success in the water. As a team, the Mavs finished 28th.  

“We had some challenging times the last two weeks before state, but they kept their heads up through it all and had a really good time at state. I’m super proud of these guys here,” said head coach Anthony Preston. 

The Mavs qualified for the three different relay events at the state tourney. In the 200-yard medley, the team of sophomore Lennox Leeder, junior Luca Cristoloveanu, senior Sam Molitor and junior Matt Molitor took 20th place with a time of 1:44.94. 

In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Sam Molitor, Cristoloveanu, Matt Molitor and senior Sam O’Shea took 19th with a final time of 1:31.57. The final relay event was in the 400-yard freestyle, where Sam Molitor, Leeder, Matt Molitor, and O’Shea took 20th with a time of 3:25.75. 

The boys found success in the individual events, with Matt Molitor taking 24th place in the 200-yard freestyle with 1:57.70, and Leeder placed 19th in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:08.53.  O’Shea took 23rd in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 59.90 and 20th  in the 200-yard individual medley with a final time of 2:05.33, which Preston said was a three-second improvement. 

Cristoloveanu had a strong finish in the 100-yard breaststroke, taking ninth with a time of 59.48. Trexler Torin took 12th in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 52.38 and ninth in the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 1:02.59. 

“I’m just really proud of them, really happy for them in their season and I’m just looking forward to next season,” said Preston. “We’ve got a good start on it already, so I’m happy with all that.” 

He said the boys were always ready to step up throughout the entire season and did a great job competing, no matter what the circumstances were. What stuck out to him the most this season was the sportsmanship that the Mavericks showed. 

“We got multiple compliments from other teams about how good they were, not just as competitors, but as people, as young men,” said Preston.  

The coach said leadership from the Mavs’ seven seniors Ledger Archer, Cesar Deleon, Winston Hardy, Sam Molitor, Sam O’Shea, Charles Pray and Warren Skaug contributed greatly to the team culture that was built over the season. 

“Just having them there and knowing you can count on them when you need extra work done, extra leadership. You could just give them jobs and they would do it,” said Preston. “They really took that upon themselves to make sure we had a good year, so I was really happy to have them as part of the program.” 

Moses Lake will have a large group of returners for next season, and many of them now have experience at state. He said having that taste of the state competition has ignited the boys’ competitive spirit, and this should spread across the team as they prepare for next season. 

“When we get to see that level of competition, it really is a great thing, whether it’s girls or boys getting (there),” said Preston.

    Luca Cristoloveanu waits at the edge of the pool following one of his events during the state tournament. At state, Cristoloveanu competed in both 200-yard relays with the Mavs team and had a strong finish in the 100-yard breaststroke, taking ninth place.
  

    Sam Molitor, Matt Molitor and Lennox Leeder from Moses Lake stand at the edge of the pool following one of their relay events at the state tournament.
  

    Moses Lake’s Lennox Leeder pulls himself out of the pool following one of his events at state. Leeder placed 19th in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:08.53.