MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Mavericks swim team competed in Yakima against West Valley and Sunnyside last Thursday where the team found success against its Big 9 rivals. Mavs head coach Tony Preston said this meet gave the boys experience as they head into the final stretch of the regular season. 

“Traveling to Yakima is always fun. We host a lot of meetings here, so going to other pools is great,” said Preston. 

The Mavs dominated in the 200-yard medley relay, taking the top three slots in the competition. This continued into the 200-yard freestyle with Lennox Leeder in first with 1:57.22, Sam Molitor in second with 2:07.71 and Ty Voss in third with 2:08.11.

Sam O’Shea from the Mavs took the top spot in two events as he finished the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:13.18 and the 100-Yard breaststroke with 1:08.86. Leeder took first in the 100-yard freestyle with 53.54, followed by Connor Fear with 57.53. Voss claimed first in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:50.08 and Molitor earned first in the 100-yard backstroke with 1:06.82. 

Moses Lake also claimed first place in both the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay with times of 1:39.34 and 4:08.46, respectively. 

In the Yakima event, Preston said the Mavs had about eight athletes out due to illness, which resulted in other members of the team competing in events outside of what they’re used to. Thursday's meet was not only a chance for them to grow in their athletics but also gave them another opportunity to bond together as teammates. 

“Just trying to get kids to branch out and get more experience and that’s what a lot of Thursday’s meet was,” Preston said. “Lots of growth and lots of good times. We go to a burger joint there named Major’s afterward and the kids really like going there and getting a burger and fries after competing.” 

Following Thursday’s meet was a diving competition in Wenatchee on Friday afternoon, where Mavs senior diver Ledger Archer came just half a point short of qualifying for state. The coach said Archer had just returned to the diving team this season after taking a break last year and has shown himself to be a great addition to their squad. 

“That’s the closest we’ve had to an automatic state qualifying berth with all of my kids, so that was a pretty cool deal,” said Preston. “We love having (Archer); he has an awesome personality. I was really thankful and really proud of him for getting so close on Friday.” 

With the Mavs heading into the final weeks of the regular season, Preston said they are starting to work on transitioning from hardcore training to specializing in different strokes and events. Districts start Feb. 5, and the Mavs are working to build their roster to be ready for specific strategies and strengthen their speed in time for the competition.  

Preston said both he and the athletes are confident in their abilities as they head down the stretch, and it’ll just come down to working with each athlete individually on their focus and the next step in how they want to improve. Moses Lake will be returning athletes who were out with sickness in the coming weeks and getting those athletes back and motivated will be just as important. 

“Just focusing in on that and districts, nobody’s made state yet, so our job now is to make state and to make state, you have to make the district finals,” he said. “You need to do all the little things in between training and diet and all that stuff, just layering that into our everyday conversations so they’re no thit with it all at once the night before the meet.” 

The Mavs are returning home this week to host Eastmont at the high school pool at 5 p.m. Thursday, and the diving team will head back to Wenatchee to compete at noon Friday. 

    Jason Robinson from the Mavs comes up for air during the competition in Yakima Thursday.
  

    Moses Lake’s London McKean glides across the water during Thursday’s meet against West Valley and Sunnyside.