FEDERAL WAY — The Moses Lake Mavericks girls swim and dive team took a trip to the King County Aquatic Center over the weekend to compete in the Mukilteo meet. Mavs Head Coach Tony Preston said each of the girls performed well as they showed growth throughout the meet. 

“It was great, headed over to Federal Way. That’s our state pool,” said Preston. “This is a big test for us, a big experience for the girls, especially if they haven’t been in that facility before.” 

The Mukilteo meet saw teams from all across the state in attendance for what serves as a midseason prep meet for the incoming state tournament. Out of the 34 teams in attendance, Moses Lake placed 26th overall.

“Started out a little slow Saturday; the pool was literally cold because they just got their heater back on since July,” said Preston. “Got the wrinkles out and really started having some good swims in the middle and throughout the end of the meet.” 

In the 200-yard medley relay, Moses Lake’s team of Ellen Center, Paysyn Torrey, Sydney Stevens and Taylor McKay (2:13.18) finished in 28th overall. The team of Sarah Heaps, Ally Hindman, Ava Center and Kimball Roylance took 25th in the 400-yard freestyle relay. 

The Diving event was a highlight for the Mavs as Mia Thompson took tenth overall with a score of 219.75. 

“She had a lot of solid dives,” said Preston. “I was able to make it over there and just really celebrate her and what she contributes to our program is really nice.” 

Kimball Roylance (2:28.26) had a strong performance in the 200-yard freestyle finishing 40th with teammate Ava Center (2:30.37) not too far behind, finishing 42nd. Sydney Stevens (2:35.53) finished 30th in the 200-yard individual medley. 

The 50-yard freestyle saw solid times from Taylor McKay and Andi Hardebeck with McKay (27.75) taking 28th and Hardebeck (29.15) taking 58th. McKay (1:03.93), Hardebeck (1:04.93) and Ava Robinson (1:07.61) also competed in the 100-yard freestyle with 34th, 36th and 52nd place finishes respectively. 

“Taylor McKay, she’s right down there at her lifetime best (in 50-yard freestyle),” said Preston. “Andi Hardebeck, for a freshman and she hasn’t swum for a couple years, she’s really coming on strong and has lots of potential.” 

Ellen Center (1:20.8) took 52nd in the 100-yard butterfly and Ally Hindman (1:29.73) took 62nd. Sydney Stevens (5:50.40) was competitive in the 500-yard freestyle as she finished in 18th place out of 52 athletes. 

“Sydney Stevens (had) a really exciting swim,” said Preston. “She had solid splits all the way through.” 

In the 100-yard backstroke, Sarah Heaps (1:13.21) finished 38th, Kimball Roylance (1:14.94) finished 42nd and Ava Center (1:18.57) finished 55th. Paysyn Torrey (1:21.13) finished 30th in the 100-yard breaststroke. 

“Sarah Heapts had a really good 100-backstroke, I think that’s a lifetime best for her,” said Preston. 

The ability to compete at the pool where the state meet will be held brings invaluable experience for the Mavs, said Preston. For experienced swimmers they have the opportunity to prepare for that pool’s environment and for new swimmers it gives them the opportunity to take in what it’s like to be at the huge facility and gets them excited for what’s to come. 

“I don’t know if you can really mentally prepare for that experience, seeing something huge (like that) for the first time in your life,” said the coach. “That’s why this meet is put on so that we can take those people and really get that experience.”  

This meet also serves as a great team bonding experience for the Mavs as they travel three hours to the facility and stay overnight for the weekend.  

“We all support each other. We go out to dinner the night before and we just do a lot of fun things,” said Preston. 

Now that the Mavs sit two weeks away from their district championship meet, he said the most important thing for the team is to focus on their consistency. 

“Making sure we are able to repeat each step to get a full rundown and try to get everything out there,” said the coach. “Complete our season well, whether it’s next week at leagues or it’s the week after at districts or two weeks after that at state, just making sure we have taken all of our opportunities and really pushed hard on all of them to come to the best results we can possibly get at the end.” 

The Mavs return home Thursday to host Wenatchee High School at 5 p.m.

    MLHS senior Ellen Center makes her way through the water during the Mukilteo event over the weekend.
  

    Mia Thompson, a sophomore from the Mavs, prepares for her leap during Mukilteo’s diving event.
  

    Moses Lake senior Ally Hindman comes up for air during one of her events at Mukilteo.