MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Mavericks swim team hosted Wenatchee Thursday for their second-to-last regular season meet. Though Moses Lake came up three points short (91-88), Head Coach Tony Preston said the girls are showing great progress as they prepare for the postseason. 

“Close meet all the way through; it could have gone either way,” said Preston. “We both had things we could have changed, but in the end, we had our strongest competition of the year, and we put our best foot forward.” 

In relays, the Mavs had solid performances all around. For the 200-yard medley relay the team of Ellen Center, Paysyn Torrey, Sydney Stevens and Taylor McKay (2:09.72) took first and was followed by Kimball Roylance, Sarah Heaps, Ava Robinson and Ava Center (2:17.77) took third.

“We had strong showings in our medley relay,” said the coach. “I think that might be our best time of the season.” 

In the 200-yard freestyle relay Ellen Center, Sarah Heaps, Kimball Roylance and Andi Hardebeck (1:59.25) took second and Ava Center, Ally Hindman, Clara Quilter and Ava Robinson (2:06.57) took third. 

Finally in the 400-yard relay, Paysyn Torrey, Sydney Stevens, Andi Hardebeck and Taylor McKay (4:13.06) took second. 

“It really came down to the last relay where they just really showed some depth,” said Preston. “We had a really good relay, one of our most consistent relays of the year for the 400-free relay, and I was really proud of the girls all the way through.” 

Individually the Mavs made good performances all around as well.  

Paysyn Torrey (2:14.44) took second in the 200-yard freestyle, followed by Ava Robinson (2:30.70) in third and Ally Hindman (2:49.49) in fifth. Ellen Center (2:46.12) took third in the 200-yard individual medley followed by her sister Ava Center (2:53.10) in fifth and Kimball Roylance (2:54.44) in sixth. 

Moses Lake provided top performances in the 50-yard freestyle with Taylor McKay (28.22) in first, Andi Hardebeck (28.96) in third and Sarah Heaps (29.37) in fourth. 

“Taylor McKay came up strong in that followed by Andi Hardebeck and Sarah Heaps,” said Preston. “They all did a really good job there.” 

For the 100-yard butterfly Andi Hardebeck (1:15.15) took second and Ava Center (1:27.24) took third. 

In the 100-yard freestyle, Taylor McKay (1:04.52) took second, Ava Robinson (1:06.63) took fourth and Kimball Roylance (1:07.09) took fifth. The 500-yard freestyle saw a strong performance from Sydney Stevens (5:56.83) who took first, followed by Becca Rettkowski (7:54.36) in second and Olivia Alamos (8:43.63) in fifth. 

“Sydney Stevens had a good swim (for) where she’s at in the year and then Becca Rettkowski and Olivia Alamos, they stepped in and scored points for us in that 500, which was super important,” said Preston. 

The 100-yard backstroke saw Sarah Heaps (1:15.44) in second, Ally Hindman (1:31.90) in fourth and Olivia Alamos (1:39.03) in sixth. MLHS also found success in the 100-yard breaststroke where Paysyn Torrey (1:20.70) took first, Sydney Stevens (1:23.48) took second and Ciara Quilter (1:40.15) took sixth. 

In diving, Mia Thompson placed second with a score of 129.45. 

“I’m looking forward to seeing (Wenatchee) again at districts and seeing how that works out for us,” said Preston. 

During the past two weeks Moses Lake has been working to get athletes back in full health as they recover from injuries. Overcoming these hurdles during the season has been important in their growth both as athletes and as people, said the coach. 

“It’s helped the girls to focus on what the little things are in training. You can’t just throw everything at it,” he said. “Sometimes things don’t go your way, and you have to make adjustments and that’s what we’ve been doing. You don’t ask for injuries, but when you get them, just like anything else in life, you learn from them.” 

While the Mavs still have room for improvement as they head into the final weeks of the season, he said the girls are consistently putting their best foot forward each day, and he’s proud of the work they’ve put in this season. If the girls keep up this effort, he expects them to do well in the upcoming league and district meets. 

Their meet against Wenatchee helps set the Mavs up for the league invite this week as it gives the girls an opportunity to tune themselves for the upcoming competition and utilize their flexibility to try some off events than what they’re used to.  

Another consideration is that the team has less than 10 days of practice until districts. The coach said it will be even more important for the girls to get themselves ready to perform at their best by then. 

“Right now, we’re getting excited, but we want to temper that excitement a little bit,” said Preston. “We want to save a lot of that to hit their best swims next Saturday.” 

The Mavs will be hosting their league meet Thursday with the dive event at 1 p.m. and swim at 5 p.m.

    Moses Lake’s Mia Thompson leaps off the diving board in Thursday’s meet against Wenatchee.
  

    Ellen Center and Ally Hindman from MLHS cheer for their teammates from the edge of the pool Thursday evening.