District swimming and diving action begins today when the divers take to the board for preliminaries at Moses Lake.

The swimming competition is scheduled for Friday and Saturday in Ellensburg.

Among the heavy favorites in diving are Moses Lake senior Sammy Hendrickson in 4A and Southridge sophomore Danielle Freund in 3A. Freund qualified for state with an 11-dive total of 315.40 on Sept. 23 in Kennewick, while Hendrickson got her mark Oct. 7 with a 327.55 in Moses Lake.

Swimmers must enter the same events at districts as they would at state. Each swimmer is limited to four events (two individual/two relay or one individual/three relay), making the decision tough for those qualified in multiple events.

Richland/Hanford coach Kathy Piper said her teams do plenty of research before picking events.

"We search papers and meets on the west side, and try to see what the times are and who's qualified," she said.

Hanford senior Melissa Merrill, who qualified for state in every swimming event except the 500 freestyle, will compete in the 100 free and 200 individual medley. She has the Mid-Columbia's top time this season in the 100 free (54.40 seconds) and the third-fastest in the 200 IM (2 minutes, 14.09 seconds).

"Nobody else in Eastern Washington has ever done that," Piper said. "It's kind of like going for the cycle."

This weekend, Merrill and others with multiple state qualifying times will see whether their strategies pay off.

District 5/6/7 diving competitors

4A -- Carly Garland, Natalie Sinclair, Abby Wood (Richland); Hailey Garza, Sammy Hendrickson, Mary Woodiwiss (Moses Lake); 3A -- Danielle Freund, Skyler Hammack, Kiana Safford, Natilie Safford (Southridge); Natalie Cramer, Katie Evans (Hanford); Jessica Anderson, Danielle Brandon, Kiana Smith (Kamiakin).