KENNEWICK -- Southridge High School senior swimmer Alisha Sanchez will compete this weekend in her third consecutive state 50-yard freestyle, but her qualifying time of 25.67 seconds didn't come until district preliminaries.
For a while, Sanchez wasn't sure she would get back to the state swimming and diving championships in Federal Way. She was sidelined the first half of the season after dislocating her shoulder for the third time this year.
"The first time I did it was in the spring," said Sanchez, who will have surgery after state to repair a tear in her rotator cuff. "It was during track. I was lifting weights. I was kind of being stupid."
The shoulder popped out again a month before the Suns returned to the pool. The third time was during the third day of swim practice.
"It didn't hurt as bad as the first time it happened, but we did the sprints off the block, I dove in, and it came out," she said.
The Southridge trainer told Sanchez to do pushups and lift three-pound weights as part of her recovery. When she returned to competition, she was under orders to not swim all out -- a frustrating scenario for a sprinter. But once she got permission to speed up, she took full advantage.
On Oct. 18, Sanchez swam a 26.49 to win the 50 free in a dual against Moses Lake. Four days later, she cut her time to 26.27 in a victory against Sunnyside and West Valley.
Now back in the 25-second range, she's eager to see what she can do at state.
"I'm hoping to maybe do better than I did last year because I'm at the same spot I was last year," said Sanchez, who finished 14th in 2010 with a time of 25.61. "But I'm happy to go because it's my last year."
Ending on a high note: Though Grandview won't have any swimmers at state, the Grey-hounds finished their season with a solid showing at districts. Grandview set school records in the 200 medley and 400 free relays, as did Samanta Castaneda in the 100 backstroke.
"I was really pleased with them," said coach Kerry Warden, who also leads Prosser. "It's impossible to get to state unless you have some year-round swimmers. They did good at districts, and they're looking forward to next year."
But Warden doesn't expect to coach the Greyhounds in 2012. The program is growing, she said, and the swimmers deserve to have a coach who can focus just on them.
"There were four Grandview girls last year, then 11 at one point this year," Warden said. "There were 26 girls at one point (between Prosser and Grandview), and it was just hair-raising."
* Katie Dorsey: 509-582-1526; kdorsey@tricityherald.com
