The edge went to Walla Walla on Saturday at the 4A district boys swimming and diving championships in Ellensburg.

Despite missing out on diving points, the Blue Devils had enough swimming depth to beat reigning champion Richland 428-425 and give Katharine Curles a district title in her first year as coach.

Hanford cruised in its quest to retain the 3A title, beating runner-up West Valley by 81.5 points.

"I'm just excited to have two more years on the team," said Hanford sophomore Will Wertz, who won the 200 free and also was part of two relay victories. "I'll be working even harder these next two years."

In the 2A race, Prosser finished second to Pullman.

Walla Walla entered its final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, with a nine-point lead over Richland. The relay team of Jonathon Klem, Josh Bumgarner, Patrick Giedeman and Austin Garrett finished second to the Bombers, but it was enough to wrap up the title for the Blue Devils.

"All four of them got lifetime bests in their splits, and it was one of the most emotionally intense and emotionally inspiring meets I've ever seen," Curles said.

Garrett, a senior who earned two of the Blue Devils' three first-place finishes with his victories in the 50 and 100 free, was stunned by his team's accomplishment.

"We were nervous, but we used that nervousness to push us harder," Garrett said. "We took advantage of all that adrenaline and fear and pushed us to our limits."

Richland's Nick Connors, who swam in the final relay, said the Bombers knew from preparing for a Jan. 28 meet against Walla Walla that the Blue Devils' depth would be something to overcome.

"We were already kind of the underdog, so we were kind of trying to intimidate them by winning the relays (at the dual meet)," he said.

But, Connors added, the strategy Saturday was to pick up as many points as possible for Richland, which will take several competitors to the state championships in two weeks in Federal Way. The Bombers picked up seven district wins Saturday, including the 200 medley and 400 free relays, Connors in the 200 free and 500 free, Ashton Pollick in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke and Andrew Blanchard in the 100 butterfly.

Meanwhile, the overall district win continues an exhilarating turnaround for the Blue Devils, who went from 3-5 in league last season to 7-1 this season.

"Our team just came together emotionally, and once you're emotionally cohesive, the swimming just falls into place," Curles said.

At Ellensburg

4A

Team scores--Walla Walla 428, Richland 425, Wenatchee 397, Moses Lake 379, Eisenhower 174, Davis 146.

200 medley relay--1, Richland (Ashton Pollick, Ryan Francis, Andrew Blanchard, Nick Connors) 1:43.73; 2, Walla Walla (Patrick Giedeman, Jonathon Klem, Russell Skorina, Austin Garrett) 1:43.84; 3, Wenatchee (Connor Osterlund, Ryan Gangle, Gabe Stefanides, William Robinson) 1:44.46. 200 free--1, Connors (Ric) 1:45.97; 2, Brenden Eslick (Moses Lake) 1:46.90; 3, Giedeman (WW) 1:50.94. 200 IM--1, Pollick (Ric) 2:02.09; 2, Klem (WW) 2:02.74; 3, Zack Johnston (ML) 2:06.58. 50 free--1, Garrett (WW) 22.90; 2, Stefanides (Wen) 23.03; 3, Taylor Armstrong (Ric) 23.36. Diving--1, Jacob Hino (Ike) 324.40; 2, Kaelan Fore (Wen) 316.30; 3, Alexander Cvitkovic (Wen) 305.60. 100 fly--1, Blanchard (Ric) 53.79; 2, Eslick (ML) 54.39; 3, Skorina (WW) 58.12. 100 free--1, Garrett (WW) 49.92; 2, Robinson (Wen) 50.52; 3, Stefanides (Wen) 51.19. 500 free--1, Connors (Ric) 4:55.75; 2, Giedeman (WW) 5:00.99; 3, Johnston (ML) 5:04.46. 200 free relay--1, Wenatchee (Osterlund, Stefanides, Scott Willis, Robinson) 1:33.60; 2, Moses Lake (Eslick, Ben Breakey, Johnston, Kaelan Connacher) 1:34.89; 3, Richland (Blanchard, Armstrong, Corey Bradshaw, Harrison Ostler) 1:35.66. 100 back--1, Pollick (Ric) 56.00; 2, Connacher (ML) 57.04; 3, Blanchard (Ric) 57.45. 100 breast--1, Klem (WW) 1:02.87; 2, Gangle (Wen) 1:03.82; 3, Skorina (WW) 1:04.88. 400 free relay--1, Richland (Bradshaw, Pollick, Armstrong, Connors) 3:22.01; 2, Walla Walla (Klem, Josh Bumgarner, Giedeman, Garrett) 3:23.61; 3, Moses Lake (Eslick, Reid Jackson, Johnston, Connacher) 3:24.51.

3A

Team scores--Hanford 210.50, West Valley 129, Eastmont 125.50.

200 medley relay--1, Hanford (Will Wertz, Andrew Peacock, Jake Douglas, Cody Quinton) 1:42.18; 2, Eastmont (Derek Savage, Derek Hartman, Adam Couey, Jay Semmons) 1:45.45; 3, West Valley (Nathan Matthews, Tucker Andis, Evan Miller, Tim Gibson) 1:55.09. 200 free--1, Wertz (Han) 1:49.19; 2, Semmons (Eas) 1:56.55; 3, Douglas (Han) 1:57.64. 200 IM--1, Keith Meline (Han) 2:07.84; 2, Garrett Rice (WV) 2:10.18; 3t, Sean Stephens (Han) and Couey (Eas) tied at 2:14. 50 free--1, Savage (Eas) 22.11; 2, Peacock (Han) 23.50; 3, Hartman (Eas) 23.65. Diving--1, Austin Kent (Eas) 446.25; 2, William Tuthill (Eas) 427.05; 3, BJ Deatherage (Han) 338.80. 100 fly--1, Douglas (Han) 55.05; 2, Couey (Eas) 56.01; 3, Jeevan Philip (Han) 56.03. 100 free--1, Savage (Eas) 48.19; 2, Wertz (Han) 48.61; 3, Kian Hausken (WV) 50.88. 500 free--1, Semmons (Eas) 5:09.18; 2, Philip (Han) 5:13.99; 3, Stephen Antoniak (Han) 5:22.06. 200 free relay--1, Hanford (Cam Sullivan, Peacock, Meline, Quinton) 1:34.70; 2, West Valley (Gibson, Hausken, Rice, Dallin Olander) 1:38.18; 3, Eastmont (Micah Hartmann, Nick Jacobus, Nathan Ashbrook, Grayson Porter) 1:50.80. 100 back--1, Hausken (WV) 57.77; 2, Stephens (Han) 1:03.46; 3, Matthews (WV) 1:05.11. 100 breast--1, Peacock (Han) 1:02.82; 2, Tanner Collins (Han) 1:05.25; 3, Rice (WV) 1:06.67. 400 free relay--1, Hanford (Philip, Meline, Sullivan, Wertz) 3:25.87; 2, Eastmont (Hartmann, Semmons, Couey, Savage) 3:26.24; 3, West Valley (Miller, Olander, Rice, Hausken) 3:35.40.

2A

(Top finishers plus Prosser finishers in top eight)

Team scores--Pullman 173, Prosser 82, Cheney 81.50, Selah 58.50, Naches Valley 46, Cashmere 38, Wapato 10, East Valley 8, Toppenish 3.

200 medley relay--1, Pullman (Mitchell Tang, Christopher Li, Jack Qiu, Ian McInturff) 1:46.79 (SQ); 3, Prosser (Tim Bowen, Nolan Saam, Will Burgett, James Wildman) 1:47.52 (SQ). 200 free--1, Joel Watts (Che) 1:50.95. 200 IM--1, Li (Pul) 2:03.15; 7, Sam Kawakami (Pro) 2:27.20. 50 free--1, Rustin Babcock (Che) 22.50; 3, Burgett (Pro) 23.18. Diving--1, David Whitmore (NV) 339.50. 100 fly--1, Garrett Collett (Cash) 57.28; 6, Saam (Pro) 1:01.77. 100 free--1, Babcock (Che) 48.89; 4, Wildman (Pro) 53.27. 500 free--1, Jaeyoung Heo (Pul) 5:08.82; 8, Pat Burnett (Pro) 6:50.26. 200 free relay--1, Prosser (Wildman, Bowen, Saam, Burgett) 1:34.67. 100 back--1, Watts (Che) 57.76; 6, Bowen (Pro) 1:05.71. 100 breast--1, Burgett (Pro) 1:01.45; 2, Saam (Pro) 1:02.28. 400 free relay--1, Pullman (Richard Schumaker, Jimmy Yin, Heo, Li) 3:31.19; 3, Prosser (Kawakami, Ben Wildman, Burnett, Chase Baker) 4:09.80.