The Richland Bombers knew they would have a fight on their hands for the District 5/6/7 boys swimming title.

This weekend’s meet lived up to expectations, as the Bombers lost by just 26 points to Moses Lake on Saturday at the Central Washington University Aquatic Center in Ellensburg.

“For us to be that close, we battled really well,” Richland coach Kathy Piper said via phone. “We had some awesome, awesome swims and had pretty much best times.”

Ashton Pollick won the 200-yard individual medley in 1 minute, 59.68 seconds, breaking the district record of 2:00.86 set by Richland’s Tyler Pickett in 2009.

Pollick also took the 100 backstroke. The junior finished in 53.50 seconds, beating freshman teammate Luke Jackson (55.55).

The Bombers will bring a few new qualifiers to state. Mitch Piper scored over the 300-point threshold in diving, Taylor Armstrong took second in the 50 freestyle and Corey Bradshaw was the runner-up to Walla Walla’s Jayden Wallace in the 100 free.

Before Saturday, Wallace had not yet qualified for state. He was sixth in district preliminaries, but he swam a 51.75 in the final and will be joined in Federal Way in two weeks by Wa-Hi’s Russell Skorina, the runner-up in the 100 breaststroke.

Both of them will compete at state in the 200 medley relay with Josh Bumgarner and Patrick Giedeman, who won the 500 free in 4:49.29. Giedeman was second in the 200 free behind Brenden Eslick of Moses Lake.

Eslick’s Chiefs set district records in the 200 free and 400 free relays, but the Bombers took second in both events and swam a season-best time of 3:21.37 in the 400.

“I just thought we had a spectacular day,” said Piper, who was named the Class 4A Coach of the Year. Richland senior Andrew Blanchard, who will compete at state in the 100 fly and 100 back, received the Swimmer of the Year honor. Teammate Matt Powers was selected as Diver of the Year.

Prosser junior Will Burgett received his own honor: 2A Swimmer of the Meet. Burgett clocked a season-best 22.10 in the 50 free and also won the 100 breast.

Micah Binfet led Grandview with his fourth-place finish in the 100 breast.

Class 4A
Team scores—1, Moses Lake 458; 2, Richland 432; 3, Walla Walla 383; 4, Wenatchee 323.5; 5, Davis 175.5; 6, Eisenhower 98; 7, Eastmont 27.
200 medley relay—1, Richland A (Ashton Pollick, Ryan Francis, Andrew Blanchard, Taylor Armstrong) 1:42.28; 2, Walla Walla A 1:44.83. 200 free—1, Brenden Eslick (ML) 1:44.47; 2, Patrick Giedeman (WW) 1:48.01; 4, Luis Hernandez (Rich) 1:54.97; 5, Tyler Jones (WW) 1:56.26; 7, Corey Bradshaw (Rich) 1:56.53. 200 IM—1, Pollick (Rich) 1:59.68 (district record); 3, Josh Bumgarner (WW) 2:07.64; 4, Scott Francis (Rich) 2:08.24; 7, Darian Corpus (WW) 2:17.96. 50 free—1, Ben Breakey (ML) 23.03; 2, Armstrong (Rich) 23.14; 3, Jayden Wallace (WW) 23.40. Diving—1, Victor Carrasco (Dav) 337.05; 2, Mitch Piper (Rich) 307.30; 7, Stuart Moore (Rich) 261.60; 8, Brian Pulsipher (Rich) 251.20; 9, Matt Powers (Rich) 243.70. 100 fly—1, Eslick (ML) 52.48; 2, Blanchard (Rich) 52.77; 3, Russell Skorina (WW) 55.89; 5, Hernandez (Rich) 57.94. 100 free—1, Wallace (WW) 51.75; 2, Bradshaw (Rich) 52.04; 3, Armstrong (Rich) 52.13; 5, Scott Francis (Rich) 52.53; 8, Wiley Townsend (WW) 56.41. 500 free—1, Giedeman (WW) 4:49.29; 4, Jackson (Rich) 4:54.66; 5, Jones (WW) 5:16.03. 200 free relay—1, Moses Lake A (Kaelan Connacher, Breakey, Zack Johnston, Eslick) 1:31.25 (district record); 2, Richland A 1:34.02; 3, Walla Walla A 1:39.70. 100 back—1, Pollick (Rich) 53.50; 2, Jackson (Rich) 55.55; 4, Blanchard (Rich) 57.30; 7, Corpus (WW) 1:04.13. 100 breast—1, Jared Vargas (Wen) 1:02.00; 2, Skorina (WW) 1:03.76; 3, Bumgarner (WW) 1:04.47; 8, R. Francis (Rich) 1:11.36. 400 free relay—1, Moses Lake A (names not listed) 3:18.82 (district record); 2, Richland A 3:21.37; 3, Walla Walla A 3:33.75.
Class 2A
Team scores—1, West Valley 466; 2, Pullman 364; 3, Cheney 249; 4, Selah 232; 5, Prosser 123; 6, Naches Valley 109; 7, Grandview 76; 8, Cashmere 71; 9, East Valley 65; 10, Zillah 33.
200 medley relay—1, Selah A (Bailey Perez, Ivan Lancaster, Carson Petrea, Nolan Frampton) 1:49.52; 4, Grandview A 1:59.82; Prosser A DQ. 200 free—1, Andrew Brewington (NV) 1:59.47; 6, Mitchell Wagner (Gra) 2:06.09. 200 IM—1, Scott Nadeau (Cheney) 2:13.52; 5, Sam Kawakami (Pro) 2:22.75. 50 free—1, Will Burgett (Pro) 22.10; 4, Timothy Bowen (Pro) 24.45. Diving—1, Daniel Whitmore (NV) 378.45. 100 fly—1, Whitmore (NV) 59.17; Jared Churchill (Gra) DQ. 100 free—1, Kian Hausken (WV) 50.16. 500 free—1, Bennett McInturff (Pul) 5:10.48; 6, Wagner (Gra) 5:39.98. 200 free relay—1, West Valley A (Austin Dean, Nathan Matthews, Dawson Finley, Hausken) 1:37.17; 4, Prosser A 1:39.17. 100 back—1, Hausken (WV) 54.31; 8, Bowen (Pro) 1:10.31. 100 breast—1, Burgett (Pro) 1:02.24; 4, Micah Binfet (Gra) 1:10.84; 7, Kawakami (Pro) 1:11.34. 400 free relay—1, Pullman A (Snodgrass, Zane Bickham, Trevor Joireman, McInturff) 3:39.16; Grandview A DQ.