Richland boys will rely on quality, not quantity, at district swim meet

The Richland Bombers know winning this weekend’s Class 4A district swim meet in Moses Lake with 11 boys could be downright impossible, as some teams are big enough to surpass 30 entries.

But with at least one top-three seed in eight of 12 events, the Bombers could return home with a load of state berths. Three allocations are available in each event for the Feb. 19-20 state meet in Federal Way.

“We basically forfeit an entire event without diving — that’s a killer right there,” Richland/Hanford coach Jesse Grow said. “Numbers play to your advantage at districts and state, but we’re gonna make a big impact.”

According to the initial psych sheet released Monday, Richland’s Cole Westendorf, Jeff Kern and Addison Pollick hold the top three seeds in the 500-yard freestyle entering Thursday’s preliminaries. Westendorf, who has a seed time of 4 minutes, 54.97 seconds, and Kern (4:57.55) qualified for state during the regular season.

Westendorf also got a state cut (54.27) in the 100 backstroke, where he’s seeded first. Pollick (58.03) is second.

Richland is the top seed in the 200 medley relay (1:43.37) and second to Wenatchee in the 200 and 400 free relays. The Bombers have qualified for state in the 200 medley and 400 free.

Conor McShane is second behind fellow state qualifier Jared Vargas of Wenatchee in the 100 breaststroke. Kern is seeded third in the 200 free.

Luis Hernandez has the No. 2 seed behind Vargas in the 200 individual medley and is fourth in the 100 butterfly, a spot ahead of teammate Charles Fillebrown.

Scott Francis is fourth in the 100 free and sixth in the 50 free.

“Next year is gonna be just as good,” Grow said. “Obviously we’re losing a few seniors (including Francis, Hernandez and Fillebrown), but our underclassmen are stepping up to fill the void.”

They include freshmen Kyle Prigge and Broden Johnson, who are entered in two events apiece.

Class 3A Hanford does not swim this week — its district meet is Feb. 12-13 in Kelso — but Falcon divers Remington Marvel and Nik Boily will compete Friday and Saturday in Moses Lake. Their scores will be added to the Hanford swimmers’ district totals.

Class 4A Walla Walla and 2A Prosser and Grandview did not have any state qualifiers in-season, but several of their swimmers have good chances to advance past districts.

Walla Walla’s Chris Yaw is seeded No. 2 in the 200 free with a time of 1:49.68, nine-hundredths of a second ahead of Kern, and Eric Cho is fifth (2:00.27).

Yaw is fourth in the 500 free at 5:05.67, more than 2 seconds off Pollick’s seed time of 5:03.17.

In the relays, the Blue Devils are third in the 400 free, fifth in the 200 free and seventh in the 200 medley.

In the 1A/2A district meet, four state allocations are available, which should open things up for Prosser and Grandview to snag some berths.

Grandview’s best chances for individual state berths could rest with Tavian Valenzuela and Micah Binfet, who are seeded 4-5 in the 100 breast. Valenzuela is the No. 5 seed in the 50 free, and Binfet is seventh in the 100 fly.

Prosser’s Levi Russell is seeded sixth in the 50 free and seventh in the 100 back.

Grandview is seeded fourth in the 200 medley and 200 free relays, while Prosser is the No. 6 seed in the 200 free.

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 7:53 PM with the headline "Richland boys will rely on quality, not quantity, at district swim meet."