Hanford swimmers, Kamiakin and Southridge gymnasts to vie for state berths

This week will be the last time for the foreseeable future that the Hanford boys swimming team travels to Southwestern Washington for its district meet.

The Falcons, who are the Mid-Columbia’s lone Class 3A team, have gone to Kelso for districts each year since 2013. But Hanford will be a 4A school next season, which means a district meet much closer to home. Richland and Walla Walla competed at last week’s 4A districts in Moses Lake.

So, the Falcons will try to wrap up their dominance in Kelso with their fourth consecutive 3A District 4/5 team title. The preliminaries are at 4 p.m. Friday, and the finals are at 2 p.m. Saturday.

There’s one allocation per event for the Feb. 19-20 state meet in Federal Way. Based on where the Falcons rank among the 3A swimmers on the district psych sheet, their chances of claiming most of those spots are strong.

Hanford is the top-seeded team in all three relays (200-yard medley, 200 freestyle, 400 free).

Brady Myers (seed time a state-qualifying 53.39 seconds) and Skyler Younkin (54.66) are expected to contend for the title in the 100 butterfly. Owen McKinstry (1:06.20) is seeded third.

Myers also owns the top time in the 50 free (22.86). Matt Brink (24.68) is second.

In the 200 individual medley, Jack Elliott (2:15.91) and Daniel Dohnalek (2:18.06) are 1-2. Dohnalek is the top seed in the 100 backstroke (58.89).

Matt Wagnon (52.84), Brink (54.41) and Ben Douglas (55.10) lead the way in the 100 free.

John Markillie, who’s seeded first in the 500 free with his state-qualifying time of 4:56.65, will face a challenge in both of his events. Sam Walker of Columbia River is second in the 500 at 4:57.42.

Markillie is seeded third in the 200 free with a time of 1:54.05, behind Columbia River’s Josh Bottelberghe (1:44.96) and Walker (1:52.74). Younkin (1:56.89) is fourth.

In the 100 breaststroke, Elliott (1:09.19) is second to Bottelberghe (58.83).

Hanford diver Remi Marvel secured a state berth with his win last weekend in Moses Lake, where he and teammate Nik Boily competed along with 4A and 1A/2A divers. The meet in Kelso doesn’t have diving.

3A REGIONAL GYMNASTICS: Kamiakin and Southridge will compete Saturday at the Mead/Mt. Spokane Gymnastics Center.

Mt. Spokane, Shadle Park, Rogers and North Central also will be in the hunt. The meet begins at 1 p.m.

Two-time defending Class 1A/2A/3A state champion Kamiakin headlines the list of competitors. The Braves beat Mt. Spokane last year for their third consecutive regional title, and Southridge was third.

The regional team champion advances to state along with the top two all-around finishers and top four in each event who aren’t on the winning team.

The state championships are Feb. 19-20 in Tacoma.

This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Hanford swimmers, Kamiakin and Southridge gymnasts to vie for state berths."