Tuesday night at George Prout was the first meet of the Mid-Columbia Conference for Richland, Walla Walla, Pasco, and Chiawana. Heading into the meet, there was some uncertainty as who would come out with the win. Last week at the season opener with ten different teams, Walla Walla asserted their dominance, winning both the 200-yard freestyle relay and 200-yard medley relay.
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| Photo: Rylee Morris |
Tension was high around the pool deck as warm-ups started. There was a lot on the line for both of the top competitors: Richland and Walla Walla. Richland was weakened by the absence of multiple athletes, such as Madalynn Norris, Isabelle Vetter, and myself. Walla Walla entered the deck with optimism to break their seven-year losing streak against Richland. The meet started in favor of Richland, with wins in both of the first two events. Brooke Posada, Kaitlyn Prigge, Avi McGinnis, and Shyla Asmus put out an exceptional 200-yard medley relay, taking first place and beating out Walla Walla. Shyla Asmus furthered their starting lead by winning the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:14.16. The Richland swim girls were not the only athletes with great showings in the first half. Richland divers Alice Williams and Manhattan Avertt took first and third in the one-meter diving, sandwiching Walla Walla diver Miriam Hutchens in second place.
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Reaching the halfway point of the meet, tension was still climbing. Both Richland and Walla Walla hoped to win the next crucial race, a big point-scoring 200-yard freestyle relay. Finishing first in the 200-yard freestyle relay would secure the winning team a greater amount of points than any individual. Coaches lined up and down the sides of the pool, anxiously waiting with stopwatches and clipboards for the start gun to go off. The first-leg swimmers, Miriam Hutchens for Walla Walla and Kristyna Matays of Richland, dove in with quick reactions to the buzz, and the spectators roared with cheering. The uneasiness hung between the teams as they were anxious to see what lane would get their hand on the wall first. Richland swimmer Kaitlyn Prigge and Eliana Isenhower of Walla Walla went head to head, but the gap was too large for Prigge to close. Walla Walla finished with their hand on the wall only two seconds before Richland. Although Walla Walla might have won, you cannot overlook the depth of the Richland girls taking second, fourth, and sixth with their relay teams in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
More standout performances came from both teams as the meet reached the end. Shyla Asmus for Richland continued dominating distance freestyle events and took first place in the 500 freestyle. Brooke Posada also finished first in the 100-yard backstroke, looking effortless as always with a long, strong stroke. Freshman Madelyn Smith of Walla Walla gave Richland a run for their money, winning both of her individual medals and putting down impressive splits in the relays.
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So far, the meet seemed neck and neck, with Richland and Walla Walla each having a chance of winning the meet. It all came down to the last event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. Richland’s relay team of Brooke Posada, Avi Mcginnis, Kaitlyn Prigge, and Shyla Asmus going against Walla Walla's team of Eliana Isenhower, Abi Guest, Olivia Thayne, and Madelyn Smith. Fast splits were thrown down by every member of the relay, with the swimmers reaching their absolute max. Everyone watched as the swimmers stood on their blocks, tracking their teammates in the water and trying to time their start perfectly. Officials stood at the blocks, making sure no athlete dove in before the swimmer touched the wall. Swimmers struggled out of the pool, gasping for air. Kaitlyn Prigge for Richland crawled out of the pool, laying just barely out of the pool as Shyla Asmus anchored the relay. Despite Richland’s pure grit in the relay, Walla Walla managed to secure the win with a comfortable five-second. It was a tough loss for Richland Swim and Dive, and the team is optimistic for their upcoming season lead. Walla Walla had done it, their first meet win against Richland in seven years! I spoke with Walla Walla swimmer Eliana Isenhower at the end of the meeting to discuss their win. She spoke for the team, stating, “Our team is really close, and we’re all really supportive, [and] we encouraged each other to do our best and win.” She also mentioned, “We’re really thankful to have the coaches who support and push us into doing swims they know we’re able to do.
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Although a tough loss for Richland swim and dive, the team is optimistic for their upcoming season and motivation is high to get redemption. I spoke with Richland head coach Nicole Weinman after the meeting to see how she was feeling. She mentioned, “Even though the results did not come out the way we wanted tonight, we still had a dozen kids qualify for districts, and we got to see which kids are willing to put it all on the line and race.” She also highlighted how weakened the team was going into the meet, “It was a perfect storm of events. We had a few of our top performers out for illness or battling injuries, and Walla Walla came to play.” It was easy to see that the team was not discouraged, especially going into the next meet with Madalyn Norris returning after two weeks out of the pool and myself after almost ten weeks. My notion was confirmed after further interviewing with Weinman, “I think when we race them again during the season, we will be ready to show them what we got when our team is firing on all cylinders. We have this saying on our team that if we have a bad race, we have to “flush it” and move on to the next one. We are ready to put this meet behind us and focus on our next meet against Southridge and Kamiakin.”
