Blackhawks swimmers drop second meet to Pullman

Cheney High School’s boys swim team wrapped up their regular season schedule with a dual meet last Saturday at perennial Eastern Washington swimming power Pullman, absorbing a 121-48 loss to the Greyhounds.

Trevor Babcock captured the Blackhawks’ only first-place finishes. The senior took first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.45 seconds, and was first in the 100 breaststroke in a state-qualifying 1:05.25.

Babcock’s brother Trae finished second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:08.05. He was also third in the 100 freestyle in 54.45, with Jared Geschke finishing third in the 200 individual medley in 2:20.43 to wrap up Cheney’s individual placements.

All three Blackhawks ‘A” relay teams finished second. The 200 medley team of Trae Babcock, Geschke, Trevor Babcock and Zach Jongeward turned in a time of 1:52.42, while the 200 freestyle team of Matt Christianson, Jacob Devine, Steven Freeman and Jongeward posted a time of 1:47.04.

The 400 freestyle team of Trae Babcock, Freeman, Geschke and Trevor Babcock wrapped up the meet with a second-place time of 3:41.27.

Cheney wraps up its regular season with a second-place 6-2 mark in league competition between Pullman and teams from the Central Washington Athletic Conference. The Blackhawks now turn their focus to district competition this Friday and Saturday, hoping to get as many swimmers into the top-three slots that move on to the state meet in a couple weeks at Federal Way.

Trevor Babcock has already qualified for state in the 200 freestyle and 100 breaststroke through meeting or exceeding time standards. Head coach Jennifer Hochwalt said she is looking for him to swim faster at district competition at Washington State University in order to improve his seeding in those events.

Several other swimmers, along with a couple relay teams, are on the verge of qualifying, Hochwalt added, either through time or by placing in the top three. She said she has a “ton” of swimmers who will get their first postseason swimming experience this weekend, and she is hoping they will enjoy the moment.

“It will cap off their year and hopefully get them excited for next year,” she said.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.