Members of the Cheney girls swim team warm up for their meet against the Selah Wildcats Oct. 9.
The Cheney High School girls swim team thoroughly thumped Selah at their Oct. 9 meet, sweeping the competition 123-49 and winning every event.
Freshman Janie Richards gave a particularly strong showing, taking the top spot in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:03:24, a state qualifying time and a new team record. She also snapped up the first place finish in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:07:31 with junior Echo Mecklenburg taking second in 1:12:75.
"She had a great day," said head coach Jennifer Hochwalt.
Richards helped propel multiple relay teams to victory. Richards, freshman Jade Gere, junior Izzy Williams and senior Courtney Hanson captured the 200-medley relay in 2:05:14, while Richards, Mecklenburg, Williams and senior Juliette Richards were first in the 400 freestyle relay in 4:16:11.
In the 200 freestyle relay, Hanson, Gere, senior Abby Wood and freshman Tilly Baldwin brought their team a win in 1:54:42.
Also delivering a state qualifying time was Gere in the 100-breaststroke, with 1:13:14. She snagged the number one spot by a mile in the 100 freestyle in a time of 57:67, with Hanson taking second in 1:03:21. Hanson in turn took the lead in the 50-yard freestyle in 27:65 with Wood capturing second place in 29:09.
Cheney dominated the Vikings in every event, including the 200-yard freestyle, where Juliette Richards roasted opponents in 2:17:42. She also took the top spot in the 500 freestyle in 6:03:13. Sophomore Lauren O'Callaghan came in second in that heat in 6:51:43.
Williams showed her own skill by leading the 200 individual medley in 2:29:56 with Mecklenburg stealing second in 2:42:73. Williams took second in the 100 backstroke in 1:08:41 with freshman Carol Williams bringing home third in 1:16:10.
"We have a lot of really nice kids, and they want to work hard and swim fast," Hochwalt said.
The team has two weeks left for swimmers to qualify for districts and work on coming up with those state-qualifying times. Until then, Hochwalt said, they'll continue doing what they're doing.
Obviously, it's working.
Shannen Talbot can be reached at shannen@cheneyfreepress.com.
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