Manta Rays compete in Spokane Invitational

Posted: Wednesday, Jun 25, 2008 - 11:53:48 am PDT
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By Miles Douglass
Herald staff writer 

MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake Manta Rays competed at the Spokane Invitational through the weekend of June 20 to 23. The three-day event featured teams from the Inland Empire.

According to coach Steve Witcher the team is training hard to prepare for the upcoming championship phase of the season.

"The goal is provide a great opportunity for the youth in the greater Moses Lake area," Witcher said. "We have many up-and-coming competitors in this area and we expect great things to come from Moses Lake swimming in the not-so-distant future."

Many team members swam very close to or posted "A" times at the meet. To achieve an "A" qualifying time swimmers need to meet the established time standard set each year by Inland Empire swimming, which is based on the top 25 percentile from the previous year.

The high point scorer for the Manta Rays was 11-year-old Brendan Eslick, who competed in the 11-12 year old age group. Included in his accomplishments was two second-place finishes in the 50- and 100-freestyle events. Also scoring points in the younger age groups was Elliot and Ethan Boyd in the 8 & under boys age group, Anna Fari and Krista Hutsell in the 8 & under girls age group, Marshall Goodrich for the senior boys and Cari Cortez for the senior girls.

The next team competition will be the Moses Lake Invitational beginning July 10 and lasting through the 12. This meet will feature teams from the Inland Empire plus a few from the west side of the state and Canada. The Moses Lake will begin the championship phase of the season for the Manta Rays.

Swimmers meeting one of more "A" times included:

8 & under boys
Ethan Boyd

8 & under girls
Anna Fair
Gabriella Hall
Krista Hutsell

9-10 boys
Elliot Boyd

9-10 girls
Nichole Eslick
Addison Fair
Kiersten Hutsell
Megan Mullin
Halley Tolliver

11-12 boys
Corey Bradshaw
Brendon Eslick

11-12 girls
Jalen Garza
Kanesha Hemmerling
Emmy Pruneda
Alex Walsh

13-14 boys
Dalton Tolliver

13-14 girls
Grace Hochstatter

15-18 boys
Marshall Goodrich

15-18 girls
Cari Cortez
Elaura Grant
Lindsey Pruneda

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