Medical Lake swimmers would like to make a big splash

There are sports that are making, and have made notable headlines in Medical Lake, both recently and in the past.

The Cardinal girls basketball team won their first regular season Northeast A League basketball title last Friday, the boys have been playing well and the ML cross country team has become a dominant force in the state the past several years.

But Medical Lake's swim team is trying to make its own splash.

Swim team? Medical Lake? Yes, a group of eight students have been hitting the pool, thanks to the open door Cheney's head coach, Jennifer Hochwalt has provided the past few years.

The Cardinals will head to Pullman this weekend to try to earn state berths, hoping to improve on their relay team's effort last year.

Swimming as what's termed a "co-op" team, the eight competitors have doubled their number from a year ago, and bumped numbers up a lot from the one swimmer in 2014-15, C.J. Kriger who graduated last spring.

"They are really nice kids, they fit in really well with my Cheney team," Hochwalt said. "They all qualified to swim at districts and we'll see how they place. They've improved so much."

It's an eclectic mix of students who make up the Medical Lake team, some who are out just for fun, and others using swimming to springboard themselves into careers.

Two-year team member, Isaac Outhenthapanya, a sophomore whose family roots trace back to Laos in Southeast Asia, might like to pursue the sport in college, but for now he's in it for the camaraderie. He specializes in the 100-meter freestyle or 200 backstroke.

Senior Kekoa Paikuli originally got into swimming because he played water polo. "I wanted to get better at water polo by swimming faster," Paikuli, a senior, said. "Swimming helps me relax and think," he added.

Phoenix Hanks, another senior, is using swimming - anything freestyle or the relay he says - to bolster his chances at a bold career desire.

"I joined swimming originally for the training aspect," he said. "I'm looking to join the Navy after four years of college and the job I want to go into requires a lot of swimming - a SEAL," Hanks said.

Tylor Edison, calls the 50 freestyle and breaststroke his favorite events and one of the senior's favorite elements is the competition. "I really enjoyed swimming and to see my progression from last year to this year is actually really impressive," the Cardinal baseball player said.

Senior Michael O'Brien's specialty is the 100-meter backstroke. A former wrestler, O'Brien hurt his shoulder, and swimming was a more kind way to stay in shape.

He likes getting to know new people, even the Cheney swimmers who have allowed Medical Lake to join them, the senior said. "It's one big family, everyone's friendly (and) we joke around a lot," he added.

Cole Grittner doesn't have a specialty event, but does have a long-range goal in mind, training to become a Navy rescue swimmer. The senior is in the delayed entry program, still has to take the test for the program and plans on making the service a career.

Another senior, Brayden Bruess, competes in the 100 freestyle and 100 breaststroke. Bruess has watched interest in the team grow as the Medical Lake contingent has doubled. "There were only four of us last year," Bruess said.

"I'm hoping to try out for my college team," he added. That would be Norwich University in Vermont where he will study criminal justice as a path to the military.

Jon Harper, a junior, turned out for swimming because his basketball skills admittedly leave something to be desired.

"I've made improvements on my 50-free, and the 200-medley relay, also," Harper said. He would like to possibly get a lifeguard job at a summer church camp. Harper has a career in mind in vocational pastoral ministry.

While growth has been exponential the past few years, and the current swimmers would like to grow it more, it will take much more than bodies to someday spin the team off from under Cheney's shadow, Hochwalt said.

They need a coach - the easiest part, perhaps - but the biggest obstacle is finding a place to swim.

"The biggest hurdle to forming their own team if first finding a facility, fortunately in Cheney, we have Eastern," she said. "That's one of the reasons there's no high school swimming in Spokane," Hochwalt added, other than teams from Cheney and Medical Lake.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].