Diving towards Destiny: La Grande hopes to make a splash at swimming state championships
By Joe Hathaway on Thursday, February 15th, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – As the La Grande Tigers swimming team gracefully slices through the water, their sights are set on the ultimate prize at the upcoming state championships.
The Tigers boys and girls swim squads are heading to Beaverton on Friday to compete in the 4A/3A/2A/1A state championships.
“The kids are excited and we’re confident and determined,” said Head Coach Cheyenne Maszk. “This is all an accumulation of the whole season.”
La Grande clinched its spot in state after a strong showing at districts. Now in her fourth season as coach, Maszk says this team is more ready than ever to bring home a championship.
“We try to set goals early in the season. These kids are pretty great kids. And so these seniors, we only have two, but they are my first class all the way through,” said Maszk. “So I’ve had them since they were freshmen. So it’s just a cool year for me, that like these are authentically my kids, they haven’t been coached by anyone else. I feel good about that.”
La Grande isn’t the only local team in the hunt for a title, Cove is sending two athletes as well.
“The competition in swimming is intense,” said Maszk. “It’s a hundredth of a second for many of these races and it’s head to head the whole time. It really comes down to just who has the fingertip on the wall first. It’s a really amazing thing to be a part of.
