District 4/5 Swim Meet Preliminaries

I forgot to bring my video camera to this big meet today, then I realized I had my digital camera. Kyle is in lane 5 (the second closest lane to the camera). Enjoy the next 1 minute and 12 seconds!

Kyle qualified for the second day of competition in ninth place.

More Swim Clippings for Kyle

Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009

BOYS SWIMMING

Lions Pool, Yakima

Team scores—Richland 112, West Valley 71; Hanford 100, West Valley 86; Richland 113, Hanford 72.

200 medley relay—1, Richland (Nick Connors, Tyler Pickett, Nathaniel Weinman, Alden Welsch), 1:49.54; 2, Hanford, 1:50.52; 3, Richland B, 1:58.33. 200 free—1, Joe Wertz (H), 1:51.04; 2, Weinman (R), 1:51.98. 200 IM—1, Pickett (R), 2:09.57; 2, Connors (R), 2:14.18; 3, Robbie Pfaff (H), 2:16.36. 50 free—1, Cody Roberts (R), 22.48; 2, Eric Blanchard (R), 24.71. Diving—1, B.J. Deatherage (H), 135.80; 3, Kyle Cornwell (H), 118.4 100 fly—1, Roberts (R), 52.48; 3, Miles Phillips (H), 1:00.73. 100 free—1, Wertz (H), 50.57; 3, Blanchard (R), 51.94. 500 free—1, Weinman (R), 5:05.69; 2, Keith Meline (H), 5:36.38; 3, Ben Barton (R), 5:58.18. 200 free relay—1, Richland (Roberts, Blanchard, Welsch, Connors), 1:34.33. 100 back—1, Connors (R), 1:01.31; 2, Welsch (R), 1:02.55; 3, Phillips (H), 1:04.20. 100 breast—1, Kuhn (WV), 1:07.10; 2, Mitch Sturtevant (R), 1:08.27; 3, Pfaff (H), 1:09.21. 400 free relay—1, Richland (Roberts, Weinman, Blanchard, Pickett), 3:28.39; 3, Hanford, 3:39.07.

2 1/4 Somersault in the Tuck Position

Kyle is diving (as well as swimming) for the Hanford Swim Team this season. The boys don't get much practice because the closest indoor pools with diving facilities are in either Yakima (75 miles away) or Moses Lake (85 miles away). About once a week the boys get a ride to Yakima for diving practice during the open swim time at the pool. Last night was one of those opportunities. They met at the raquet club at 5:00 PM and didn't return home until about 10:00 PM.

We heard Kyle come in, but he didn't come talk to us, as he usually does, he just went to the other end of the house. After about 15 minutes I went looking for him. He heard me coming, but had his back to me. I asked, "how was practice? Are you ready for your meet tomorrow?"

He said something like, "Not really. I did a 2 1/4 front somersault."

I thought, "WOW a 2 1/2 front somersault! That's pretty hard off of a 1 meter board!"

Then he sheepishly swiveled around in the office chair. As I looked at him I saw a swollen face, bloodshot eyes and the beginnings of black eyes.

"What happened??!"

He said, "Get it. A 2 1/4!"

He had hit the water chest and face first while still tucked. OUCH! I asked if he lost his contacts and he said that one of them folded in half, but stayed in his eye.

Kyle had a pretty good headache and stiff neck. We heated up the rice bag and pumped him full of ibuprofen. He decided to skip today's 11-dive meet and let his neck heal a bit.

How Depressing!

Are you wondering what this is a picture of? For a hint scroll down...

Still not sure? Look at the next photo.

You have been looking at the same sky that we have been seeing for over a week! Nothing but a solid, colorless mass of gray! The temperature has not been lower than 28.3 nor higher than 34.2. Give me some variety! Wind, frost, snow, rain, frigid temperatures, a bit of sunshine... anything to let me know we still belong to the planet!

Now that you know what the first picture is, guess when it was taken:

1. Monday at 7:30 AM
2. Thursday at 4:00 PM
3. Tuesday at noon
4. Wednesday at 10:37 AM

The correct answer is: It doesn't matter when this picture was taken, the sky looked exactly the same at all of the above times.

I Take My Car to Mr. Bruce

The brakes on our CR-V needed to be replaced, so Bruce went to the Honda dealer and bought the pads so he could do the work himself. It's wonderful to have a husband who is able to do so many things himself. All I have to do is say something like, "It sure would be nice to have another shelf in the laundry room." The next thing I know, Bruce is rummaging through the garage to find a piece of shelving that will fit between the laundry room cabinets. I chose wisely!

Kyle thinks it is funny that Bruce used a milking stool to work on the brakes.

Kyle's Swim Clipping PR in 100 Breaststroke

Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009

Swimming: Hanford edges Eastmont

By the Herald staff

EAST WENATCHEE -- Hanford narrowly defeated Eastmont 95-91 in a three-way meet with Richland at Eastmont High School.

Team scores--Hanford 95, Eastmont 91; Richland 111, Eastmont 74.

200 medley relay--Richland (Cody Roberts, Tyler Pickett, Eric Blanchard, Casey Morris) 1:49.42; 3, Hanford, 1:52.24. 200 free--Joe Wertz (H) 1:49.24 (sq), Roberts (R) 1:55.23, Pickett (R) 1:58.29. 200 IM--Blanchard (R) 2:07.53, Danny Tixier (H), 2:07.58, Eric David (R) 2:23.68. 50 free--Alden Welsch (R) 23.97; 3, Morris (R) 25.31. Diving--Matt Huylar (E) 272.60. 100 fly--Bruggman (E) 58.90, Blanchard (R) 58.95, Welsch (R) 1:01.16. 100 free--Tixier (H) 51.85, Nathan Weinman (R) 51.94. 500 free--Nick Connors (R) 5:06.99, Pickett (R) 5:09.50, Pfaff (H) 5:30.73. 200 free relay--Richland (Morris, Weinman, Blanchard, Roberts) 1:37.53, Hanford 1:39.47. 100 back--Wertz (H) 55.98, Roberts (R) 57.29, Weinman (R) 1:00.18. 100 breast--Jeff Grindel (H) 1:07.38, David (R) 1:10.67, Kyle Cornwell (H) 1:12.59. 400 free relay--Richland (Weinman, Connors, Pickett, Welsch) 3:33.03, Hanford 3:35.24.

Yakima River Flood of January 2009

We listened to the news and weather reports all week: "The Yakima River is expected to reach flood stage at the Kiona measuring station on Friday afternoon." The weather turned warm and the snow in the mountains began to thaw. On top of that, excessive amounts of rain began to fall. All this water had to go somewhere. On our side of the Cascades (east), much of the it came down the Yakima River.

The Yakima River runs between Richland and West Richland and the land nearby lies low and when the river hit flood stage at Kiona, it was only a matter of hours before overran its banks here.

The Yakima last flooded in 1996 under similar conditions. That flooding was signficantly higher, lasted longer and caused much more damage. Many homes in the flood area were rebuilt on higher ground (as you will notice in the pictures). Back in 1996 we were not able to get near where we were today. In fact, if we would have been under several feet of water.

Below are several pictures and videos of the flooding. For those of you familiar with the area the captions will give you a bearing. You can also follow this link to see more professional pictures in a slideshow format.

NOTE: To see a full-sized image of any picture on my blog, just click it. The image will open in the same window. You will need to hit the "back" button of your browser to return to the blog page.

Gauge on the north west side of the Highway 224 (Van Giesen) Yakima River Bridge. I don't have a reference point for normal. Bruce seems to think that 72, 73 and 74 mean 472, 473, 474 feet elevation above sea level.

Looking north east up river from the West Richland side (Neigborhood Market parking lot)

Further up river from the same spot.

Looking east to Richland, same spot.

Near Fern Loop- The video below shows how fast the water was flowing here.

Grover/Pedersen Road - Where Michele used to ride horses with Carrie.

Same place off of Grover road. See the horse on the bit of high ground?

In front of fire station at Grosscup and Harrington Roads

In Richland, heading east on 224 (Van Giesen). This is looking south east. The house in the distance is shown again in the next picture.


The house (also above) was rebuilt on higher ground after the 1996 flood. It is high and dry!

Warning on Grover Road, heading east toward Jones Road, Richland

Grover Road- The truck ahead is at the intersection of Jones.

Grover Road

SUV driving too fast on Jones Road - See the video below

Another structure (Grover Road) built up...high and dry