Kathy Piper's Richland squad is undefeated, but the coach is feeling some nerves as the Bombers prepare to face fellow 4-0 team Wenatchee today at the Eastmont YMCA Aquatic Center for the CBBN 4A title.

"I never know what to expect," Piper said. "They seem to always have a surprise or two that we kind of have to be prepared for."

The Panthers feature the state's top 50 and 100 freestyler in sophomore Hannah Bruggman, as well as junior Cass Peterson, a "really good flyer, freestyler, all-anything," according to Piper.

In scouting the Panthers, Piper has determined they possess plenty of middle depth but "don't have a lot of big guns. You've got to balance the big dogs we have with the middle depth, so fighting for fifth-place points will be really important."

At the same venue, Hanford (5-0) -- also coached by Piper -- will battle Eastmont (4-1) for CBBN 3A supremacy.

"The double dual makes it really tough for us, coaching two important meets at one meet," she said.

Still, Piper believes the Falcons can handle the Wildcats, whose only league loss came Sept. 13 against Southridge.

"Eastmont's got some pretty strong freshmen this year. They're rebuilding the core program," Piper said. "They're coming back, and I think they'll be strong. I don't think they'll be quite as strong as Hanford, but they'll come out tough."

Apologies: Kennewick's team score Saturday against Hanford was incorrectly reported in Sunday's Herald. The Lions finished with 31 points.

At that meet, Kennewick's Hailey Murphy finished third in the 200 individual medley and qualified for state with a time of 2:16.35. She also went below the state qualifying mark in the 100 fly, placing third in 1:01.96.