Frey was the favorite going into the 50-yard freestyle, swimming’s equivalent of the 100-meter dash in track and field. Many at the state meet thought the record would fall for the first time in 13 years. While Frey’s time of 21.42 seconds was shy of the record, he outsprinted the next fastest swimmer by more than 2/10 of a second.
“I’m a little disappointed I didn’t break the record,” Frey said after the race. “But I’m still a state champ, so it’s all good.”
  
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When the horn blew, Frey jumped out in front, keeping his underwater kick for a split second longer than the competition. He surfaced a fraction ahead of the swimmers in lanes three and five, holding this lead to the finish only two pool lengths away.
The crowd inhaled before Frey’s time was posted on the scoreboard. It was a second and a half short of the record, but Frey received rousing applause, edging out Wyatt Adams of Service High School in lane five and Kick Rutecki of Juneau-Douglas High School in lane three.
Wasilla swimming coach Matt Hanley was proud of Saturday’s fastest racer.
“It was a very solid race. He had some big boys on either side of him,” Hanley said. “He worked hard and just kept firing away.”
With a stronger field for the 100-yard freestyle, Frey was in lane five having posted the second fastest time in the prelims.
“I thought I would just take it out fast and try to hold on,” he said.
After jumping from the blocks, Frey and Ryan O’Leary of Seward High School surfaced at almost the same time. The two continued neck and neck through the four lengths of the pool. The results had to be posted on the scoreboard before the crowd knew who had won.
“I didn’t think I had it in me,” Frey said, “but I got the touch.”
Frey finished with a time of 46.63 seconds, just 8/100 of a second before O’Leary and 4/10 of a second faster than third-place Drew Vandermeer of West Valley High School.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” Frey said after winning two state titles, the first for a Valley swimmer in a decade.
Fellow Warrior Rachel Kennedy finished second in the girls’ 1-meter dive. Her second of three dives — a front 1.5 summersault with one twist — landed her an impressive 33.00 score from the judges.
Kennedy said she was happy with her second-place finish, especially considering the slow start to her diving season. It’s been an uphill battle for her after tearing abdominal muscles at the end of the cross-country season.
“This weekend, I definitely didn’t dive my best,” she said. “But coming back to finish second is great.”
In the boys’ distance race of the meet, Christian Long, also of Wasilla, finished second in the 500-yard freestyle. Long said he was happy with his finish, but thinks he should have done better if he had stuck with swimming in the offseason.
“For only swimming for four months before this, I guess (my performance was OK,” Long said.
In addition to the strong individual showings by Frey, Kennedy and Long, Karina Barria finished seventh in the girls’ 50-yard free, the Wasilla boys’ 200-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relays both posted the fifth fastest times in their races.
“I’m very happy with the team,” Coach Hanley said. “Top to bottom, they preformed great throughout the competition and all year long.”
The other two representatives from Valley schools were both from Colony High School. Alexander Deedy finished fifth in the boys’ 1-meter dive and Katelyn Payne placed seventh in the girls’ 100-yard backstroke.
Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.
ASAA/Alaska First National Bank Alaska Swimming and Diving Championships
Saturday, Bartlett High
Girls
Team scores — 1 . Service 113; 2 . Kodiak 69; 3 . East 63; 4 . Dimond 60; 5 . Ketchikan 57; 6 . West Valley 41; 7 . South 31; 8 . Lathrop 20; 9 . Soldotna 18; 10 . Monroe 17; 11 . Juneau 14; 12 . Valdez 10; 13 . Wasilla 9; 14 . tie, Kenai, Homer and Petersburg, 7; 17 . West 6; 18 . Bartlett 3; 19 . Colony 2, 20 . Chugiak 1.
200 medley relay — 1 . Dimond (Hawkins, Wray, Summers, Haley ., 1:50.54; 2 . Service, 1:51.18; 3 . Ketchikan, 1:51.86; 4 . Kodiak, 1:52.81; 5 . Soldotna, 1:56.53; 6 . Lathrop, 1:58.02; 7 . East, 2:02.42; 8 . South, 2:04.42.
200 freestyle — 1 . Anne Goering, West Valley, 1:55.44; 2 . Emilee Johnson, Ketchikan, 1:57.84; 3 . Hannah Iverson, Service, 1:58.73; 4 . Jori Lindquist, Kodiak, 1:59.07; 5 . Katy Dalton, West, 1:59.55; 6 . Jordan Iverson, Service, 2:01.65; 7 . Chelsea Knigth, South, 2:02.13; 8 . Olivia Pfeifer, Kenai, 2:02.49.
200 individual medley — 1 . Nikki Wray, Dimond, 2:08.06; 2 . Janelle Stacy, Ketchikan, 2:11.28; 3 . Elizabeth Bennett, Monroe, 2:12.56; 4 . Victoria Adams, Service, 2:14.49; 5 . Auri Clark, Juneau, 2:15.69; 6 . Michelle Hawkins, Dimond, 2:16.05; 7 . Celeste Beck-Goodell, Kodiak, 2:16.52; 8 . Chloe Miller, Service, 2:17.27.
50 freestyle — 1 . Sam Wicks, East, 24.05; 2 . Mary Uselmann, Service, 27.18; 3 . Ilaura Reeves, Lathrop, 25.05; 4 . Hannah Norris, Valdez, 25.25; 5 . Haley Bissell, Dimond, 25.27; 6 . Tessa Hasbrouck, Petersburg, 25.28; 7 . Karina Barria, Wasilla, 25.45; 8 . Paulina Yoo, South, 25.54.
1-meter diving — 1 . Renee Jordan, East, 363.40; 2 . Rachel Kennedy, Wasilla, 306.80; 3 . Savannah Craft, West Valley, 292.35; 4 . Joanna Wallace, Monroe, 290.0; 5 . Katie Cartee, South, 287.75l 6 . Dezi Julo, Bartlett, 282.60; 7 . Sophie Hogen, Kodiak, 279.40; 8 . Kaitlin Friedli, Chugiak, 266.40.
100 butterfly — 1 . Margot Adams, Service, 57.53; 2 . Janelle Stacy, Ketchikan, 58.86; 3 . Elizabeth Bennett, Monroe, 59.19; 4 . Olivia Bowen, Soldotna, 59.34; 5 . Auri Clark, Juneau, 59.41; 6 . Mary Uselmann, Service, 59.58; 7 . Jesi Cavanaugh, East, 1:00.98; 8 . Julie James, West Valley, 1:03.19.
100 freestyle — 1 . Anne Goering, West Valley, 52.47. 2, Margot Adams, Service, 52.74; 3 . Emilee Johnson, Ketchikan, 53.67; 4 . Hannah Norris, Valdez, 54.93; 5 . Tessa Hasbrouck, Petersburg, 55.18; 6 . Laura Griffing, Kodiak, 55.47; 7 . Katy Dalton, West, 55.51; 8 . Kaylen Jones, South, 56.25.
500 freestyle — 1 . Nikki Wray, Dimond, 5:14.26; 2 . Celeste Beck-Goodell, Kodiak, 5:19.65; 3 . Jordan Iverson, Service, 5:21.15; 4 . Hannah Iverson, Service, 5:23.82; 5 . Olivia Pfeifer, Kenai, 5:24.55; 6 . Marie Schmidt, Homer, 5:29.19; 7 . McKinely Wallace, East, 5:30.94; 8 . Donna McNulty, Homer, 5:40.92.
200 free relay — 1 . Service (Uselmann, Kirk, V. Adams, H. Iverson ., 1:39.72; 2 . East, 1:40.96; 3 . West Valley, 1:41.74; 4 . South, 1:42.01; 5 . Kodiak, 1:43.30; 6 . Juneau, 1:45.09; 7 . Lathrop 1:45.59; 8 . Kenai, 1:46.49.
100 backstroke — 1 . Sam Wicks, East, 57.35; 2 . Michelle Hawkins, Dimond, 58.65; 3 . Victoria Adams, Service, 59.53; 4 . Jori Lindquist, Kodiak, 59.89; 5 . Haley Bissell, Dimond, 1:01.83; 6 . Paulina Yoo, South, 1:03.22; 7 . Katelyn Payne, Colony, 1:03.36; 8 . Alissa Bezenek, Ketchikan, 1:03.51.
100 breast stroke — 1 . Laura Griffing, Kodiak, 1:06.57; 2 . Kendra Standley, Ketchikan, 1:08.02; 3 . Myra Scholze, Kodiak, 1:08.40; 4 . Christine Kirk, Service, 1:10.64; 5 . Ilaura Reeves, Lathrop, 1:11.36; 6 . Donna McNulty, Homer, 1:11.72; 7 . Michaela Shirnberg, Soldotna, 1:12.37; 8 . Randi Freestone, Soldotna, 1:12.96.
400 free relay — 1 . Service (H. Iverson, V. Adams, J. Iverson, M. Adams ., 3:39.99; 2 . East, 3:41.38; 3 . Kodiak, 3:42.38; 4 . Ketchikan, 3:42.68; 5 . South, 3:45.04; 6 . Dimond, 3:45.75; 7 . West Valley, 3:48.20; 8 . Soldotna 3:50.10.
Boys
Team scores — 1 . Dimond 99, 2 . Juneau 84, 3 . Lathrop 63, 4 . Service 46, 5 . Kodiak 44, 6 . Wasilla 41, 7 . South 37, 8 . West Valley 32, 9 . Soldotna 24, 10 . East 17, 11 . Petersburg 16, 12 . Seward 14, 13 . Sitka 8, 14 . Ketchikan 7, 15 . Kenai 6, 16 . Bartlett 5, 16 . Hutchison Career Center 5, 18 . Colony 4, 19 . West 1.
200 medley relay — 1 . Juneau (Cody Brunette, Seth Caycee, Tyler Mickelson, Nick Rutecki ., 1:36.33 (New state record; old record 1:36.98, Petersburg, 1998 .; 2 . Lathrop, 1:38.38; 3 . Dimond, 1:38.59; 4 . South, 1:40.03; 5 . Wasilla, 1:42.19; 6 . Service, 1:44.04; 7 . West Valley, 1:44.61; 8 . Soldotna, 1:47.22.
200 freestyle — 1 . Matt Summers, Dimond, 1:42.40; 2 . Ryan O’Leary, Seward, 1:44.05; 3 . Logan Hanneman, Lathrop, 1:45.83; 4 . David Wilcox, Dimond, 1:47.50; 5 . Austin Reed, Kodiak, 1:49.84; 6 . Josh Anderson, Juneau, 1:48.79; 7 . Jackson Ursin, Dimond, 1:49.59; 8 . Simon Ross, Dimond, 1:50.71.
200 individual medley — 1 . Cody Brunette, Juneau, 1:54.79; 2 . Jay Schulte, South, 1:57.33; 3 . Keegan Severns, Lathrop, 1:57.70; 4 . Gregory Evershed, Hutchison, 2:01.57; 5 . Gordon Reeder, Sitka, 2:04.43; 6 . Case Kuikhoven, Ketchikan, 2:06.21; 7 . Erik Wilcox, Dimond, 2:07.01; 8 . Forrest Scofield, Service, 2:09.85.
50 freestyle — 1 . Jeff Frey, Wasilla, 21.42; 2 . Wyatt Adams, Service, 21.67; 3 . Nick Rutecki, Juneau, 21.74; 4 . Shawn Wooten, East, 22.12; 5 . Nando Macinko, Kodiak, 22.23; 6 . Ben Rockwell, South, 22.36; 7 . Jordan Reid, Petersburg, 22.42; 8 . Preston Marsh, Petersburg, 22.76.
1-meter diving — 1 . Dalton Haas, Service, 444.55; 2 . Scott Wandersee, Kodiak, 432.90; 3 . Cade Bennett, Dimond, 371.85; 4 . Bryan Haley, Bartlett, 368.40; 5 . Alexander Deedy, Colony, 342.45; 6 . Rafe Hembree, West Valley, 326.85; 7 . Josh Oldham, South, 321.80; 8 . Evan Tyler, West, 284.90.
100 butterfly — 1 . Cody Brunette, Juneau, 50.42; 2 . Winter Heaven, Soldotna, 50.78; 3 . Wyatt Adams, Service, 51.97; 4 . Tyler Mickelson, Juneau, 52.12; 5 . Seth Cayce, Juneau, 53.72; 6 . Phillip Martinez, Lathrop, 54.30; 7 . David Wilcox, Dimond, 54.44; 8 . Clayton Schauff, Kodiak, 54.72.
100 free — 1, Jeff Frey, Wasilla, 46.63; 2 . Ryan O’Leary, Seward, 46.70; 3 . Drew Vandermeer, West Valley, 47.01; 4 . Nick Rutecki, Juneau, 47.26; Logan Hanneman, Lathrop, 48.37; Ben Rockwell, South, 48.56; 7 . Jordan Reid, Petersburg, 48.72; 8 . Adam Kowalewski, Dimond, 49.01.
500 free — 1 . Matthew Summers, Dimond, 4:38.99; 2 . Christian Long, Wasilla, 4:54.34; 3 . Jackson Ursin, Dimond, 4:57.82; 4 . Simon Ross, Dimond, 4:58.78; 5 . Case Kuikhoven, Ketchikan, 5:02.07; 6 . Adam Miller, Service, 5:02.09; 7 . Jeff Danielson, Lathrop, 5:04.75; 8 . Ian McCallum, Petersburg, 5:14.43.
200 free relay — 1 . Juneau (Mickelson, Cayce, Anderson, Rutecki ., 1:27.93; 2 . Lathrop, 1:30.58; 3 . Dimond, 1:30.97; 4 . Kodiak, 1:31.14; 5 . Wasilla, 1:31.55; 6 . West Valley, 1:31.99; 7 . Petersburg, 1:32.10; 8 . East, 1:35.13.
100 backstroke — 1 . Drew Vandermeer, West Valley, 54.09; 2 . Winter Heaven, Soldotna, 54.89; 3 . Nando Macinko, Kodiak, 55.94; 4 . Zach Rockwell, South, 56.64; 5 . Cory Chan, Dimond, 56.69; 6 . Luke Carson, West Valley, 56.75; 7 . Cody Schick, Juneau, 57.51; 8 . Phillip Martinez, Lathrop, 58.64.
100 breast stroke — 1 . Keegan Severns, Lathrop, 58.33; Jay Schulte, South, 59.01; 3 . Preston Marsh, Petersburg, 1:00.22; 4 . Seth Cayce, Juneau, 1:01.10; 5 . Gordon Reeder, Sitka, 1:02.34; 6 . Joseph Sandstrom, Dimond, 1:03.29; 7 . Adam Kowalewski, Dimond, 1:03.53; 8 . Ben Vandermeer, West Valley, 1:04.96.
400 free relay — 1 . Dimond (Summers, Chan, Ursin, Wilcox ., 3:15.61; 2 . Service, 3:18.55; 3 . Kodiak, 3:19.76; 4 . East, 3:26.54; 5 . Soldotna, 3:30.14; 6 . Kenai, 3:31.88; 7 . Lathrop, 3:33.94; 8 . Juneau, DQ.
Comments
2 comment(s)redfan wrote on Nov 8, 2009 6:18 PM:
onlooker wrote on Nov 8, 2009 1:49 PM: