Colony boys make a splash at Bartlett/Chugiak Invite

PALMER — Region III opponents are surely aware of the strength of the Colony Knights swimming and diving team. Saturday, the Knights introduced themselves to the rest of the state.

Colony finished as the runner-up in the boys’ standings of the Bartlett-Chugiak Invitational, seen as the state championship preview, Saturday at Bartlett High School.

“It was definitely an outstanding weekend for the boys,” Colony head coach Wil Fernandez said Monday.

More than 400 athletes from 17 different schools participated in the meet.

“A lot of competition, a lot of the best competition,” Fernandez said.

Led by Zach Bloom’s win in the 500-yard freestyle and a first-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay, Colony finished with 78 overall points in the meet.

Fernandez said he’s excited about the work and progress of his athletes, especially during a tough stretch of the regular season.

“It’s a really strenuous part of the season,” Fernandez said.

Fernandez said the bulk of his swimmers are right on track, as far as where they need to be in advance of the region and state meets. But he’s also excited to see his swimmers continue to push and improve.

The Knights continued their record-breaking ways. Bloom (200 freestyle) and Jake Simmons (100 butterfly) both set school records during the meet. Bloom’s time of 1:45.75 and Simmons’ mark of 54.61 are also the fastest times ever registered by a Valley swimmer in those events.

The Colony swim team has now broken 15 school records through the first five meets this season.

Bloom finished second to Dimond’s Michael Summers, the defending state champion in the event, in the 200 freestyle. Summers recorded a time of 1:45.09. Bloom’s win came in the 500 freestyle. His time of 4:55.91 was six seconds faster than the mark of runner-up Jordan Davis of Thunder Mountain.

“Zach Bloom is by far one of the most committed,” Fernandez said. “He’s broken Colony High School records since we started the season. I think every single week he has broken a record.”

Joseph Anderson and Jake Simmons posted runner-up finishes. Anderson was second in the 100 breaststroke, with a time of 1:01.05. Simmons was second in the 100 butterfly (54.61) and 100 backstroke (57.74).

Bloom, Anderson, Simmons and Elliot Amato combined for a win in the 400 freestyle relay and a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay.

Fernandez said Simmons, a freshman, has made a huge impact as a newcomer.

“He’s brought a new energy. It would be hard to say our male relays would be competing at this level without Jake,” Fernandez said. “He’s blown the door off the hinges. The kid’s coming into high school swimming like he’s a junior or a senior, like he’s been competing at this level for a while.”

For complete results, see frontiersman.com/sports.

Bartlett-Chugiak Invitational swim meet

Swimming at Bartlett, diving at Chugiak

Boys

Team scores — 1, Dimond, 129. 2, Colony, 78. 3, West Valley, 64. 4, Thunder Mountain, 60. 5, Eagle River, 52. 6, Service, 39. 7, South, 38. 8, North Pole, 22. 9, Sitka, 20. 10, Chugiak, 17. 11, Palmer, 10. 12, Juneau, 9. 13, Wasilla, 7. 14, Homer, 1.

200 medley relay — 1, Dimond (Dittlinger, Reed , O’Brien, Jarod , Alfano, Nathan , Summers, Michael ), 1:43.06. 2, Colony (Bloom, Zach , Anderson, Joseph , Simmons, Jake, Amato, Elliot ), 1:43.15. 3, WV, 1:43.22.

200 freestyle — 1, Summers, Michael, Dimond, 1:45.09. 2, Bloom, Zach, Colony, 1:45.78. 3, O’Brien, Jarod, Dimond, 1:48.42.

200 IM — 1, Fox, Kenny, Thunder Mountain, 2:04.18. 2, Hanni, Jacob, Dimond, 2:07.20. 3, Fox-Icarro, Blaise, Eagle River, 2:10.85.

50 freestyle — 1, Hogue-Corwin, EZ, Service, 22.68. 2, O’Donoghue, Tommy, WV, 23.03. 3, Lai, Nathan, South, 23.07.

1-meter diving — 1, Desatoff, Austin, Dimond, 398.80. 2, Schachle, Brayden, Wasilla, 374.10. 3, Knudson, Conner, South 373.75.

100 butterfly — 1, Fox, Kenny, Thunder Mountain, 54.09. 2, Simmons, Jake, Colony, 54.61. 3, Alfano, Nathan, Dimond, 54.73.

100 freestyle — 1, Summers, Michael, Dimond, 48.22. 2, Lai, Nathan, South, 50.62. 3, Hogue-Corwin, EZ, Service, 50.97.

500 freestyle — 1, Bloom, Zach, Colony, 4:55.91. 2, Davis, Jorden, Thunder Mountain, 5:01.41. 3, Pate, Will, Sitka, 5:06.74.

200 freestyle relay — 1, Dimond (Summers, Michael , O’Brien, Jarod , Hanni, Jacob , Alfano, Nathan ), 1:31.48. 2, WV (O’Donoghue, Tommy SR, O’Donoghue, Tristan, Nicholson, Ryan, Miller, Daniel), 1:33.59. 3, Thunder Mountain (O’Brien, Thane, Jones, Trevor, Davis, Jorden, Fox, Kenny), 1:33.62.

100 backstroke — 1, O’Donoghue, Tristan, WV, 56.29. 2, Fox-Icarro, Bryce, Eagle River, 57.45. 3, Simmons, Jake, Colony, 57.74.

100 breaststroke — 1, O’Donoghue, Tommy, WV, 1:00.67. 2, Anderson, Joseph, Colony, 1:01.05. 3, Hoen, Jack, Dimond, 1:05.02.

400 freestyle relay — 1, Colony (Bloom, Zach , Amato, Elliot , Anderson, Joseph , Simmons, Jake ), 3:29.05. 2, Dimond (Hanni, Jacob , Dittlinger, Reed , Hoen, Jack , Munson, Edward ), 3:38.91. 3, North Pole (Conely, Cameron , Handeland, Joshua, Edsell, Zachary, Croome-Preece, Sean), 3:41.68.

Girls

Team results — 1, Juneau Douglas, 131.5. 2, Dimond, 96. 3, Chugiak, 83. 4, West Valley, 52. 5, South, 49. 6, Bartlett High School, 27. 7, Eagle River, 22. 8, West, 21. 9, Thunder Mountain, 17. 10, Sitka, 12. 11, tie, Palmer, 9 and Colony, 9. 13, North Pole, 8. 14, Kodiak, 5. 15, Valdez, 3. 16, Service, 1.5.

200 medley relay — 1, Juneau (Chappell, Eliza, Isaak, Dakota, Ruffin, Mia, Walsh, Rielly), 1:54.58. 2, Dimond (Rohde, Arianna , Oakley, Madeleine , Hampton, Alyssa , Moody, Erin ), 1:57.22. 3, South (Schoff, Amber, Shannon, Alexandra, Watson, Cassandra, Esplin, Elissa), 2:01.45.

200 freestyle — 1, Kito, Gabi, Juneau, 2:02.24. 2, Randall, Angie, WV, 2:03.05. 3, Shannon, Alexandra, South, 2:03.31.

200 IM — 1, Jennings, Emmie, Chugiak, 2:14.44. 2, Kelly, Ciera, Juneau, 2:15.47. 3, Ruffin, Mia, Juneau, 2:18.78.

50 freestyle — 1, Jennings, Emmie, Chugiak, 24.91. 2, Hampton, Alyssa, Dimond, 25.72. 3, Isaak, Dakota, Juneau, 25.75.

1-meter diving — 1, Stone, Jami, Eagle River, 406.15. 2, Panting, Sierra, South, 356.85. 3, Wagner, Kendall, West, 343.55.

100 freestyle — 1, Bruce, Jordyn, Eagle River, 55.96. 2, Burke, Cheyenne, CHS, 57.08. 3, Randall, Angie, WV, 57.50.

100 butterfly — 1, Burke, Samantha, Chugiak, 58.65. 2, Kelly, Ciera, Juneau, 59.13. 3, Rohde, Arianna, Dimond, 1:00.27.

500 freestyle — 1, Burke, Samantha, Chugiak, 5:16.80. 2, Moody, Erin, Dimond, 5:19.22. 3, Heaton, Cassidy, WV, 5:30.85.

200 freestyle relay — 1, Juneau (Kelly, Ciera, Ruffin, Mia, Walsh, Rielly, Isaak, Dakota), 1:40.46. 2, Chugiak (Burke, Cheyenne , Blackstone, Abby , Jennings, Emmie , Burke, Samantha ), 1:40.76. 3, South (Shannon, Alexandra, Schoff, Amber, Esplin, Elissa, Watson, Cassandra), 1:48.25.

100 backstroke — 1, Rohde, Arianna, Ddimond, 1:01.30. 2, Schoff, Amber, South, 1:02.54. 3, DeGeorge Tara, West, 1:04.49.

100 breaststroke — 1, Moore, Skylar, Sitka, 1:11.57. 2, Taylor-Roth, Abigail, Juneau, 1:12.32. 3, Oakley, Madeleine, Dimond, 1:12.95. 3, Isaak, Dakota, Juneau, 1:12.95.

400 freestyle relay — 1, Chugiak (Blackstone, Abby , Burke, Cheyenne , Jennings, Emmie , Burke, Samantha ), 3:44.79. 2, Dimond (Moody, Erin , Rohde, Arianna , Oakley, Madeleine , Williams, Kendal ), 3:48.29. 3, Juneau (Kito, Gabi, Chappell, Eliza, Kaelke, Sophia, Kelly, Ciera), 3:52.87.