Colony boys, Palmer girls fighting for top-2 finishes at region meet

PALMER — A pair of Valley swimming and diving teams are gunning for a top-2 finish in the team standings of the Region III Championships, which began Thursday in Kenai.

Both the Colony boys and Palmer girls finished third in the team standings last year. This year, each squad is hungry to challenge for a top spot.

Kodiak swept the classes last season.

“A solid second would be really good for the boys,” Colony head coach Matt Hanley said earlier this week. “It’s definitely a goal of ours.”

Last season, Colony finished behind Kodiak and Soldotna in the Region III meet. But this year, Colony is armed with three swimmers who qualified for the state meet a year ago, and a defending Region III champion. The Knights also had success recently in the Region III-dominated Valley Invitational, and finished second in the meet held at the Palmer Pool.

Alex Kessler is the reigning champion in the 100-yard breaststroke. He is also currently ranked first in the region in the 100 freestyle.

“He has great potential,” Hanley said of Kessler.

Zach Bloom and Joseph Anderson also qualified for state last year, and are expected to help Kessler lead the Knights this weekend. Bloom is the region’s top-ranked swimmer in the 500 freestyle.

“Bloom is always working hard,” Hanley said. “I’d like to see him not only perform well this year, but prepare to dominate next year.”

Anderson is ranked third in the region in the 100 breaststroke.

“He is one of the most consistent workers in the state. He wants to succeed, and I definitely want to see his hard work pay off,” Hanley said of Anderson.

The Palmer girls also have a core of talent with state meet experience. Katie Stark, Noelle Graham and Naomi Graham all qualified as individuals last year. The Moose also sent the 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams to state.

During the Valley Invitational in October, Naomi Graham said the Moose have certainly improved since last season.

“We’re a much stronger team than we were last year,” she said. “We’ve been working hard all season.”

The Moose girls broke a pair of school records in October. At the Valley Invitational, Stark, Noelle Graham, Naomi Graham and Mille Snelders combined to set a new school mark in the 200 freestyle relay. Last week, Stark broke a school record in the 200 freestyle.

The relay events have been important to the Moose. Palmer is ranked first in the region in the 400 freestyle relay, second in the 200 freestyle relay and fourth in the 200 individual medley relay.

“The relays generate a lot of points,” Naomi Graham said. “Having good relays is really important for us as a whole team. That’s kind of how we represent Palmer. We have a lot of good individual events, but we represent mostly in our relays. That’s how we’re seen.”

The Moose also have potential for success in the individual events. Noelle Graham is the defending region champion in the 100 butterfly. Stark is ranked third in the region in both the 50 and 200 freestyle races.

The Colony girls did not move a swimmer into state last year, but Hanley is hoping the Knights change that in 2013.

“The girls look excited. We’re hoping to get some girls to state, some relays,” Hanley said.

Hanley specifically noted the work of senior Eliza Zugg.

“She’s been busting her tail; working to improve her strokes, a lot of strength stuff,” Hanley said. “I really would like to see her do well.”

The Knights have also been sparked by newcomer Sierra Kinworthy, who moved with her family from Tennessee to Alaska before the school year. Kinworthy is currently ranked second in the region in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, and third in the 500 freestyle.

Palmer’s Daniel Jackson is also a returning state qualifier, and is ranked second in the region in the 50 freestyle.

The state’s four region champions in each event earn automatic bids to next week’s state championships. The next 12 best finals times statewide during region championship weekend also advance. In the relay events, the conference champions will head to state. The next four times statewide will also advance.

The top two divers (boys and girls) will earn spots in the state championships. The next eight scores statewide will also advance.

The ASAA/First National Bank Alaska State Swimming and Diving Championships begin Nov. 8 at Dimond Park Aquatic in Juneau.

The Region III meet began with girls and boys diving preliminaries Thursday afternoon. Diving semifinals begin today at 8:30 a.m., and the swimming preliminaries are slated for today at 1 p.m.

Swimming and diving finals are scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m.

Contact Jeremiah Bartz at 352-2273 or sports@frontiersman.com.

Region III swimming and diving rankings

(Athletes ranked in state top 16)

Girls:

200 medley relay — 1. Kodiak 1:57.79; 2. Soldotna 1:59.28; 3. Seward 2:01.26; 4. Palmer 2:02.11; 5. Colony 2:03.20; 6. Kenai 2:06.05.

200 freestyle — 1. T. Lindquist, Kod 1:55.38; 2. I. Hughes, Kod 1:58.41; 3. K. Stark, Pal 1:58.69; 4. K. Donnolly, ACS 2:03.48; 5. S. Kinworthy, Col 2:04.17; 6. K. Groleske, Sol 2:04.61.

200 IM — 1. T. Lindquist, Kod 2:12.21; 2. S. Kinworthy, Col 1:18.53; 3. I. Hughes, Kod 2:18.70.

50 freestyle — 1. I. Hughes, Kod 24.21; 2. A. Weeks, Sol 24.63; 3. K. Stark, Pal 25.03; 4. H. Walker, Kod 25.26; 5. Na. Graham, Pal 25.48.

1 meter dive — 1. J. Lewis, Hom 181.20; 2. K. Dolma, Hom 170.15; 3. K. Foster, Col 162.15; 4. S. Laselle, Pal 162.15; 5. J. Garrettson, Pal 148.95.

100 butterfly — 1. I. Hughes, Kod 59.72; 2. S. Kinworthy, Col 1:01.98; 3. No. Graham, Pal 1:02.79.

100 freestyle — 1. I. Hughes, Kod 52.84; 2. A. Weeks, Sol 54.28; 3. T. Lindquist, Kod 54.36; 4. K. Stark, Pal 55.22; 5. Na. Graham, Pal 56.52.

500 freestyle — 1. T. Lindquist, Kod 5:09.58; 2. A. Weeks, Sol 5:20.37; 3. S. Kinworthy, Col 5:23.91; 4. I. Hughes, Kod 5:28.24; 5. K. Groleske, Sol 5:35.57.

200 freestyle relay — 1. Kodiak 1:42.29; 2. Palmer 1:42.30; 3. Seward 1:47.26; 4. Soldotna 1:47.80.

100 backstroke — 1. T. Lindquist, Kod 59.60; 2. S. Kinworthy, Col 1:03.55; 3. I. Barnwell, Sew 1:03.68; 4. O. Backham, Sew 1:04.05; 5. M. English, Sol 1:04.59; 6. I. Hughes, Kod 1:04.77.

100 breaststroke — 1. K. Donnolly, ACS 1:11.86; 2. T. Lindquist, Kod 1:13.84.

400 freestyle relay — 1. Palmer 3:47.31; 2. Kodiak 3:47.71; 3. Soldotna 3:59.36; 4. Seward 4:06.46; 5. Colony 4:09.83.

Boys:

200 medley relay — 1. Kodiak 1:42.25; 2. Colony 1:45.05; 3. Soldotna 1:46.13; 4. Homer 1:53.20; 5. Kenai 1:56.66.

200 freestyle — 1. J. Blake, Kod 1:50.52; 2. Z. Bloom, Col 1:51.55; 3. A. Kessler, Col 1:53.03.

200 IM — 1. N. Lincoln, Kod 2:04.28; 2. A. Kessler, Col 2:07.17.

50 freestyle — 1. D. McElroy, Sol 22.80; 2. D. Jackson, Pal 23.34.

1 meter dive — 1. B. Ashwell, Ken 225.80; 2. C. Gross, Ken 189.30; 3. N. Huntington, Pal 189.15; 4. B. Branham, Pal 184.95.

100 butterfly — 1. N. Lincoln, Kod 55.41; 2. J. Nagle, Hom 55.67; 3. J. Anderson, Kod 56.66; 4. D. Hunter, Sol 56.71.

100 freestyle — 1. A. Kessler, Col 49.73; 2. D. Schauff, Kod 49.76; 3. J. Blake, Kod 51.16.

500 freestyle — 1. Z. Bloom, Col 5:07.65.

200 freestyle relay — 1. Kodiak 1:35.29; 2. Palmer 1:36.67; 3. Colony 1:36.93; Kenai 1:40.91.

100 backstroke — 1. D. Schauffe, Kod 55.69; 2. A. Kessler, Col 57:70; 3. N. Lincoln, Kod 58.44; 4. N. Schauff, Kod 59.21.

100 breaststroke — 1. J. Blake, Kod 1:02.86; 2. A. Kessler, Col 1:03.59; 3. J. Anderson, Col 1:04.28.

400 freestyle relay — 1. Kodiak 3:27.82; 2. Colony 3:28.36; 3. Soldotna 3:34.74; Homer 3:43.01; 5. Palmer 3:43.61.

Rankings courtesy of Alaska Swimming News and Information.