Knight girls place second at regionals

SOLDOTNA -- The Colony girls finished second place in the team standings in the Region III swimming championships at Soldotna High School this weekend.

The Knights finished with 59 points. The host Soldotna Stars won the girls class with 109 points.

Elise Long was the lone Knight swimmer to win an individual title in the event. Long won the 200-meter individual relay with a time of 2:17:33. Long also helped lead the Knights to a win in the 400-meter freestyle relay. The relay squad finished first in the event, beating second-place Soldotna by more than three seconds. In addition, Long finished second in the 500-meter freestyle.

Sarah Brettrager took second place in a pair of events. Brettrager finished second in both the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-meter freestyle. Nancy Long finished third in the 200-meter freestyle for Colony.

The Wasilla Warriors finished fifth in the girls' class with 26 points. A pair of Warriors placed in the championship races. Cara Hesselbach finished third in the 1-meter diving and Atali Smith finished third in the 500-meter freestyle.

The Palmer Moose finished fifth in the boys class with 13 points. Logan Bean was the lone Palmer swimmer to place, finishing third in the 100-meter freestyle.

A handful of local prep swimmers earned an invitation to the state meet held at Bartlett High School.

Colony's Nancy Long (200-meter freestyle and 500-meter freestyle), Elise Long (200-meter individual medley and 100-meter breastroke), Sarah Brettrager (50-meter freestyle and 100-meter freestyle) and Palmer's Logan Bean (100-meter freestyle and 200-meter freestyle) each will compete in the individual events and the Knight girls' varsity relay team will compete in the 200-meter freestyle relay and the 400-meter freestyle relay.

Each of the Valley swimmers will compete on Saturday, Nov. 10. The first event starts at 1 p.m.

Region III Swimming and Diving Championships

Girls' team scores- 1. Soldotna- 109, 2. Colony- 59, 3. Homer- 41, 4. Valdez- 38, 5. Wasilla- 26, 6. Skyview- 20, 7. Kenai- 16, 8. Seward- 11, 9. Kodiak-7, 10. Cordova-3

200 medley relay- 1. Soldotna, 1:52.40, 2. Valdez, 1:578.94, 3. Homer, 1:58.50, 200 freestyle- 1. E. Green, Sol 2:02.20, 2. K. Chvka, Sol. 2:03.02, 3. N. Long, Col 2:06.78; 200 ind. medley- 1. E. Long, Col 2:17.33, 2. J. Call, Val 2:19.87, 3. R. Jennings, Hom 2:23.94; 50 freestyle- 1. J. Syverson, Sol 24.55, 2. S. Brettrager, Col 24.89, 3. J. van Driessche, Sew 35.40; 1-meter diving- 1. R. Knowles, Ken 338.30, 2. J. Miller, Ken 223.45, 3. C. Hesselbech, Was 212.60; 100 butterfly- 1. A. Kiffmeyer, Sol 1:00.13, 2. R. Rykaczewski, Hom 1:00.61, 3. L. Thomas, Val, 1:04.59; 100 freestyle- 1. J. Syverson, Sol. 53.70, 2. S. Brettrager, Col 54.78, 3. E. Green, Sol 56.83; 500 freestyle- 1. K. Chavka, Sol 5:35.01, 2. N. Long, Col. 5:37.88, 3. A. Smith, Was 5:40.24; 200 freestyle relay- 1. Soldotna 1:41.24, 2. Colony 1:41.52, 3. A. Smith, Was 5:40.24; 100 backstroke- A. Kiffmeyer, Sol 59.66, 2. R. Rykaczewski, Hom 1:01.44, 3. J. Call, Val 1:02.81; 100 breastroke- 1. J. van Driessche, Sew 1:10.38, 2. K. Peterson, Sol. 1:11.11, 3. K. Fair, Val 1:12.52; 400 freestyle relay- 1. Colony 3:45.85, 2. Soldotna 3:48:38, 3. Homer 3:50.93

Boys' team scores

1. Homer 98, 2. Soldotna 85, 3. Kodiak 66, 4. Valdez 33, 5. Palmer 13, 6. Cordova 11, 7. Kenai 10, 8. Skyview 8, 9. Unalaska 3 10. Colony 3

200 medley relay- 1. Soldotna 1:41.46, 2. Homer 1:43.51, 3. Kodiak 1:48.51; 200 freestyle- 1. N. Sorrell, Sol 1:48.46, 2. B. Kuhns 1:49.09, 3. J. Rutter 1:50.89; 200 ind. medley- 1. N. Rose, Kod 2:04.33, 2. A. Vait, Hom 2:06.72, 3. K. Wythe, Hom 2:07.15; 50 freestyle- 1. T. Mann-Schweigert, Sol 22.40, 2. J. Bell, Hom 22.57; 1 meter diving- 1. G. Rose, Kod 310.60, 2. J. Cubbedge, Kod 242.46, 3. J. Garten, Ken 237.70; 100 butterfly- 1. E. Smith, Hom 53.70, 2. J. Smith, Hom 55.41, 3. G. Rose, Kod 56.03; 100 freestyle 1. N. Sorrell, Sol 49.83, 2. J. Bell, Hom 49.51, 3. L. Bean, Pal 50.82; 500 freestyle- 1. J. Rutter, Val 4:54.68, 2. N. Rose, Kod 4:58.53, 3. K. Wythe, Hom 5:05.53; 200 freestyle relay- 1. Soldotna 1:29.38, 2. Homer 1:30.93, 3. Kodiak 1:39.88; 100 backstroke- 1. N. Kuhns, Hom 56.99, 2. J. Smith, Hom 57.67, 3. L. Grasso, Sol 58.14; 400 fressstyle relay 1. Soldotna, 3:17.11