MAKING A SPLASH

KODIAK — It may be near freezing outside, but there promises to be plenty to heat up the lanes here for the Northern Lights Conference regional swim meet this weekend.

Starting today, Valley schools will try to qualify as many swimmers as possible for the state meet, a task Palmer coach Shanna Omer said her Moose are up for. Palmer has 28 swimmers at the meet, including a strong contingient of 20 girls.

“We’re looking pretty good,” Omer said. “We have a fairly young team with only eight seniors on the team, but it’s a fairly strong team.”

Another strong team on the girls’ side will be Wasilla. The Warriors are coming off a solid fourth-place finish in the recent Valley Invitational at Palmer High School, which was the top finish for all Valley programs, boys and girls.

Of the Warriors’ 24 swimmers to make the trip to Kodiak, the field is pretty well split between boys and girls, said WHS coach Matt Hanley.

One Warrior to watch will be Karina Barria, who won both the 50-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly at the Valley Invite. She’s also among the top performers in the state this year, posting the fourth-best 50 freestyle time going into regionals and the 12th best in the 100 butterfly.

“In the 50 free, it’s so intense, so compact that anything can happen,” Hanley said. “And the 100 fly is an event she’s been kind of struggling with the past couple of years, but I think she’s locked into some good technique.”

Although her events are two of the most competitive at the regional meet, “I believe she’s got what it takes to get to state,” the coach said. “It’s going to take maintaining discipline and focus. This being her senior year, it would be nice to see her achieve some goals and show her racing maturity.”

Mariah Schachle also will be looking to qualify in girls’ diving. She has the fifth-best composite score in the state so far this season. Another to watch is teammate Hillary Graham, another strong diver for the Warriors.

“They’re really showing up for the team and diving strong,” Hanley said. “Our diving has traditionally been really valuable to Wasilla.”

A sleeper for Wasilla could be Kevin Snavley, a senior competing in the 100 fly and 100 back, Hanley said.

“He’s been working with us for awhile,” he said. “He’s been part of the boys group who maybe has been in the shadows, but we’re going to see him next to some of the big guns in the state. It’s nice to see him up with the big guns. That’s a nice moment when (a swimmer) realizes he’s in a higher league than expected. I know his goal is to make state, and he’s got a shot.”

While times at meets so far are important, the only performances that matter now are this weekend’s, Omer said. To qualify for the state meet, swimmers must either win their events in the regional or post one of the 12 next best times among all competitors in all regional action.

“It’s important to swim your fastest, even if you don’t win,” Omer said. “The hard thing is having to swim fast enough to make it into the finals, then in the finals to swim fast enough to qualify for state.”

Some Palmer swimmers to watch this weekend include a team of freshmen in the girls’ 200 individual medley relay, Omer said.

Catherine Stark, Alex Traina, Noelle Graham and Willow Schlenker “have the potential to score really high,” the coach said. “They’re ranked, I believe, fourth or fifth in the region right now in that event. I think they can be even faster than what they’re swimming.”

On the boys’ side, senior Eddie Shadow has a good shot at qualifying in the 50-yard freestyle, Omer said.

Although swimmers strive for individual bests, playing for the team is also important, she said.

“We’re hoping to score some points,” Omer said. “There’s some good competition in the region, but we can hold our own, I think. A lot of it is to have the kids improve their times and to have fun. This is the biggest team Palmer has had in a number of years, so it’s great to see people coming out for the sport again.”

Other Palmer swimmers to keep and eye on include divers Joe Provo and Ry Obeso.

Obeso especially “has a good chance of making it to the finals,” Omer said.

In the 100 backstroke, junior Spencer Bloom has been coming on strong as well.

“It should be really exciting in the finals (of that event),” she said. “He’s been working really hard this past couple of weeks to shave off even more time. If he can shave off a couple of seconds, I like his chances.”

For Colony, diver Connor Eshelman is a strong contender for the regional title. At the Valley Invite, he dominated the field to win the title for 1-meter diving with 340.05 points.

Repeated attempts to reach Colony’s coach by press time were unsuccessful.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.