Nearly 2 dozen Valley athletes qualify for state

PALMER — During the first day of the Valley Invitational last month, Palmer junior Naomi Graham said one of her team’s goals was to peak at the right time of the season.

Based on Palmer’s performance during the Region III Championships last weekend, the Moose are peaking at the right time.

The Moose finished as the region runner up and the Palmer girls are sending nine athletes to the ASAA/First National Bank State Swimming and Diving Championships, which start Friday in Juneau.

“We’re really going to surprise ourselves the last couple of meets,” Graham said during the Valley Invite. “We’ve been working hard all season.”

The hard work has paid off for the Moose.

In addition to the team’s runner-up finish, senior Noelle Graham won the 100-butterfly for the second straight year. The Moose also continued to re-write the girls’ swimming and diving school record book.

Four PHS girls records fell Saturday in Kenai. The Palmer 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams each set new Moose marks. Senior Katie Stark also set new school records in the 50 and 100 freestyle.

And to top off a great weekend for the Palmer squad, head coach Christine Morgan was named the Region’s coach of the year.

Stark, Naomi Graham, Noelle Graham, Denali Branham, Rachael Hanson, Sarah Hanson, Erica Munro, McKenzie Musgrave and Millie Snelders have all qualified for the state championships, according to the most recent list released by ASAA on Monday.

Daniel Jackson, John Snelders and Gabe Waldhaus each advance for the Palmer boys, giving the Moose a full dozen athletes headed for Juneau.

Colony qualified 11 athletes for the state meet, including a pair advancing as region champions.

Zach Bloom won a pair of titles last Saturday, swimming to first-place finishes in both the 200 and 500 freestyle. Bloom set a Colony school record in the 200 freestyle, posting a 1:48.85 in the preliminaries. He swam a personal best 5:02.98 in the preliminaries of the 500 freestyle.

Bloom helped the Knights set a new school mark in the 200 medley relay. Colony finished third overall in the event.

Alex Kessler also won region gold last Saturday, finishing first in the 100 freestyle.

Bloom, Kessler, Elliot Amato, Joseph Anderson, Triston Denny, Kenneth Hondl, Isaiah Tira and Larkin Udomporn each advance to state for the Colony boys. Katelyn Foster, Sierra Kinworthy and Anne Sullivan will represent the Colony girls at state.

Swimming preliminaries start Friday at 10:15 a.m. at Dimond Aquatic in Juneau. The diving preliminaries start at 2:15 p.m., while the diving semifinals scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.

State finals begin Saturday at 11 a.m.