Palmer girls sweep the Valley Invite and break school record

The Valley Invitational concluded Saturday afternoon with the Palmer High School girls swim team taking home the gold with 91 points, 34 points ahead of the Kodiak High girls.

The Moose also continued to chip away at the 200-yard medley relay record, bringing in a new time of 1:56.53. Their strong pool of girls came in first in the 200 medley as well as the 200 freestyle relay, touching the wall body lengths ahead of the pack in both races.

The team is looking to break the 200 freestyle relay record at either regions or state, according to relay member, Gretchen Snelders.

“I think if we’re feeling good we’ll get it,” she said of the race.

In individual events, Snelders had a successful day herself, coming in first in the 50 freestyle with a time of 25.81.

Her teammates Ellyse Russell and Maria Beck both finished the 100 freestyle with strong swims. Russell touched the wall second with a time of 56.57 and Beck came in fourth with 58.02.

Another standout Valley swimmer is Camren Hancock of Wasilla High School, who was second in both his 50 freestyle and 100 breaststroke.

“He’s just going for that school record in the 100 breaststroke and he’s doing awesome,” said his coach Hadley Remele who said he’s less than a second off.

Konnor Kolberg, of Colony High School, has been consistently dropping time throughout the season. He started out the year with a 1:00.07 in the 100 butterfly and earned a best time over the weekend with a 56.63 in the event, an impressive drop for a swimmer who trains year-round.

The time brought Kolberg in at second place overall in the event, right behind Kodiak’s Connor Spanos, and he also came in second in the 200 IM with a 2:08.94. Both of his events he hopes to swim at Regions in two weeks.

“I’d love to get as close as I could to a two minute this season,” he said of his 200 IM, “And then probably around a 53, at least, in the 100 fly.”

Kolberg’s coach, Patrick Penoyar was happy with his swims.

“He found another gear that hasn’t been there before. That we’ve been making and he’s been working really, really hard,” he said.

Alexis Mattson of Colony is edging in on the school’s 100 breaststroke record, according to her coach. The senior swimmer came in second in the event with a 1:09.82

Wasilla High School divers took home first in both the boys’ and girls’ events with Jayde Chan taking the gold with 399.55 points and Kade Reynolds winning with 367.10 points.

The season is coming to a close for the 2018 swim season and the Region III schools will soon begin to rest before they head to Homer for regionals at the end of the month. Some will then go onto state championships at Bartlett High School at the conclusion of the season.