Palmer girls win region title; Wasilla diver breaks record

PALMER — Valley athletes enjoyed a historic day in the pool Saturday afternoon.

Wasilla’s Jayde Chan shattered the region record in the girls’ diving event, and the Palmer Moose earned their first girls’ region title in nearly three decades during the final day of the Region III Championships swimming and diving championships in Homer.

Palmer’s Gretchen Snelders scored a pair of wins to help the Moose girls win their first region crown since 1989. Snelders won both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races. Palmer finished with 77 points in the team standings, 10 ahead of runner-up Soldotna.

Snelders’ wins were among four gold medals for the Moose.

“First place makes a big difference,” SoHi coach Angie Brennan told the Peninsula Clarion. “Palmer had more than a couple first- and second-places.”

Lindsay Musgrave finished first in the 100 backstroke for Palmer. Snelders also helped Palmer win the 200 freestyle relay. The Moose were second in the 200 medley relay, and broke a school record with their mark of 1:54.72. Ellyse Russell was second in the 100 and 200 freestyle.

Palmer mentor Christine Morgan was named the Region III Coach of the Year.

Chan set a Region III record with 427.85 points in the girls’ diving event. She was one of four Valley divers to finish in the top five. Fellow Warrior Carrie Meyer was second. Palmer’s Chloe Hartman and Tyler Coffman finished third and fifth. Hartman is the defending state champion.

Chan’s efforts eclipsed the old record of 415 points, set by former Wasilla standout Rachel Kennedy.

Alexis Mattson led Colony, finishing third in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke . Taylor Nelson was third in the 200 freestyle for the Knights.

Colony’s Konnor Kolberg earned the Valley’s lone win in the boys class, finishing first in the 200 individual medley. Camren Hancock led Wasilla with a runner-up finish in the 100 breaststroke. Kaeson Dalrymple-Sorenson was second in the 500 freestyle for the Moose.

The region champion in each event earns an automatic berth to state, while the next 12 fastest times in the state in each event also qualify.

Peninsula Clarion reporter Joey Klecka contributed to this report.

Region III Championships

Saturday, Homer

GIRLS

Team results

1. Palmer, 77 points; 2. Soldotna, 67; 3. Homer, 52; 4. Kodiak, 51; 5. Colony, 29; 6. Kenai Central, 21; 7. Wasilla, 17; 8. Seward, 14; 9. Unalaska, 2.

Individual results

200 medley relay — 1. Homer (Anderson, Bales, Story, Berry), 1:54.56; 2. Palmer, 1:54.72; 3. Kodiak, 1:54:94; 4. Soldotna, 1:57.10; 5. Colony, 2:00.94; 6. Unalaska, 2:09.97.

200 free — 1. Leslie Spear, Kod, 1:59.36; 2. Ellyse Russell, Pal, 1:59.74; 3. Taylor Nelson, Col, 2:04.83; 4. Adeline Berry, Hom, 2:06.34; 5. Madelyn Brennan, Sol, 2:11.54; 6. Alex Juliussen, Sol, 2:12.34.

200 IM — 1. Lydia Jacoby, Sew, 2:11.86; 2. Madison Story, Hom, 2:15.36; 3. Alexis Mattson, Col, 2:16.61; 4. Devon Cummiskey, Kod, 2:18.38; 5. Madison Snyder, Sol, 2:22.40; 6. Ashtyn Petersen, Pal, 2:27.15.

50 free — 1. Gretchen Snelders, Pal, 24.96; 2. Sydney Juliussen, Sol, 25.51; 3. Alia Bales, Hom, 25.56; 4. Madelyn Barkman, Sol, 25.77; 5. Riley Reese, Ken, 26.33; 6. Ella Blanton-Yourkowski, Hom, 26.65.

Diving — 1. Jayde Chan, Was, 427.85; 2. Carrie Mayer, Was, 387.75; 3. Chloe Hartman, Pal, 343.00; 4. Sayuri Seto, Kod, 338.55; 5. Tyler Coffman, Pal, 325.30; 6. Elianah Micael, Kod, 320.15.

100 butterfly — 1. Devon Cummiskey, Kod, 59.15; 2. Adeline Berry, Hom, 1:02.02; 3. Julia Anderson, Ken, 1:06.46; 4. Katie Creglow, Sol, 1:07.33; 5. Dea Sustaita, Sol, 1:10.76; 6. Ally Ferguson, Pal, 1:11.16.

100 free — 1. Gretchen Snelders, Pal, 54.72; 2. Ellyse Russell, Pal, 55.22; 3. Sydney Juliussen, Sol, 55.47; 4. Madelyn Brennan, Sol, 56.11; 5. Riley Reese, Ken, 57.23; 6. Taylor Nelson, Col, 57.25.

500 free — 1. Madison Snyder, Sol, 5:46.73; 2. Rachael Pitsch, Ken, 5:48.86; 3. Kortney Birch, Sol, 5:54.34; 4. Joscelyn Barrette, Was, 5:56.28; 5. Emily Hubert, Kod, 5:59.37; 6. Kathleen Barr, Col, 6:11.11.

200 free relay — 1. Palmer (Petersen, Beck, Russell, Snelders), 1:42.06; 2. Homer, 1:42.44; 3. Soldotna, 1:42.71; 4. Colony, 1:46.91; 5. Kenai, 1:51.03; 6. Wasilla, 1:54.22.

100 backstroke — 1. Lindsay Musgrave, Pal, 1:05.64; 2. Darby McMillan, Sol, 1:07.70; 3. Kaylin Anderson, Hom, 1:07.84; 4. Josephine Rogness, Col, 1:08.44; 5. Kameela Fletcher, Pal, 1:09.91; 6. Addi Rogers, Kod, 1:10.11.

100 breaststroke — 1. Lydia Jacoby, Sew, 1:03.05; 2. Leslie Spear, Kod, 1:08.43; 3. Alexis Mattson, Col, 1:10.53; 4. Ashtyn Petersen, Pal, 1:12.06; 5. Katie Creglow, Sol, 1:12.13; 6. Maria Beck, Pal, 1:13.15.

400 free relay — 1. Kodiak (Cummiskey, Hubert, Nicholson, Spear), 3:56.58; 2. Palmer, 3:58.80; 3. Soldotna, 4:04.45; 4. Kenai, 4:08.12; 5. Colony, 4:11.08; 6. Homer, 4:12.49.

BOYS

Team results

1. Kodiak, 100; 2. Kenai Central, 64; 3. Soldotna, 43; 4. Homer, 32; 5. Colony, 30; 6. Unalaska, 17; 7. Wasilla, 15; 8. Palmer, 14; 9. Seward, 11; 10. Cordova, 2.

Individual results

200 medley relay — 1. Kodiak (Rocheleau, Hocum, Dumm, Speth), 1:41.45; 2. Kenai, 1:43.20; 3. Soldotna, 1:48.06; 4. Colony, 1:49.15; 5. Unalaska, 1:52.93; Homer DQ.

200 free — 1. Nathan James, Kod, 1:49.63; 2. Patrick Peralta, Kod, 1:50.74; 3. Connor Spanos, Sew, 1:52.15; 4. Koda Poulin, Ken, 1:54.72; 5. Owen Rolph, Ken, 1:56.54; 6. Kaeson Dalrymple-Sorenson, Pal, 1:59.87.

200 IM — 1. Konnor Kolberg, Col, 2:03.63; 2. Ian Rocheleau, Kod, 2:04.94; 3. Nevin Lee, Kod, 2:07.57; 4. Teddy Handley, Hom, 2:10.01; 5. Theo Castellani, Hom, 2:13.92; 6. Peter Anderson, Ken, 2:17.54.

50 free — 1. Clayton Arndt, Hom, 22.38; 2. Ethan Evans, Sol, 22.48; 3. Camren Hancock, Was, 22.49; 4. Adam Nguyen, Una, 22.76; 5. Gavin Speth, Kod, 23.11; 6. Sorin Sorenson, Ken, 23.66.

Diving — 1. Kylin Welch, Sol, 491.70; 2. Sam Skolnick, Sol, 428.55; 3. Eli Krozel, Col, 422.90; 4. Kade Reynolds, Was, 350.50; 5. Joe Cooper, Col, 273.90; 6. Rio Shemet-Pitcher, Hom, 244.50.

100 butterfly — 1. Connor Spanos, Sew, 54.08; 2. Ethan Evans, Sol, 55.05; 3. Konnor Kolberg, Col, 55.43; 4. Owen Rolph, Ken, 55.84; 5. Jake Nelson, Hom, 56.17; 6. Peter Anderson, Ken, 57.98.

100 free — 1. Savaii Heaven, Ken, 48.83; 2. Clayton Arndt, Hom, 49.24; 3. Nathan James, Kod, 49.60; 4. Jackson Krug, Kod, 50.94; 5. Gavin Speth, Kod, 53.81; 6. Trevor Bagley, Ken, 54.26.

500 free — 1. Koda Poulin, Ken, 5:09.85; 2. Kaeson Dalrymple-Sorenson, Pal, 5:25.45; 3. Jacob Hengen, Kod, 5:31.52; 4. Jeremy Kupferschmid, Sol, 5:48.19; 5. Skyler Rodriguez, Hom, 5:48.53; 6. Aidan Skonberg, Kod, 5:49.52.

200 free relay — 1. Kodiak (Speth, Lee, Krug, James), 1:31.03; 2. Kenai, 1:32.91; 3. Homer, 1:33.38; 4. Soldotna, 1:34.94; 5. Colony, 1:35.85; 6. Cordova, 1:42.95.

100 backstroke — 1. Savaii Heaven, Ken, 53.52; 2. Ian Rocheleau, Kod, 55.12; 3. Adam Nguyen, Una, 55.70; 4. Patrick Peralta, Kod, 59.03; 5. Theo Castellani, Hom, 1:01.24; 6. Aleks Tokalich, Col, 1:04.24.

100 breaststroke — 1. Anders Hocum, Kod, 1:00.79; 2. Camren Hancock, Was, 1:02.43; 3. Wesley Dumm, Kod, 1:03.93; 4. Miles Laughlin, Was, 1:03.97; 5. Nevin Lee, Kod, 1:04.43; 6. Trevor Bagley, Ken, 1:07.20.

400 free relay — 1. Kodiak (Rocheleau, Peralta, Krug, James), 3:22.90; 2. Kenai, 3:38.57; 3. Palmer, 3:41.90; 4. Unalaska, 3:42.05; 5. Soldotna, 3:47.88; 6. Colony, 4:02.52.